Want to get the most out of your efforts? Try mounting your scouting camera two or three times higher than you normally would; you will not only get better images, you will alert fewer deer to your presence.

I learned this trick from Deer & Deer Hunting field editor Les Davenport. He told me to strap my cameras 5, 6, even 7 feet off the ground and point them down toward the trail or spot where I expect deer to show up. The tactic has worked. In the past, I’d get one or two photos of a particular buck before he would wise up to the camera’s location and avoid it altogether. As you can see from this photo, the buck is none the wiser that there’s a camera shooting down on him.

When placing cameras up high, I use a stick or piece of bark and wedge it behind the the camera (at the top) before cinching the strap to the tree. This allows the sensor to point down toward a specific spot. 

For more tips and tactics on how to get the most out of your scouting cameras, check out ouronline course.