Page 52 - Kansas Sportsman

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

THE BENEFITS OF SETTING UP TRAIL CAMS ON YOUR PROPERTY
Trail cameras, or more commonly, trail cams, are a helpful tool
when it comes to monitoring your property

By Hayden Outdoors

Scouting and glassing for this year’s hunt can be thrilling— master class in proper trail cam management. Hailing from the
catching a glimpse of the trophies that might be waiting there Plains, the South, and the Rocky Mountain West respectively,
as the season nears. Adding some additional eyes to the effort, their insight spans a variety of purposes and touches nearly
including late in the evening and at night when some animals every corner of the country.
become particularly active, can help your odds even more. Trail
cams are providing this kind of visibility, and gaining popularity
TYPES OF TRAIL CAMS
because of it. Those are only a few of the benefits of setting up
trail cams.
Modern trail cameras fall into two categories: cellular and
non-cellular. Each has their benefits. Non-cellular cameras
Trail cams are discreet cameras people position throughout
don’t allow for real-time viewing, but they are typically less
property—and sometimes on public lands—to get a complete
expensive. Alternatively, cellular cameras allow you to keep
picture of animal activity. These types of cameras are triggered
an eye on animals without having to retrieve camera chips or
by a motion sensor, capturing pictures as the animal moves
disturb the area.
through the field of vision. They range from relatively basic,
taking pictures that are stored on a secure digital card and
Shad Sheldon has been hunting since he was 7, and bagged his
retrieved later, to much more high tech. REVEAL’s Cellular
first deer at 10. He started bow hunting in his late teens, a pas-
Cameras fall into the latter category, offering a mobile app that
sion ever since. He and his wife ran a hunting lodge in Good-
sends trail cam images to your device in real-time.
land, KS until about 10 years ago, when they turned to Hayden
Outdoors to help them sell it. Not long after he joined Hayden
as an agent, specializing in hunting properties and farmland.

These days, Shad and his wife spend their time in eastern
Kansas, as close to the land and its rhythms as possible. He
relies on trail cams for a variety of reasons, both personally
and professionally when he’s helping clients list their land. We
asked what he looks for in a good trail camera.

“I like good resolution and good pictures with true color. Most
Hang your trail camera roughly three feet from the ground. cameras will fire right away; you won’t get a lot of blurry mo-
ments. I like to put great pictures on our website to help clients
sell property. And of course, it needs to be easy-to-use.”
While the technology continues to get better and better, the
strategy behind mounting and positioning trail cams is also
important to consider. Three Hayden Outdoors recreational CHOOSING A TRAIL CAM
real estate experts recently chimed in on how they use trail
cams for hunting, safety, and general wildlife management. Before you throw down a good chunk of change—trail cams
As lifelong hunting guides and outdoor enthusiasts, Shad can range from $50-$600—it’s good to know what you want
Sheldon, Heath Thompson, and Lonnie Gustin provided a brief to accomplish with your equipment. Talk with your local dealer

52 THE KANSAS SPORTSMAN | SPRING 2024