I use a tripod, and set the camera to my right where I can see my display. My biggest issue was the ability to adjust my camera with birds in close. My camera has a remote control, so I mount it w/ velcro to my left thigh, and operate it w/ my left hand. I use a shooting stick to hold my gun up. I can hold the stock of my gun up to my shoulder w/ my cheek, and pan the camera w/ my right hand. It does get busy at times, and I do get caught once in a while.
Gman
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"We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."
I here you JW. I too have done the same thing. LOL I had a bird last year that came in across an open field, strutting and gobbling to almost every call I made, and right before I made the shot, realized that my camera had not been recording. I was sick.
Gman
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"We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."
Great tips guys.
I struggled for a long while too, I would get set up with the cam and have to move and not have time to get the cam set up. In 08 I did manage to get 3 gobblers and 1 jake on camera including a gobbler fight as they came in to me. I was in very close and am amazed they didn't see me switching from gun to camera as I decided not to shoot.
I bought a cam I can mount on my gun for this season.
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Dont run in on another hunters gobbler! Earn Yours!
A gun or bow mounted camera is the way to go. I've tried to get a kill shot on film for three yrs with my cam and tripod...no luck. Or, find a buddy to act as camera man.
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Days Full Of Clays...
NWTF, DU, SCI
It is HARD to seriously hunt and film at the same time! I always had better success with a buddy running the camera, although with all the cool new innovations and small cameras, it can be done.
But expect the results to be rather sterile, no custom cropping, zooming, panning, etc to make the video tasty and effective.
I like using a tripod sitting right next to me with remote cord velcro'd to my gun.
I also like the small cameras that mount to a ball cap, gun or bow. I have 2, one is the Epic Cam from Stealth Cam.
It can be challenging that's for sure. I've had some decent videos of my hunts but with a lot of bad ones too. The key is to an carry extra battery. I keep the camera on most of the time, but not recording for those unexpected moments. Also if you use a camera with a SD or HCSD card, bring backups. You'll want plenty of storage room for that Tom that takes his time strutting into range. Get plenty of video before, during and after the hunt that you can edit together later. I use a tripod setup beside my right leg and rest my gun on my left leg. That way I can pan, zoom and focus the camera with my right hand. If I'm hunting in the woods, I set the camera to manual focus and focus on the decoys. That's where the gobbler will go and he'll be in focus for the shot! Here is a link to some of my videos that have turned out pretty good. http://www.youtube.com/user/simpzeni...1AD5057D7E1EB3