ZEISS Secacam Trail Cameras: the essential tool for modern deer management

When you manage wild deer for a living, “roughly knowing” what’s happening on your ground is not enough. For Jim Riley, deer stalker at Chippenham Park and lead for BASC’s East of England stalking scheme, eyes in the field 24/7 have become essential.

Jim and his team provide deer stalking services for clients and local estates, along with training courses in stalking, including DSC 1 and 2, butchery and firearms awareness. 

Know your deer, protect your woodland

Deer numbers and the damage they cause are a growing challenge across the UK. Roe and other species browse young trees, flowers and plants, stripping the woodland floor and limiting regeneration.

“Out here you can see where the Roe have been eating the ivy,” Jim explains. “But it’s not just ivy. Deer will browse young trees, flowers, plants, everything that should be coming through. If we want the flora and fauna in our woods to come back, we have to manage deer numbers responsibly. That starts with knowing exactly where and when deer are moving.”

Jim uses ZEISS Secacam trail cameras to map deer movements, day and night, on every new area he takes on. “It gives us an idea when the animals might be in certain places,” he says, “and a really good overview of what’s on, or off, the estate.”

“I have cameras positioned on key trails throughout the estate and patterns build up quickly, helping plan ethical, efficient outings. It’s also great getting instant images sent to my mobile as soon as there’s any activity”.

Serious security for serious ground

For many stalkers and land managers, security is just as critical as wildlife monitoring. Trespass and rural crime are constant concerns.

“Another main use for us is security,” Jim says. “We have Secacams on all the entrances and exits of the estates we manage. Because the pictures are instantaneous, we get an immediate notification whenever someone comes onto the ground.”

Recently, those images proved their worth.

“We had a group of lads trying to break into one of our outbuildings. The camera picked them up straight away. Thanks to the really high quality of images, plus the fact they are time and date stamped, we were able to pass them straight to the police as evidence. That’s a big plus for any estate.”

Across all of that, ZEISS trail cameras are now at the heart of how we work.”

The Secacam app: control your ground from anywhere

“One of the great things about the Secacam trail cameras is the app,” Jim says. “It’s intuitive, easy to use, and it lets me manage my settings on any camera from anywhere in the world.”

From his phone, Jim can:

• Receive images and videos instantly from every camera
• Filter images by day, date, time, camera and type of animal
• Adjust settings remotely, pause image capture and get a GPS location, wherever he is in the world
• View statistics and reports to show movements and trends of specific animals
• Utilise the “colour-the-night” feature for clearer ID in low light
• Use AI-based filters to show only what matters

“The ability to filter images by species, animals, people, cars, whatever you want, means I only see the pictures I’m interested in,” he explains. “It saves a huge amount of time.”

The new staple for stalking

For Jim, the ZEISS Secacam trail cameras have become an indispensable part of modern deer management and security.

“Personally, I wouldn’t be without the Secacam cameras now,” he says. “They’ve given me the ability to see what’s happening on the estate 24/7, both with the wildlife and from a security point of view. I just wouldn’t work without them.”

For hunters and stalkers who want to understand their ground better, plan more efficient and ethical outings and protect their land, ZEISS trail cameras offer a complete, ready-to-go solution, straight out of the box.

ZEISS Secacam trail cameras are available in 6 models, including the recently launched Secacam 1, priced at just £109.