Phil,

I do use 5 – 15 minutes delays when using the time lapse feature on my Reconyx trail cameras.  This length of delay will certainly miss a deer that runs or even rapidly walks across a food plot or the area being monitored.  However, my mission when using the time lapse feature is to pattern deer that are using the same area repeatedly.  Deer that are entering a plot to forage usually remain in the area for several minutes.  The length of the delay used is based on a trade-off of how many images I have time to review, expected battery life, memory space, etc.  From experience, I’ve found that 5-15 minute delays usually capture the data I’m seeking.  The more days I expect will pass before I check the camera again the longer I make the delay so I won’t have as many images to review.  Remember that with a Reconyx unit, the motion sensor is still active when in time lapse mode.  Therefore any deer/people/turkeys/etc. that passes within the distance monitored by the motion/heat sensor will also trigger the camera in addition to the images taken due to the time lapse feature.   I consider this a very important use of trail cameras!

Growing Deer together,

Grant