Ok I am looking to get my first trail cam and wanted some recommendations on some. I do not need the top of the line as my main use will be to catch deer and other wildlife around current and potential hunting spots.

I know some of the real cheap ones go through batteries like crazy so I will probably stay away from them, but like to hear from others that have used a few cams and the questions, concerns they have of each.

Thanks

I've been using them since before they were digital. I now have 6 or 7 of them. I have found that getting a good one that lasts is a crap shoot. Go to the website chasinggame.com or chasingame.com. It's one of the 2.

This guy tries them out and rates them.

I would stay a long way from wildlife innovations.

I would like to stay around $100 if possible (due to theft). I was looking at the Primos, Moultrie and Wild Game Innovations due to price, but want one that works and has a decent battery life not one that dies every 1-3 days.

Mr. Hello:

I second what Dave said.

Go here: http://www.chasingame.com/

and read, read, and read some more. Pay close attention to what they say about a particular model, because they are right.

For bare bones, the Primos 35 has worked well for me. I have 5 of them, and they all still work after owning them for I think going on 4 or 5 years now. Biggest down side to the camera is the slight clicking noise it makes when it takes a picture. Other than that, I don't have any major complaints. If you are patient, you can get them for around $80, but $100 is the usual.

The above aforementioned web site is the place to check though. If you are truly getting the camera for scouting a hunting area, get one that does time lapse with a wide angle lens. The Plotwatcher was the original, but several brands have that technology now. The technology truly watches a hunting area, while a game camera only watches a single trail, food pile, salt pit or scrape.

I have 2 Moultrie cams that I bought from good ole Wal-Mart. 1 of them I have had for 4 years and the other 3 years. I look at pics from other name brand competitors and was not impressed. The pics from my cams are clear and crisp day or night. I have had them out this season since August 1st and still have 75% battery power left. I check them every 2 weeks and had 508 pics from the last time and 10 videos and they are still going strong. When it gets colder, the batteries go a lot quicker. I think I paid 80 bucks for them and I am very happy.

A pic from my cam.

I second what dave said.

Moultrie is my favorite, but my buddy swears by bushnell.

I like the Moultrie D-333.

One trick to catch deer, use camera at a point were they will stop, and the camera catches them better if they are 20 foot away or so.

AW man AB, nothing like stirrin things up a bit early. Have enough trouble doin chores as it is. Seriously, very nice body and almost perfectly matched rack. Wish I could find a woman as balanced.

If that date is correct, he should be much bigger!

I'm using Cuddebak, Moultrie and Primos 46. They all work at this time.

I had 3 Wild Game's before I gave up on them. They are inexpensive but seldom take pictures. JUNK!!

Some models have a place at the bottom to wire for an external battery. On a couple of mine, I'm using a rechargeable battery with a small solar panel. That works well as long as nothing decides to chew on the wires.

What's depressing is to put 2 cams on the same spot and seeing that they get different pictures.

This can easily turn into a blond/brunette or Ford/Chevy type of discussion.

I'm with CJ on the noisy cameras. I have a picture (actually a 3 picture sequence because the camera was set to take 3 pictures once it was triggered) of a large buck. First one he's close to the camera as he walks towards it on a deer trail, next 2 are him turned around and back about 20-30 feet looking at what was making that noise. Never got another picture of him. The camera worked, but I couldn't change the date/time. The temp is correct, the pictures were taken in mid January and it was not too long after sunup. I only saw him on the hoof once, and while I had the muzzleloader on him, I couldn't shoot because of a tree in the way. He turned and walked away and the opportunity was gone. Never heard of anyone in the area getting him, and the picture was taken 1-2011.

Bushnell.... batteries last forever..and the pics are outstanding...

I've had the Moultries and Wildgames priced from $50 to $80 and they don't last long and have minimal battery life unless you get one that allows a rechargeable 6volt battery with solar charger.


Agree with crstfr, bought a Bushnell in October last year that cost about $150 and uses 6 AA batteries. Had it up for 3 months end of last year and never changed batteries even it took over a thousand pics.

I don't have much to add as the others have given some great advice on seeking reviews on different models, but from personal experience I have a Moultrie M-80 XT and a Bushnell 8MP Trophy cam, both bought last year.

They were both around $125 (online) and both take great stills and videos but I'd take a second Moultrie M-80 over the Bushnell for these simple reasons:
Better latch desing
Better strap design - The Bushnell strap is a PITA, IMO
IMO a better battery compartment (both take 8 AA's)
Can be set up to take still AND video (Bushnell is one or the other)

Not owning a trail-cam before, I didn't know what to look for, but as trivial as those items may seem, the first 3 I listed are a lot more important than I thought they'd be. Both also seem to be equal on battery life and they've both taken several stills and videos without the Game being spooked. They're hearing something because I have many shots of deer coming right up to the camera, like this one did, but apparently not enough to scare them away. I even have a great video of a deer licking or "nosing" the cam, but here's one of the stills:

Yep afraid this could be a Chevy, Ford, Dodge kind of thing for sure!

I have 2 Wild Game cams and they work just fine for me! Here are a couple of pics from mine just a couple of weeks ago.




Can you say BACON!!!

i'll try and post some pics from the bushnell...

From 2011

Dang, that's a nice deer. And moving in the daylight? Is it on the hit list for this year?

Died of lead poisoning. Recovered the pics afterwards. 12 pt mainframe with 3 additional scorable stickers (167+ gross green-score)

That is a very impressive buck! Always been a goal of my to harvest a main frame 12 point. They are VERY rare here in the east.

My best so far. Got lucky and snuck up on him bedded.

A few of mine...

Keep mine on the porch: 2006 to 2010

Nice! Really nice deer!!

All taken after building our first pond. Best investment we ever made. A focal point for family and friends. Our two kids learned to swim and kayak there. My wife and I sat out on the dock last night. We are so lucky! Far better investment than a fancy car or a one time vacation, at least for us.

Sweet!! It amazes me how long some bucks can make it. With tremendous pressure, we had a split brow, drop tine buck that survived 8 years until last year. He was on the decline, so it was good he was harvested.

And this is one that makes me cry...Shot this deer with my bow on Nov 3rd 2011...Was a very slight quartering to shot and I hit a little far back...Was still several ribs in which should have been at least one lung and liver, but he didn't bleed...Looked and looked and even had a friend that has dogs trained to recover deer help...

Keith, is that an Antelope and is it's name Opy?

Wow - Great genetics!

Had the same issue 2 seasons ago. Biggest buck of my life. Had him chasing a doe around my stand and got him to stop at 30 yds. Problem was the wind was blowing hard enough to make my tree sway quite a bit and I hit him about an inch too far back. Backed out for 5 hours, went back and had a decent blood trail at first, but then it petered out after about 1/2 mile. Never found him.

That was the last shot I took with a fixed blade broadhead. Had shot Muzzys for 20 years. Last year was my first year using mechanicals - Rage is the one I'm using. Took 5 deer last year, 2 bucks and 3 does. Farthest distance to blood trail was 60 yards. I'm convinced. The only issue I see with mechanicals is the infamous shoulder hit. I've had clean pass through the shoulder and body cavity and embedded the broadhead in the opposing shoulder blade with muzzys...I don't believe that will happen with the mechanical head.

I went to fixed blades due to poor penetration with mechanicals. I have had no trouble with fixed blades, but I do not shoot over 27 yards.

I tried out some cams in 2010. All have their good and bad. Several trips to bass pro and cabellas before I settled on moultri m-100.
First here is the cuddy. It took poor pics but had awesome shutter speed. All my pics came out with white specks on them. Lens was clean. Poor battery life also. It died and their customer service sucked. I waited on hold for 45 minutes and said heck with it and took it back.


Next I got a primos truth came which took awesome pics but clicked really loud. It spooked the deer.


Moultrie d55ir had poor range



Then got the moultrie m100. Great battery life and decent pics.





I have had issues with having to drop battery pack to reset with m100. I learned cabellas has much better return policy than bass pro.

These pics are after pond was built on top of my food plot. All bucks disappeared and does took over. You can see pond in background. They have eaten a hole in ground where the trophy rocks go and made a trail to pond walking back and fourth.
Most of these were a few years ago. You can get pretty good reviews of new cams here. I'm still using that m100 year around.
http://chasingame.com/

My trophy wall. I'm mainly a meat hunter now. I hunt for yearlings, but won't pass on a nice buck.

Nice deer! I only shoot does to manage the population and for friends that like the meat. I eat it because I kill them, not the other way around. I am out there waiting for the big one! Shot my last deer in 2012 out of a herd of 20 without a nice buck in the group. Did not see a buck worth shooting last year, but got a nice one in each of the previous 6 years, so I have had my share of good luck.

Hey guys. Sorry about the quality, I sent this to my phone and then to my e-mail at work. This buck has showed up recently at my cam 5 yards in front of my stand. I am pretty excited. Tuesday is the opener for us here in Indiana. Wish us luck!!!!!

Nice one Airborne.

If he'd come by during daylight it will be a short season for ya!

Esshup,

It would be for my buck tag but I am a meat hunter primarily. My county has a 8 doe quota so I will have plenty of time in the tree stand. Good luck to all fellow hunters.

Actually, I might be crazy but I prefer to shoot yearlings. I personally think they taste a lot better and are easier to process for me in my garage. Dont get me wrong, dropping a big buck gets my blood boiling like the rest of you.

We're 8 too, and so are the surrounding counties. I'm a meat type of guy too, but won't refuse a big one if he walks by! I'm still seeing spotted fawns walking around. There's a single one by itself, and a set of twins by themselves. I haven't seen either momma for about 2 months. Neighboring farmer usually gets depredation permits, and I wonder if that is where the Mommas went....

I came here looking for answers and I found that website which I can't wait to read tomorrow, but now I'm just sad. I'll never get a buck like any of these pictures. I can't say never because I haven't found my retirement home yet, but it will be a really long time...

Can anyone suggest one that takes a broad range shot? I'm curious at getting one to over look my pond. I have a feeling I have some people partying on the property and this seems like a cheap/easy way to confirm.

Broad range will only work in the daytime. Night time you are limited by the illumination by the camera, which is about 30'-40'. Daytime use look at a Plotwatcher or some other time lapse camera.

Agree with esshup. Plotwatcher is only good broad range. Very limited with today's technology on night shots.

I figured I would be limited here. I have an idea where the would enter the property at so I guess I could use a game camera in that area. I'm about to start looking on that website that was mentioned. I would have to find one that's real quiet if I'm trying to take pictures of people though. I'd hate to see the thing grow legs.

We use a cam called "Stealth cam". It will take video as well as still pictures.

My son and I have watched a lovely doe raise twins now three years in a row. The first two bucks are nice and ripe for the taking this year. The father of the six bucks in our hunting hole is a solid 12 point now and is very crafty with the cam. He didn't get this big from being stupid.

The beauty of the trail cam is time of day patterns and being able to know the animals we plan on taking. I would be so sad if another hunter was to take the doe. She has been throwing these twins it would be a shame to loose her.

I will try to load up some videos.

Three year old twins. Dad poking his head in on right at end.

Twins from this year.

Cheers Don.

The plotwatcher is very good at its intended use, to watch a spot for you so see if there is activity there during hunting hours before hunting it. I deploy three of them to keep watch over my fall plots. This way I can see how much activity is taking place and what is using it. I cannot hunt all of them every night and helps with the should I of hunted the other spot tonight. Of course it is hard to tell really how big is that buck 100 yards away but body size can tell you if he is mature or not. The other traditional trail cameras I use during the summer and early fall to inventory what is using my property, but I pull them when hunting season starts and deploy the plotwatchers.

Lassig, what do you use for batteries and what size thumb drive? I've got a very early model and with a 16gb drive it still only lasts 4 days before it's dead. I am taking a pic every 3 sec tho.....

We can drop in 32 gig in ours and she takes 6~ C size battery's. It can go for two weeks easy in Video mode. Automatically changes to night and infrared.

Cheers Don.

I missed this the first time around, but I have used Moultrie, Cuddeback, Primos, Reconyx, Covert, Buckeye cam and a bunch of others. The best one probably has been the Reconyx or the Buckeye cam, but they are pretty pricy.

For reasonably priced cam, I have settled on Covert's and probably have 7 or 8 of them out right now. I have been using the MP6 and they have been perfect for the last three years or so. I also use them almost exclusively on video.

Also to add to the deer running away from the sound or light from the camera...I started placing mine in the air and angling them down onto the deer. It seems they don't notice the camera at all that way.

Here's a common reaction to a camera set head high.



Here's my adjusted setup after I got tired of them busting on my setups. It's surprising how much more a 20 second video shows you than a standard picture.



I guess you have to click on the pic and watch the video from my Photobucket page.

I've changed my cameras to the high position/angled shot as well. It does reduce the effectiveness of the camera due to the reduced cone of the motion detector but I think you're right, it definitely spooks the deer less.

Huntmaster, what camera did you use to take that video?

Those were with the Covert MP6. They have a video, still and time lapse setting. They are not that wide angle on the time lapse, but the other settings work great so far.

I love the video settings, it's all I am using at my house. If I had more time, I would run every camera on a scrape right now on video.

Wow!! that is awesome dude!! You can plainly see that taking the extra time and effort to put your cameras up higher can pay off!! Very cool! thanks for sharing! What are you using to angle the camera downward?

RC

Scott,

I have the new pro models that use AAA batteries 4 or 8 at a time. 8 last longer. I get over 8 weeks on batteries (current batteries are going on 4 weeks and still over 65%). I have the cameras setup for a picture every 2 seconds and from dawn to 10AM and 2PM to dust. The Pro uses SD cards and I use 32G cards and get about 10 to 12 days of storage. I check them more often than that and plan my hunting around them.

My deer right now are seaming to favor acorns (got busted three times last night from down wind deer) but they are using clover, brassics, and the cut corn. Thinking of night to head to a good white oak area that is loaded with acorns.

I use my four wheeler at night to drive up to the tree, then I stand on the rack to set and change the cards. That way I never leave any scent on the ground other than the four wheeler which doesn't bother them at all. So the effort isn't that much, once you get used to what angle is required to get decent pics.

Covert makes a bracket that screws into the tree and is adjustable to all kinds of angles. It is very small and has a bolt that is the same size as a tripod bolt. It also fits other cameras that have the bolt hole on the bottom.

The best $5 I've spent when it comes to cameras.

Thanks for the info huntmaster!!

RC

Do all (or most) gamecams have the tripod insert in the bottom or just that one?

That's a tough question since there are so many cameras out on the market. I would say MOST probably DON'T have the insert in the bottom, but look before you buy one as several brands do have them.

You could also rig up a plate that would allow you to mount a camera to it and then screw the plate into the bracket pretty easy if you have other cameras already that don't have the adapter hole in the bottom.

Here's a day time video also shot with the Coverts. The quality has been reduced some with the way I saved it, but I figured you guys might like to see this one.

Once again, click on the photo to view it on my photobucket page.

HOLY ROCKIN CHAIR RACK BATMAN!@!!#$!@#!

That is the buck of a lifetime right there!

I'm all over this buck right now...

I have five clips of him during daylight hours on my farm in the past 10 days and I also saw him twice when he didn't walk in front of a camera the past two days.

To say that I'm pulling out all of the stops right now to kill him before he moves off, would be an understatement.

Man good luck HM that is sweet! After one like that you might as well just hunt for the meat!! Gonna be real hard to ever beat that one!!

RC

Uhh...yeah I believe if I had a buck like that patterned I'd be calling in sick...every...day.

Not every day, just every morning right now... With the West-Northwest winds we are getting, I can't get to him in his bedding area, so I have to catch him in the am on his way back.

Now if we start getting some south winds...

Huntmaster, the next picture of him I hope to see your hands around the antlers. Good luck! That's a great deer.

X2 - That guy is a stud and needs to have permanent space reserved on a trophy wall!!

Hes got a messed up rack. The left side is bigger with an extra tine or the right side didn't grow as well this year.

He is a nice and thick animal.

Cheers Don.

The cheap plastic mounting bracket for the Cuddeback trail cam broke. Spent an hour making a new one from square-stock metal. The plastic belt clip had already broken on the original strap and been replaced with a ratchet strap. Too bad some manufactures skimp on the cheap parts of their products. Its good to go now.

The first thing I throw away is the strap that comes with the trail cams and go right to a ratchet strap.

And what a let down on the Freak I caught on film...

I showed a couple hunting buddies the videos and we were talking about this buck over the weekend. The next day, one of them texts me a trail cam pic taken a month ago of the buck asking if he looks familiar??? Yeah, like he needed to ask me that...

So I just ask who and where did he get the pic from? He then proceeds to tell me that his buddies dad had the deer escape from his deer farming operation when a tree fell down on the fence. The trail cam pic was from the day after he escaped and they were trying to get him back inside the pen. He actually had several deer escape and all but this one came back to the pen shortly after.

Now get this...his operation is over 10 miles away from me!! So this buck escaped a deer pen, traveled 10 miles and crossed a major river to finally make his home on my place for a couple weeks!!

Now in Michigan, if the deer has been out of the pen for more than 48 hours, you can legally shoot him if you have a legal license. The guy that owned the buck has also said that I can go ahead and shoot him if he presents a shot. I have now reviewed the film a little closer and you can actually tell it has ear tags, but I never would've known...

I'm not going to make a concerted effort to kill him now that I know "the rest of the story", but if I'm hunting and he strolls by, I'll take him considering he is now free range and has been for over a month.

Someone in the neighborhood is gonna get a surprise when they shoot this buck and they find out he has "earrings"...

BTW, he hasn't been on my cameras for the past 5 days now and I have hunted four of those days prior to finding out the rest of the story.

Oh man that sucks! And even if you do kill him it won't be the same. That big old buck doesn't know any better. Just not the same as killing one that's been out there for 5 years on it's own. I wonder if he saw you if he would even take off?? He may not even be afraid of humans.

RC

Huntmaster this reminded me of another story along the same lines. Years ago a local farmer about 10 miles or so away from me had an ostrich farm. A few had got out as well and most rounded up with horses. We were picking stones out of bean field right next to our corn field when out of the corn came this ostrich.

I am on the tractor and this thing looked me right in the eye then turned on the guys on the ground. That thing went nuts going after these guys. The guys took off into the corn field like rats with this ostrich after them. From on top of the tractor I laughed my A$$ off watching this all happening. I could see the corn moving left right back forth from up top.

After they lost this thing in the corn the guys came back and we all were like WTF.... did that just happened. Where the hell did this thing come from?

So we told a few people about this and later we found out that there was some that escaped form a ostrich farm. This one was a big male that never did get caught in the first month or so.

Funnest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Cheers Don.

You just can't make a story like that up. That is hilarious. I wonder why the ostrich was so peeved. This is why you always need a camera with you. That would have been a priceless video.

High dollar, but worth it in the long run is the Reconyx camera. The HC600 is fantastic. A set of 12AA Lithiums will take 20,000 pics or more depending on settings. Fast trigger speed, durable units that won't crap out in a year or two. Consider it an investment. Generally, the only naysayers are those that have never owned one.

And those of us who can't afford one.

I second that. Cheapo Moultrie from Wal-Mart still going strong after 4 years.

Yep Our moultrie colection is strong too and while the Reconyx is taking pics in your one location, my moultries are taking pics in four locations for the same price.

We have been using trail cams for years and years. Going way back to when you had to run to the store and develop your film before you could see what you had. Hands down the best camera on the market is made by Reconyx. We just bought our 4th Hyperfire (HC600) for the farm. Ours hang from July through February. Fastest trigger speed on the market, best quality pictures, nighttime images are amazing and best of all, they work year after year. We run the lithium batteries as well, and they will take tens of thousands of pictures on a set.

My advice...you will go through 3 or 4 of the cheaper ones before you wind up with an expensive one you're happy with.

I'm not a deer hunter,,,,, yet



But still exciting to catch this guy on the trail-cam!

Keith, keep lookin at pics like that and you'll probably be out there next week, month or yr. If you're not real convinced about shootin one, get some camo, a good dose of patience, a quiet video cam and go sit by the trail. If ya think fishing is time consuming, wait till your heart rate about doubles the first time you're lookin to the right and that big boy comes sauntering along about 20' from your left. That's when you'll start spending ALOT of time sittin in a tree or bush. Good luck.

Had a nice 9 pt come by on Saturday morning (maybe 130 or so), but I passed. He finally winded me from about 10 ft away. A bit of grunting and slow following by sub-dominants, but nothing serous yet. Have seen 2 reasonable bucks in this range so far, but none on film yet. Hoping for a real trophy to show up during rut!

Bob-O, I love your description and yes, I'm certainly itching for the thrill! But having only shotguns and a .22 long rifle I'm just not equipped for the big game,,, yet Nor the field dressing, etc... I think it's time to hit up a buddy or two!

RAH, when you say "9 pt", is that total antler points? I've heard them called 4x4, 4x5, etc. Could you explain the correct way to describe one, like the one in my photo? I'm clueless when you guys describe these and the scores!

Thanks!

Any point over 1" is considered counting both antlers. Mine was a 5 by 4. Yours looks like a 10 pt. A very nice buck, but I have had good luck in the last few years, so I am looking for something bigger. Scoring is on length of beams and tines, and on mass. I would have taken him a few short years ago, but I am trying to break 170 inches. did not even see or get a photo of one that big last year, but if I do not let them grow, they will never get there. I saw a very nice one with seven tines on one side last year but the other side was broken of after 3 tines. A fellow shot him on a neighboring rental property, but I hear that he now has a restraining order unrelated to hunting that prevents him from hunting there this year. I have seen 4 different bucks so far this year that should be shooters next year.

Typically midwest and eastern states (basically we're talking about whitetails here) describe the antlers as total antler point count. In the Western States, for Mule Deer and Elk, (I'm unsure about whitetails) they describe the antlers as points per side, i.e. 4x4 6x7, etc.

Then you get into typical and non-typical.

Search for the following websites, which explain it in greater detail. Each site has their own scoring system. This a short list - there are others.

Pope & Young
Boone & Crockett
Safari Club International

RAH and Esshup, thank you both for the info!

And Scott, I've only seen the Boone & Crockett website so far but very informative, thank you!

Although, from the detailed scoring program I'm either going to have rope it or shoot it to get an accurate score

Thanks again!

Tranquilizer gun.....

That deer IMHO is a 3.5 year old with great potential...If I had to guess a score I would say mid to high 130"s..It is clean enough it would probably put you in the book with a bow, but not a gun...

Another year on him and you might be amazed at what he does.. Most say 3.5 to 4.5 is one of the biggest growth years for deer...

Good luck in your quest even if it is just taking pictures and tracking what is using your land...

Thanks Outdoorlivin,

I would love to see his progress over the next few years if he sticks around, and/or survives.

Interesting story from Gunsandammo.com.

http://forums.gunsandammo.com/showthread.php?16822-Ok-so-my-deer-story

Great story Fred.

I shot this decent 8 point on Saturday opening gun season here. He is my best buck so far here in Arkansas. Has a broke G3 on the left side but still a decent buck. I have gotten blessed this year and was able to take one buck during ML season and this one during Gun season I savored the moment and enjoyed every bit of it that I was blessed with.

RC

Congratulations!

Nice deer, Congrats! Our gun season opens Saturday. They are calling for a 20°F temp swing (up) for opening weekend, then a 30°F temp swing (down) by midweek.

Nice Deer, RC and looks like you got a good shot on him!

Congrats!

Thanks guys and yeah I double lunged him he went about 50 yards and fell in a creek and took a nap so I was happy about that too. I always try my best to take one shot one kill. These beautiful animals deserve that at the very least.

RC

I saw this Bushnell "security" cam at Sams; cost $100. I am very happy with my current Bushnell; not sure about this one but I bought one and will give it a try. I may use for security instead of wildlife cam.

Ive had some of all of them and this year got my first Reconyx 600. Ill be buying another new Reconyx soon. Fantastic camera. FYI, Leopold camera is garbage but the little card viewer is great. I also have a Bushnell that is adequate.

Unless it transmits info/pics to a PC, any surveillance camera that can be stolen is useless. And, I've had several stolen.

That, and the PRICE of Reconyx, is why I put up with substandard game cameras.

DJSTAUDER, did the bushnell camera in your post above meet your expecations? Any idea what model it is or how to get them now?