Favorite Trail cam

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  • Inhuntr

    Plinker
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    Aug 5, 2016
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    Clinton
    I would like to buy a new trail cam in a week or so. I’m looking at bushnell and browning right now but am open to about anything. I would like to stay in the $100 range but could go a little higher if need be. I want nice crisp pics and maybe flip to video mode but probably not. What’s everyone use?
     

    mom45

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    Nov 10, 2013
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    I'm partial to Stealth Cams. I have a half dozen of the G42NG (no glow/blacked out so no flash visible) and two of the DS4K. The G42NG are $100 or less on Amazon. The other model is more $$$ but so much better quality of photos and videos.

    You can see a lot of pictures here...most are from the cheaper model. The videos are from the DS4K.

    https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...-favorite-pictures-captured-your-cameras.html
     

    Restroyer

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    May 13, 2015
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    Bushnell HD Essential E2 12MP model #119836C. It's the best that I have owned. My second choice would be the Stealth that mom45 mentioned. The Brownings that I have owned I have had to return because they were junk (even though they cost more). I used to like the Stealth the best until I got these Bushnell cameras. The Bushnells take better videos and photos, have a faster trigger speed to take photos, a longer range, and the sound quality is great. It's cool hearing the turkeys making calls on the Bushnell and it helps you practice your own calls in the house in the offseason (play the video, pause, practice the call to mimic the sound until the wife starts teasing me). I also use rechargeable batteries for the Bushnell for videos. The Stealths that I have tend to run down the batteries way too fast. So my advice is to get a Bushnell when they go on sale (Amazon sells them for $120 but they have constant sales around $90) or get a Stealth as my 2nd choice. Stay away from the Browning cameras.
     

    mom45

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    Bushnell HD Essential E2 12MP model #119836C. It's the best that I have owned. My second choice would be the Stealth that mom45 mentioned. The Brownings that I have owned I have had to return because they were junk (even though they cost more). I used to like the Stealth the best until I got these Bushnell cameras. The Bushnells take better videos and photos, have a faster trigger speed to take photos, a longer range, and the sound quality is great. It's cool hearing the turkeys making calls on the Bushnell and it helps you practice your own calls in the house in the offseason (play the video, pause, practice the call to mimic the sound until the wife starts teasing me). I also use rechargeable batteries for the Bushnell for videos. The Stealths that I have tend to run down the batteries way too fast. So my advice is to get a Bushnell when they go on sale (Amazon sells them for $120 but they have constant sales around $90) or get a Stealth as my 2nd choice. Stay away from the Browning cameras.


    I have had good luck with the Lithium batteries in the Stealth cams. I buy them thru Ebay and get a way better price than getting them locally. The DS4K has really good sound quality on the videos but is more expensive. The cheapest I have seen them is on Optics Planet for around $189. I will say Stealth Cam has had good customer service the few times I have had to call them. I had one camera that failed when it was almost out of warranty (one year), and they replaced it for me.

    Good info on the Bushnell....might have to check those out.
     

    10mmMarc

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    Jan 16, 2015
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    Greenwood
    I was in sams club today and they had a 2 pack of stealth trail came for $99 , probably not the best but for budget minded people this might be a good deal, I plan on going back and buying a set.
     

    mom45

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    Nov 10, 2013
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    I was in sams club today and they had a 2 pack of stealth trail came for $99 , probably not the best but for budget minded people this might be a good deal, I plan on going back and buying a set.


    Do you know which model it was? They do have some that normally run about $60 each but I don't believe those are the no glow and have a visible flash. If they are the no glow, that is a great deal!
     

    ART338WM

    Sharpshooter
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    Jun 2, 2013
    426
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    Lucked out and stumbled onto a pretty good deal 18 months ago on a package deal on close out Moultrie A5 gen 2's. Internet store was selling two new not referb A5 G2's with 8gb
    SD card and Duracell batteries for $69.99 I bought four total. Used them and promptly wished I'd bought more. Just bought 4 Tasco 8mp trail cams for $28/EA. The way I look at it 8 basic no frills trail cams that get the job done for the price of 2 high end cams let me cover 4x as much area. At the end of the day I fail to see any disadvantage of a lower quality picture that still is good enough that I can accurately judge a bucks rack. I want pictures for scouting not framing and putting on my living room wall.

    I was very surprised how good a 5mp camera took day time pictures, quite clear past 150 yards wasn't expecting that. Night time were lower quality but still entirely usable. I've
    only been able test the Tasco cams in day light and again surprised by the quality of the pictures, much better than needed to accurately judge any deer it photographs. Tascos IMHO are decently well made and very small, but are strictly a no frills cam and need a card reader to view the pics. My Moltrie's have a USB port which is nice.

    If one can afford to spend well over $100-$200+ on a trail cam you have my envy. I'd love to be able to afford the new cams that send pics to your cell phone but that's just not within my budget. Thankfully I have to afford to take my two sons hunting and I don't need to tell anyone with young hunters it aint a cheep endeavor.
     
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    chuckp

    Sharpshooter
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    Nov 22, 2009
    452
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    I have a bunch of Moultrie's and have had the battery tray corrode. I tried to get some more trays and they do not sell them as that model is discontinued. Now I have multiple $140 cameras that I have to half ass a tray together to get to work. No more purchasing Moultrie cameras for me.

    chuck
     

    Restroyer

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    May 13, 2015
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    SE Indiana
    What height off the ground is everyone setting there cameras at?

    I set mine about waist high or around 3 feet high. You might get a lot of squirrel and rabbit videos but you'll also get foxes, weasels, etc. by keeping it a little low. If you only want deer then set it a little higher than that. Take into account the terrain also - where the incoming animal will set off the camera at.
     

    phylodog

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    Mar 7, 2008
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    We've had very good luck with Bushnell cameras, we've got around a dozen of them. In the few instances we've had trouble they've been very good about making things right.

    That said, we've been very impressed with the Covert Cameras we've picked up in the last couple of years. We just added an LTE version to our setup and it's working extremely well. I now have a new ritual every morning of checking to see what paid the camera a visit overnight.
     

    two70

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    Feb 5, 2016
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    Johnson
    I would like to buy a new trail cam in a week or so. I’m looking at bushnell and browning right now but am open to about anything. I would like to stay in the $100 range but could go a little higher if need be. I want nice crisp pics and maybe flip to video mode but probably not. What’s everyone use?

    It has been my experience that the better sub $100 cameras are ok if you just want to get some deer pictures and plan on putting the camera in a location where you expect the deer to linger for a significant amount of time(bait or mineral sites, waterholes, scrapes, etc.) If you are serious about using trail cameras for scouting you either need one that triggers fast enough to cover deer moving quickly along trails, especially during the rut, or you need to give a slower camera all of the help you can with placement(ie. move it farther from the trail for a wider FOV or close to the trail but angled to face up or down it). Of course these placement also have some inherent problems and depending on the speed of your camera, may still cause you to miss deer. For those reasons, I would recommend stepping up to better camera in the $100-$200 with a faster trigger speed if you are really serious about using them for scouting.

    Personally I've tried Bushnell, Wild Game Innovations, Moultrie, and Game Spy but I only run Cuddebacks now. I've found them to trigger fast, be reliable and take high quality photos. They also have 5 year warranties and offer discounted replacement once the warranty is up. Sportsman's Guide often has refurbished Cuddebacks at good prices and if you are a Buyer's Club member, you can get them for 20% off with their frequent double discount sales.
     

    mom45

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    Most of my cameras are about 2 foot off of the ground. I make sure that there are no weeds or branches/leaves directly in front of them that would trigger them on windy days. I also set mine on a photo burst setting of 5 to 7 pictures when not on video. That way if something triggers them, there is a better chance of capturing it on the card since the cameras take about 30 seconds to reset. We had way more blank pictures before we lowered the cameras. We do get squirrels, rabbits, etc....even mice sometimes.
     

    phylodog

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    I only run Cuddebacks now. I've found them to trigger fast, be reliable and take high quality photos. They also have 5 year warranties and offer discounted replacement once the warranty is up. Sportsman's Guide often has refurbished Cuddebacks at good prices and if you are a Buyer's Club member, you can get them for 20% off with their frequent double discount sales.

    The Cuddeback Link system has our attention. It would be incredible to only have to go to one camera to retrieve pics from 10 or more. We have noticed a significant difference in the deer behavior when we stay out of the woods rather than going in every two weeks to put corn down and pull cards. It's just a pretty chunk of change to switch over.
     

    two70

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    The Cuddeback Link system has our attention. It would be incredible to only have to go to one camera to retrieve pics from 10 or more. We have noticed a significant difference in the deer behavior when we stay out of the woods rather than going in every two weeks to put corn down and pull cards. It's just a pretty chunk of change to switch over.

    I have definitely noticed the difference in deer behavior around cameras I check frequently as well. I am currently running three Cuddelinks to test them out before making a complete switch. My main concerns are battery life and transmit distance and so far they seem to transmit at least 300 yards in more open terrain. Of course the real test will be when I move them into cover. I haven't been running them long enough yet to see what battery life is like.
     

    phylodog

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    I have definitely noticed the difference in deer behavior around cameras I check frequently as well. I am currently running three Cuddelinks to test them out before making a complete switch. My main concerns are battery life and transmit distance and so far they seem to transmit at least 300 yards in more open terrain. Of course the real test will be when I move them into cover. I haven't been running them long enough yet to see what battery life is like.

    I'd be interested to hear how it goes. The way their cameras can daisy chain is a really nice feature, if they'll transmit as far as they claim we could almost cover our entire place with the system.
     
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    two70

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    I'd be interested to hear how it goes. The way their cameras can daisy chain is a really nice feature, if they'll transmit as far as they claim we could almost cover our entire place with the system.

    I'll give you an update once I've had more time to play with the system. One of the nice features of the system is that it lets you know if you are in range of another camera in the chain so that takes all of the guess work out. I just haven't had much time to mess with them yet. Due to the nature of my best hunting property and the way I have to access it, I need the system to transmit across two 400 yard gaps and the batteries to last for at least 6 weeks. If it does that then I'm all in and may even look at marrying it to their new cell enabled cam so that I can have the photos texted immediately to my phone.
     

    phylodog

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    From what I've read you shouldn't have any issues linking them across 400yds provided there is open air between them. I'll be standing by for intel. ;)
     

    two70

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    From what I've read you shouldn't have any issues linking them across 400yds provided there is open air between them. I'll be standing by for intel. ;)

    Yes, the open air thing is where the rub lies. The advertising seems to suggest that thick forest and/or hills will reduce the effective range. The second gap I need to bridge is about 75% wide open and I have a good fall back location so not worried about it. The first gap though is heavily wooded and I don't have any good back up placements to maintain the link if the cams won't transmit the full distance. The next time I make it down south to check my cams I intend to thoroughly test just how far and through what kind of cover they will still link up. I'll provide an update then. :D
     

    10mmMarc

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    I just left Sams Club in Greenwood , They have Stealth XS14 double packs with a 4 in 1 card reader which allows you to pull the SD card and plug it into your cell phone to view pictures, TODAY ONLY $20 off making them $79.99, they had both all black models and camo models , I opted for the camo model, I figured for the price it can't be beat.
    I just checked amazon, they have the exact same package for $206
     
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