Trail Cam Opinions

bill c68

bill c68

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Location
Prince Edward Island
I am thinking about getting a trail cam, I only have a few days in the fall to hunt deer and have to go to another province, I want to use all the advantages I can legally use.

Just looking ofr a few opinions. Digital vs film, flash vs. night vision etc.

Some say the flash does not bother the deer and there is a decent digital game cam at Cabela's for $149. Some say the flash scares off the deer and they should be avoided.

An thrid opinion is that the flash scares off the deer just enough to encourage them enought to come during daylight hours.


Anyway, thanks for your opinions and feel free to post some pics from your cam.
 
there are lots of 2.0 meg pixel cameras out there for cheap. If you want some quality photos, avoid these.

Buy a decent camera and shy away from Walmart stuff. I've made that mistake.

just my 10 cents.
 
I have had mixed results with my Bushnell Nitevision cameras. I set up my cameras last November and left them in excellent spots, one over-looking a scrape and another along a feeding/trail area and got no pics at all from them. I suspect it was due to poor battery performance maybe related to temperatures.

I am going to set one of them up tonight to watch a good cutline, where I have found sign of a good black bear feeding. I hope like heck I get some good pics.
 
Anymore opinions? I am thinking of ordering one this week Cabela's has the Moultrie 5.0 megapixel camera for $149, the exchange rate is excellent right now!

Can anyone confirm or deny the idea that the flash will spook game?

THX
 
bill c68,

You see lots of pics taken with these camera at night and many with the deers face right to the objective, I don't think the flash affect them that much.

If they are feeding, you will have a nice pic, if they are slowly passing, depends on how fast de delai before the camera takes the pic. Be careful, some lower end models have long delai 6-7sec and sometimes more :eek: while others have a quick 2 sec delai, make sure you ask first because it is not always mentionned. Infrared is also less demending on the batteries but generally more $$$.

Good luck
 
I have a Bushnell Trail Scout Pro LED 3.0

it was/is a great camera but after 90 days in the field in temps down to -35 it wouldnt take a picture, although it would record events. Sent it back to Bushnell and 2 months later I got a new one in the mail

BushnellTrailCam.jpg


It has an LED flash so its undectable to the eye. I like it

http://usera.imagecave.com/ws6/TrailCam4.JPG

http://usera.imagecave.com/ws6/TrailCam52.jpg
 
Republic of Alberta said:
The #1 problem with these things is that they are slow to react, in other words, you get a lot of ass shots of deer walking by.
Click to expand...

placement of the camera is critical. Pointing it down the trail will reduce ass shots. You will get more pics of game coming into the field of view and more pics of game walking away.
 
I'm going to buy a trail cam soon too. How many pictures can you get on the film? I'm pretty sure if i put mine up there would be about 20 pictures a night. I want to put it on this deer trail . Its pretty muddy right now and I see tons of deer tracks,raccoon,coyote.turkey. They all seem to walk this one path and I want to get a look at this big deer that is leaving monster tracks in the mud.
 
Don't even consider a film camera, digital is the best option. A 512 card will let you get hundreds of pictures. The flash on most systems isn't really strong so you are best to set the camera up close to the trail or scrape etc. But then if the animal is moving and the trigger speed is slow you get tail shots.

In my opinion, the very best systems are the home built models. Buy a controller board, case, and a camera (certain Sony models are the best right now), a bit of soldering and mounting it in the case and it is ready for the field. Price will depend on the cost of the camera you choose but guaranteed it will trigger faster than the common models on the retail shelves.

There are trail camera reviews on chasingame.com
 
I am looking at the moultrie series.
The Game Spy 4.0 is last years model and is only $99 http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...tx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=game+spy&noImage=0 , the 5.0 version is $149 or $199 with a built in viewer http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...de+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=outfitter+cam&noImage=0 .
They claim to have a 1 sec delay, will accept upt to a 4GB card and claim the flash is good for 45ft (I am a photogrpaher by trade and sold cameras for 4 years, I find this claim to be a bit exagerrated)
I think I will go for it. Battery life is supposed to be 60 days, I'll be surprised if it gets 30 but that would be just fine. 2 sets of rechargeables are the way to go, you can also get a solar panel for $25 that keeps the batteries charged. I don't know if there will be much sun where this is going.
 
Demonical said:
I have had mixed results with my Bushnell Nitevision cameras. I set up my cameras last November and left them in excellent spots, one over-looking a scrape and another along a feeding/trail area and got no pics at all from them. I suspect it was due to poor battery performance maybe related to temperatures.

I am going to set one of them up tonight to watch a good cutline, where I have found sign of a good black bear feeding. I hope like heck I get some good pics.
Click to expand...


FYI I only had the camera in place 3 days and had like 25 pics. A lot of pics were simply triggered by a branch waving in the wind (I think) and there was nothing in the frame, but there were 3 pics of deer and clearly all 3 were taken at different times.
So the camera was functioning excellently.
Still puzzled about the poor results from November but now I believe those really were due to ####ty batteries.

The Bushnell Nitevision cameras are 3 MP and have a choice of IR flash or conventional flash. I always run 'em on the IR flash; supposedly better.
 
FYI the cameras are triggered by a rise in thermal energy, not windy branches, at least the Bushnell Trail Scout Pro 3.0 LED, which is what I believe you have
 
todbartell said:
FYI the cameras are triggered by a rise in thermal energy, not windy branches, at least the Bushnell Trail Scout Pro 3.0 LED, which is what I believe you have
Click to expand...


Really? I know it's got a laser sensor, I thought it was triggered by motion. :D
 
I have used a few of them from the cheap Moulties to a Cuddelback. Should have saved all my money and just bought one of the ones that has a removable digital sony camera. I finally bought one and it is by far the best.
I have had it out in minus 20 deg. to a couple of weeks ago and it has never let me down. Here is a link to the company I bought mine from
http://www.woodlandspycam.com/products.htm.
Now I see that there is a Canadian company that makes them.
www.camocams.com.
Here is a link to a write up on the bowzone about them.
http://forum.bowzone.ca/showthread.php?t=6327

Here is some photo's from mine

TrailCam05018.jpg


TrailcamDec01.jpg


TrailcamDec014.jpg


Kensmisc-16.jpg


Kensmisc-19.jpg


I swear buy them and if I was use, I would save your funds and buy a good one that will last you a long time.

Cheers
 
the last picture?????

It is the menace of all Trail Cams, the dreaded Black bear!!!!

They can and will eat your trail cam if they find it and feel like it. Most of the time they just wander by, but this guy came up, looked in the camera and then walked away. I have three pictures of him. I have not lost a camera yet, but it can happen.
 
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