I live in a wooded sub-division and occasionally see deer passing through a wooded trail between my house and the neighbor.
I would like to install 1 or 2 trail cameras in the area to see what travels through the area at night.
What would be a good (not top of the line) brand/model trail cam that you can recommend? Not looking for anything fancy.....just a simple, plain Jane model; preferably something under $100 bucks.....
Would appreciate recommendations!
I just went through purchasing another camera since one of my older ones stopped working.
A guy at work talked me into trying the cheap $40 camera from Menards (Muddy 14mp). I finally bought one, thinking 'how bad can it be?' Well, you buy a cheap camera from Menards, you get a cheap camera from Menards. Loaded batteries and SD, programmed it, and set it out for the day/evening. The LEDs glow bright red for pics, and sustain the bright red glow 10 seconds for vids. I watched it flash numerous times throughout the day/evening as I walked by it. Later, pulled the chip and popped it into the laptop. Not one image was saved. Took out the batteries, put them back in, reprogrammed the settings and set it out for an hour, capturing several events, then moved into a dark room to test the nighttime pics. The red glow was REALLY bad in a dark room. This time it actually recorded all the images. They were quite crisp too. I set it for video and re-did the experiments. It recorded many videos, but on playback every single one was scrambled. Took it back to Menards and got my money back.
Went to Farm and Fleet, they had a Stealth Cam Browtine for $20 more than the Muddy. I've used Stealthcams for many years. Purchased, got home and opened the package. Other than the name on the box and slightly different body front around the LEDs, IT WAS THE SAME CAMERA. With all the same issues as the Muddy - bright red glow, scrambled videos. Took it back.
Went to Walmart, bought a $70 Bushnell no-glow camera that doesn't show up when you search the WM website. It works perfectly (pics and videos), and there is no LED glow. Period.
I'm running fewer cameras but better quality. Quality vs quantity. I have seen cheap cameras spook deer constantly. Just run them on video mode and you'll see. Local buck shows up on a scrap spooks and is never seen again on that scrap. I'm running 3 spypoints cell cameras. They are Okay to good. Audible click from day to night spooks deer though. Cuddeback is complete garbage. I had 2 of the Cuddelink. I'm glad I didn't go all in on that flawed system. Hopefully they made improvements I hate to say bad things about WI company. I have had 2 Reconyx for many years. They are worth the money. My next cell camera will be Reconyx. Here's the first pic on my clover plot with my spypoint. The big doe obviously heard the camera. I only got one pic so I'm assuming she bolted out of there.
I run 2 browning cams down home and both are going on 4 years strong. Batteries last a solid year with a couple 1000 pictures a season. Also run 4 tactacam reveals at cabin up north. Only thing I recommend with those is make sure u use a recommended sd card they can be picky
Have tried numerous trail camera brands ( mid-price point levels) over the years and all seem to start having issues at some pount . Started using Browning units when they first came out and had great results with no issues for the first few years but I have had three fail over the last 18 months. I still run a combination of Browning, Moultrie, Bushnell) . Hard to make a recommendation with inconsistent results I have experienced. I know some guys just put out inexpensive units knowing that all brands end up failing at some point. As noted picture quality can suffer on some of the low end models
For the cheaper cameras, I've tried them all over the years. The worst I've had are Wild Game Innovations. They are terrible. The best by far has been Browning. I had one crap out on me in about a year. I have one that has been in the field for probably 4 years straight now and the other 3 years. I seriously only change the batteries once a year or so. I get TONS of pictures (I had over 2,000 pictures of deer from 6/9 - 8/16). Picture quality is good.
Wood-n-Water said it exactly correct on the cell cameras. The camera will have its own plan, so your personal cell service doesn't matter. If you are looking at lower end cell cameras, I would recommend the Tactacam over the Moultrie Mobile. I have several friends running the Tactacams and they have been good so far. Limited friend experience with the Moultrie, but it has not been good.
Gordon, the cell service you personally have for your phone is irrelevant. The camera will have its own plan. So it makes no difference if you have US Cellular and get a cam with a Verizon or AT&T plan. Ideally you would want a to pick the service with the best coverage for the area you hunt.
I sort of feel like they are all a gamble. I know some like Browning, but I have had 2 of them crap out on me. One won't read an SD card anymore and the other won't turn on. Then I had a few cheaper ones that have been running for years, but I don't like them aside from that they still work haha. They get noticed more than the better cameras. The Browning ones were nice when they worked. Had a Cuddyback years ago that died too. Maybe I just have bad luck, or they make these things so that we keep spending our money on them.
I wouldn’t put a ridiculous amount of thought into a camera. They all work and they all crap out too. If u get a $50 camera just don’t expect to get years and years of use out of it. And the nighttime pics will be a bit more grainy and blurry. If u want a more long term camera get something a little better. As stated earlier I like the browning cameras, they go the whole season on one set of batteries and take good pics but I have Stealth and Wildgame cameras that I use too. When they crap out I chuck em out and get a new one, eBay is a good place to look.
My older trail cam was damaged this week. From the looks of it, a woodpecker took out the window for the motion detector. Most of the plastic broke out and some small marks on what was left.
I have had birds land and look at it before. Must have looked like an insect entrance way or such.
One of my newer cameras had to be washed as a young spike must have liked the smell. Licked it all over. Made the lens a bit slimy.
Out of the 3 trail cams I have, Stealth Cam 26MP($99), Wild Innovations 18MP($60), and Browning 24MP($140). I stand by the Browning as my most trusted and favorite. Stealth cam when very cold will stop taking 45sec videos and only take 3sec vids. Wild Innovations wasn't recording vids or pics even if I was standing right in front of it waving my arms. Browning Strike Force has an onboard screen to quick view/delete unwanted videos and pics so I don't have to waste SD card space or pull card if I don't have anything on it. The videos during day and night are by far crisper and cleaner than my Stealth Cam even though it has less MP's and lower resolution. Just my experience and opinion.
