Trail Cam

[Steve Schlumpf]

Been thinking of picking up a trail cam to put out on our property to find out who/what has been visiting while we are away. Any suggestions as to what to look for/or avoid would be much appreciated. TIA.

[Greg Parrish]

Gave my dad a Browning Strike Force 12mp trail cam a few months ago and it's been working awesome. He loves it and has gotten some great shots on it. He just uses it to see what wildlife is around the property and not for hunting purposes

http://txbonds.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v32/p2024224257-4.jpg

http://txbonds.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v86/p2004303181-4.jpg

[Matt Day]

Wow, Greg thise are some really cool shots! When I think game camera I think blurry pixelated images, not a magazine quality image! Very cool.

And when i first saw the thread title i thought we were going to be talking about mountain biking trail cameras.

[Chet R Parks]

Steve,
I've had 3 Cuddeback, for over 6 years now and all 3 are in use about 8 months a year. I can't remember the model # but were about $100 each. I have had vary good luck with them and they only take 4, D size batteries. I look for color pictures, SD card recording, ease of setting time/date, adjustable time lapse, 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min etc., adjustable web strapping, no bungee cords, number of batteries. Using small sticks/twigs as shims between the camera and tree help pinpoint the camera angle. I only use mine for fur and feather critters if you want to capture people then you may want to look at a IR camera, but I understand they only take black and white but not sure??? Of course non IR cameras will not flash in daylight but at dawn, dusk and cloudy days they might. Someone else may be able to help with IR cameras. Good Luck. Oh, one last thing be sure to clear spindly grasses, small brush, etc. from the target area of the camera or you will end up with 72 pictures of a small twig blowing back and forth in the wind.:)
Chet

[Pat Pollin]

my best luck happens at drinking spots
and the compost pile is a gold mine for trail cam

[Jebediah Eckert]

I have had a few brands and ended up sticking with Moultrie. They are easy to setup and the batteries last forever. Cold is tough on batteries. I put a new set in last September and it stayed out til Feb or so. Just put it back out and it has 65% battery left.

BassPro has a really good sale now on Moultrie M-888i fo $99. I couldn't resist for that model at that price, picked it up today. With hunting season on the horizon you should be able to catch a good sale on any brand.

Cuddeback's are also supposed to be one of the best as well.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for the info! We have some property that we like to spend time on camping, fishing and hiking. We have seen lots of wildlife (mostly birds and deer) but have also found tracks of bear, wolf, coyote and fox. Would be nice to see what our 'pets' look like!

[John K Jordan]

A few years ago I bought a couple of the Primos Truth Cam 35s and they've been working well. I use them to cover some areas on the farm that my video security cameras don't cover. I also bought the steel boxes that help keep any 2-legged wildlife from relocating them. So far all the pictures have been of me and a horse or two, yippee.

JKJ

[Greg Parrish]

The browning I posted pics from also takes ir pics but I don't have any handy. It has a hole molded in the back that you use a wire bike lock type lock to secure them to the tree. My dad is having a ball with it and so far it's working well. I think it said it could go up to 7 months on a set of batteries too with normal use.

[Myk Rian]

If you have a smart phone, you can use a WiFi camera to send you pictures.
I have a Funlux cam inside the house that takes a picture, and sends a notice to my phone when activated by sound or movement. I can be anywhere in the world to get the notice. It takes a snapshot when sound activated, and a burst of 5 shots with movement. You can also watch it live. Really a neat cam. You can place them all over the house or property where you have a wall plug. Buy em for $40. Check Ebay. They also sell DVR setups.

[Brett Luna]

Having meant to do so for quite some time, I finally just bought a game cam to capture some of the critter activity around our place. I usually research such purchases before pulling the trigger but this was to be for casual use (haven't hunted in decades) so I just went to Cabela's and got one with specs I liked for around $100. I wound up with a SpyPoint Force and I got some nice results from the first try. My wife likes to put peanuts out on the deck for our resident Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) but at night their cousins, the Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus yukonensis) get in on the action:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZD4eGisLew

[Kevin Womer]

That is pretty cool, my son uses a trail cam to check on deer. They seem to work pretty well but I don't know a lot about them.

[Curt Harms]

We have one similar to this one, we didn't pay anywhere near $219

http://www.wildgameinnovations.com/crush-10x-lightsout-trail-camera.html

We leave dry cat food out overnight and bought it to check on our feline nocturnal visitors. It turns out we have more than feline visitors - skunks, possums, coons and the occasional cat:). The area the camera covers is pretty small, from the 'feeding station' to the camera is about 10 feet. The infrared flash was overpowering in that small space, all the pictures were really washed out and we couldn't find a way to 'turn down' the flash intensity. I bought some clear sheets suitable for laser printers and created 2 medium gray donut shaped filters. Now it works great. The camera requires 8 AA batteries, we bought lithium thinking they'd be better in cold weather. They last about a year taking still shots - no video. A few of our 'neighbors'. The black trash bag was an effort to reduce the IR flash. It didn't work.

[Pat Pollin]

Love the flying squirrel video Brett . sweet landing at around 1:15!