Author Topic: Game Cameras (Read 3277 times)

springer222 · « **on:** December 13, 2003, 04:55:21 AM »

Hey folks-

I'm looking at purchasing 2-3 game cameras to monitor deer movement around spring/summer food plots. I have no experience with these systems and would like info from people who use them. I have access to the Trial Timer brand wholesale but as I said have no experience. Is this a good brand or should I look further? And what about the new digital systems? They look somewhat more pricey; but also much more convenient. Thoughts?? Thanks in advance.

springer222 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 26, 2003, 02:38:02 PM »

Come on folks! No takers???

dbuz · « **Reply #2 on:** December 26, 2003, 08:17:40 PM »

I don't know a whole lot about game cameras, but I wouldn't buy a digital one. I've heard too many get stolen at night. I guess it depends on where you hunt, but there are always outlaw hunters out there.

rck329 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2004, 04:44:54 PM »

springer222,
did you ever settle on a trail camera?
I'm looking into getting one (or more)

was wondering if those cheap $80 units was worth a darn.
most of the others are considerably more expensive

springer222 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 12, 2004, 01:46:16 PM »

Nope, the jury is still out as I have yet to settle on a camera. I was hoping for a little more input from folks having experience with game cameras.

Whopper Stopper · « **Reply #5 on:** March 14, 2004, 03:47:42 AM »

Well, I am by no means an authority on cameras but I will share what I know. I have a Deer Cam, http://www.deercam.com/ and I love it. I have tried a few others and for me this was the easiest and most dependable to use. Mine is a couple of years old and they have since updated and improved them even more. The new ones allow you to set the camera to fire from :15 sec - 1 full hour. I leave mine by food and I have returned to find a big old doe used up the whole roll. The new time settings will prevent that. The new one also allows you to tell how many pictures were taken without taking the camera out of the case, this is a big improvement. The infra-red heat sensor makes the camera fire whether it's a crow or a bear, we have pictures that have just about anything you can imagine. I am not going to say this is the only camera to buy, but I am getting a second one this season. Hope this in some way helps!

WS

Dave1 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 16, 2004, 06:36:21 AM »

I am no expert and don't even own one but have learned some about game cams. I have heard of many problems with various game cams from the guys using them in my hunt club. Battery life is short and apparently some of the cameras are failing after having been in the woods a while. I am guessing the electronics in the cameras are not designed to be turned on continuously and are failing. When the batteries go dead in the middle of the roll of film the entire roll is lost because it cannot be re-wound. The camera has to be opened thus destroying the film and all pictures on it.

Some of the better and newer brands should be much better quality. One thing is certain, they are a bundle of fun. The guys at my club get photos of big bucks, bears, and stuff that has never been seen before. They also get to see what is visiting their hunt sites after dark and when they are not around.

Considering the high cost of batteries, film, and developing, a digital would likely pay for itself in a season. $5 for roll of film plus $10 -$12 for developing, plus two trips to the developer add up to $20 or so every week. Wouldn't take long to pay the extra cost of a digital. The digital has many more features, better quality, much convenience, and the digital camera can be removed and used as a regular camera. Would be no question in my mind.

I think a battery save feature would be good whereas the camera brain goes to sleep when not in use. This may save the batteries and the camera electronics.

Good luck.

Dave1

flintlock · « **Reply #7 on:** June 16, 2004, 08:31:24 AM »

Dave1 said...
" When the batteries go dead in the middle of the roll of film the entire roll is lost because it cannot be re-wound. The camera has to be opened thus destroying the film and all pictures on it. "

Not true....If the batteries go bad in the middle of a roll...Simply replace the battery and either leave the rest of the roll in the camera...or rewind and replace roll...

I have owned a Deer Cam for about 4 years...and love it...At crossings I usually set the timer at 1-3 minutes...under the feeder at 15-30 minutes...
I have pictures of some nice bucks that I wouldn't have known were in the area without...And have learned that deer come into a feeder after dark about 90% of the time...One year I took pictures of 6 different dogs...coming to the feeder at different times, to pick up the trail of deer...I showed the pictures to the landowner and told him that I didn't like to shoot dogs...He recognized all of them...and spoke to the neighbors himself...Result...no more pictures of dogs...and no more stands stolen, as word got out that cameras were in the woods...(I sortof led him to believe that I had several....instead of just the one)...

The Game Cam uses a standard Olympus camera...clarity of pictures is great...there is a battery level indicator on camera, just replace when it gets at low level...this unit is also adjustable for sensitivity so you don't get a lot of pictures of coons, foxes etc...I do adjust to more sensitive level in the summer...as the higher temps reduce the effective range...
flintlock

Dave1 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 17, 2004, 01:02:06 AM »

I don't have one of these game cams and was just repeating what I was told by a bud at the hunt camp. Something was happening with his game cam that caused new batteries to go dead in a week and he could not change the batteries to advance the half used roll of film. He lost seceral rolls of film before sending the cam back for repairs.

Have heard this same story from others also so I tend to believe it is a common problem.

Dave1

Rogue Ram · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2004, 05:41:00 PM »

My boss just handed me hilarious photos of several deer and elk that his homemade set up caught on film! Imagine a bull elk continuing to come back and play with the camera.......the flash must have caught his interest, because he is rubbing his velvet off on the camera box!

Guess somehow he built a box, put a motion sensor on one level, then put some 35 mm on the bottom and the sensor sets the camera off.........I don't understand it but I'll figure it out and post back. I am sold on the idea..........

RR

flyer05 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 14, 2004, 03:57:33 PM »

Don't waist you $$$ build your own. I did 3 and a video that will blow any commercial unit away. Check www.jessehunting.com or www.hagshouse.com go to the cam forums and they will get you to a good working unit for half price. Digital to boot. Good luck
Hmmm, I'd attach some pics but I can't find a way to attach ?? Well this is good stuff.

nemesis · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2005, 05:00:49 PM »

get a digital theyre so much better than film. leaf river makes 2 models, i have the dc-2 and love it. cuddeback and recon also make good ones and the moultrie is also a cheaper digital one.

bullet maker · « **Reply #12 on:** May 17, 2005, 04:30:25 AM »

Hi guys

At our deer camp we have 3 of the (Moultrie Game Camera`s). The three are the (Game Cam 2 ) Model/MFH-CAM 2). These are about 6 inches wide and about 12inches long. They have a black plastic housing the camera. We are disapointed in the camera. We have sent them back 3 different times, and each time the company does fix them or upgrade them, but the cameras still give us a lot of problems. Dirt and rain get into the housing all the time. Plus the circut board has gone out several times as well.
The plus side to them is they run off a 6volt rechargeable battery, the big latern type of battery, and they last for about a month before they have to be recharged again.
The other positive side, is Moultrie, does fix them everytime we send them back to them, however, you are without any cameras , for about however it takes them to fix them, which is usually 2 months, in our dealings.
I would never buy another one, of these. Too much down time.

bullet maker

bullet maker · « **Reply #13 on:** May 17, 2005, 05:04:57 AM »

Hey guy`s

Here is another one our out door camera`s, its a Moultrie camera, that comes in a Mossy Oak plastic housing, the housing is about 6 inches wide and about 10 inches long.This camera has not given us any problems at all. We have been running this camera for 2 years now. The down side to it, is it takes alot of double AA batteries, Two to run the camera rewind, and 6 to operate the other stuff, and two 9 volts, to run whatever it does :-D This camera can be set for 1-5-or 20 minute delay.It takes great pictures. I would buy another one if the price is right.

Weve got some nice pictures of deer, opposum`s, turkey, squirrels, trespassers, etc.

bullet maker

Husker98 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2005, 09:20:32 AM »

I have been using two Deer Cam (35mm by Non Typical) for a few years now and they are great. They are even selling them at 1/3 the price I paid. The problem you'll have is you will spend a small fortune on film and developing. I decided to go with a digital (Cuddeback also by Non Typical). I worked great the first season. I was able to get over 100 pictures on a card at a time. I am having some problems right now. It is locking up on "cam busy" for 4-5 minutes at a time. I haven't had much luck with customer service so far. If they continue to ignore me, this will be the last one I buy from them. However, I recommend digital. Not necessarily my exact brand, but I'd look for one that doesn't flash. I've burnt up rolls of film and it didn't spook the animal, but while hunting near a camera one morning I watched a doe walk by the camera, it flashed, and the doe ran away. My uncle has a digital black and white version that doesn't flash. The pictures are worth blowing up and hanging on the wall, but it's perfect for scouting. It won't spook deer with a flash and the quality is good enough to see what type of deer are in your area.

limerock · « **Reply #15 on:** November 20, 2005, 04:57:50 PM »

They are the best for the money. I now have two. I have had a couple of other cheaper cameras, and you will come out better buy spending a little now and save the headache later. They use 4 D-cell batteries, and in moderate temps(30-90) will last at least a month. I have had them last for 2 or 3. I have over 2000 pics on my first one, and you can delete all of the coons and does you want to and don't have to pay to have the pictures processed like with film. The picture quality is great. They now have a 3.1 megapixel camera. Here is a picture from the 1.3 megapixel.

Husker98 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 21, 2005, 04:23:58 AM »

That's a nice looking buck.

I have come full circle now. I sent my CuddeBack in for service. It was out of warranty, so I had to include a $35 check for service and shipping. I am very pleased that is all they want to fix it. My "no flash" Talon ended up being a joke. I took it back to Scheels and bought another CuddeBack (3.1 megapixel version). I'm going to run out here soon and check it for pictures.

Dave1 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 07, 2005, 07:03:26 AM »

I bought the Cuddeback 3.0mp digital model and like it. I also bought and use two 256mb media cards in the unit. That is the easiest and best way to use it. The set up wasn't cheap but it does a good job.

If you want lots of game pics I would reccomend the digital version of any game cam over a film model. My dig has taken oven 300 photos in one week period several times. Lots of them are coons and turkey, etc. but can be quickly deleted.

The film version cam can be bought for one fourth the cost but over time will cost you allot in film and developing expenses. Besides with the film model you are limited to the number of exposures on the roll of film (36). You either have to set a considerable delay between pics or run out of exposures quickly and miss allot of game.

With the dig you have no film cost, no processing cost, don't have to wait for processing to see your pics, etc. I am happy with mine and now wish I had another one or two to put in different places. Seeing what walks around out there when I am not there is cool. Have several big racked bucks on camera but they come in the wee hours of the morning. Midnight to 2am is a popular time with them and many other deer.

Be aware with the Cuddeback dig you have to have a computer, another dig camera, or TV, card reader, etc. to view the dig photos because the trail cam does not have a built in viewer.

Good luck.

Dave1

LONG286 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 10, 2005, 07:47:29 PM »

I would recommend getting on Google and doing a search for the cams you are interested in. Read the reviews that are out there, I did a search and came up with a bunch.

Just an idea...

Kevin

ibfestus · « **Reply #19 on:** September 07, 2006, 01:37:58 PM »

Anybody who uses a 35MM film camera has more money than I do. I have a Stealth cam that takes a 12V adapter and memory cards. Hooked up to a 12V UPS or motorcycle battery it is capable of being left out for a couple of weeks and taking 100's of pics. Do THAT with your film camera. Using the memory card allows virtually an unlimited number of photos and your computer (you have one if you are reading this) can quickly delete or save the best pics.

Remember a 12V battery (UPS or motorcycle) is rechargeable and far more efficient than any "flashlight" battery.