Trail Cam Suggestions

[Wentrot]

I am really liking my SPYPOINT link micros. A couple glitches but usually ends up being user error. If your spot has a touch of reception it will save you a good amount of hiking. It’s nice to know the battery levels from home.

[caddisguy]

Moultrie was the only brand I have ever had straight up die. It lasted about two weeks. It was actually shorting out and getting super hot. August and had never been exposed to rain or even cold. It was under warranty, but they wanted me to pay for shipping with no guarantee it would even be fixed properly so I just cut my losses right there. I won't say anything bad about their cams though, as you can have a bad luck of the draw with any cam.

I have used several Simmons Whitetail cams. I don't think they make them anymore but I love those little guys. The LED's do burn out after a few use of service, at least with video mode. Great on battery and very reliable.

I have a few StealthCam's. They seem very reliable and also good battery life. No issues with the two that I have been running 3-4 years. The video quality specs are fake news though... far fetched claims of hi def, 720p or whatever. The 640x480 video on the Simmons WT cams blown up to the same geometry put the Stealthcam video quality to shame. Also not a huge fan of the "dial" interface and how things are poorly spelled out with numbers (no alpha numeric) but all that aside, in my experience it is a good reliable cam for the price.

My two "expensive" cams (Bushnell Trophy and a Browning branded--not sure what model--cam) turn out great quality video and pretty good sound. Being expensive cams, for the first couple years of service I was nervous leaving them out and kept them out of places with high bear traffic. Anyway, awesome cams, good interfaces and battery life to boot.

Now a lot of guys are getting cams straight from China (no middle man) ... third shift type knock-offs (probably same components, different chassis) in the $50-100 range that seem just as good as the $200-300 cams. Amazon, DX, etc..

As for bears, I've had one cam munched on (tooth through sensor) and one traffic off. Had a few others mauled a bit... just some cosmetic damage and directional changes to the cam. Had a funny one where a bear came in and pointed the cam away from the salt but came back a day or two later and spent a couple mins fixing the cam and getting it pointed better than I had it initially. I guess he felt guilty lol

This year I put a cam at nose level a few feet away from my leftover bear carcass. It filmed a few hours of a few different bears. Some of them sniffed it, stared at it, bumped into it but to my surprise did not mess with it at all. That cam must have some horse shoes in it. I wonder if the outcome would have been different had I used the Bushnell instead of the StealthCam I used the SC instead of the Bushnell as I had zero expectations it would still be there in one piece

[2chodi]

I’ve seen some great results from Browning strike force pro XD cams from people on Twitter. I have no info on battery life or durability. I know one person uses a solar attachment.

[DStewart]

Find some Browning’s on sale

[slowjo]

I prefer to use cameras made by Wildgame Innovations. They are reasonably priced, compact, lightweight and best of all they take high quality pics, day and night. After years of use, I finally tried the video option and was not disappointed at all. In fact, it left me wondering why I didn’t start taking video earlier.
I like the idea from an earlier post about using bailing wire, but I just use light weight bungie cords.
These cams from Walmart are about $70, I have used them for years, check it out:
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Wildgam...RD1H4U4QTSRZC0

[WhiteTailAB]

Spypoint 10MP - $99 or so, easy to use, good quality. I browse amazon looking for deals, once a bushnell 20mp and spypoint 20mp came on sale for $100, I didn't buy em but I wish I had!!

[jac]

I buy the 2 or 3 packs of stealth cams every Black Friday from cabela's. Maybe not the best in the world but covered more ground and your not as mad when they get stolen. Next I will buy some of the spy point texting ones and give them a go. I have 5 stealth cams out at the moment and I really enjoy using trail cams

[beaverhunter69]

I am really liking my SPYPOINT link micros. A couple glitches but usually ends up being user error. If your spot has a touch of reception it will save you a good amount of hiking. It’s nice to know the battery levels from home.

This ^ just picked one up at cabelas on sale for $169

[Harvest the Land]

Personal opinion is that most of the cheap Stealth Cams absolutely suck in video mode - they don't even print and data in video mode and the video quality is absolute garbage. So my advice is if you're planning on using video mode (and this is the best way to use your camera in my opinion) avoid cheap stealth cameras. I have some Moultries that are from 2011 and are still working great. Little slow on the trigger speed, but they work awesome considering their age. My other newer Moultries have great video quality too, the trigger speed might be my only knock on them. WGI are a bit better than the cheap Stealth cams but not by much - but they do work. My best overall cameras are probably my Bushnells. The batteries last Forever! Very very fast trigger speeds and excellent photo quality - so I would recommend you go with Bushnell. I've heard Browining's are great cameras too. My Uway MB600 is going on year 5 and its still working great and I keep it up year round (I keep all my cameras up year round). I have 2 Ridgetecs and they're nice cameras too, however I did have to buy and extendable antenna to make them work in areas where the reception wasn't quite as good as it could've been, so that's a bit of a knock on them because the extra antenna is about $100. My Uway was setup in same area and still sent pics no problem. One I haven't tried but heard are really good and come with 5 year warranties are the Exodus cameras. 5 year warranties are unheard of for trail cams. Good luck

[XPEIer]

I've never had any issues at cold temperatures. I started off running the moultries. I liked the C batteries. I was really hesitant to move to the AA battery models.

The Moultries still work but, I've converted to the Browning cams and they are superior to most of the others. They go on sale enough that they aren't a bad price. Better quality, faster wake up time (0.4 sec I believe). The AA's run well in the cold. Most of all, the cams are lighter and the quality of picture at dusk, is better.

I just want to make one more comment on trail cams. When yours comes with a strap to mount it on the tree, take that strap and find another use for it. Everyone, use bailing wire to attach your camera to the trees. You won't regret it. Less visible toward theft, more secure on the tree, animals won't bump it around, less scent on the wire than on the wide strap that spent the off season with your gear.

And I take my cameras and repaint them to more closely match the bark on the trees I typically use. A lot of the browning cams come in a bit a grey tone. I paint them dark brown and black with a bit of dark green.

I use that plumbers wire with all the holes in it, it lays flat in the slots for the webbing on the camera, only need about 6" strip and then I screw it to the tree. YOu can adjust the angle of the camera easily, either paint the stuff black or cover with witches hair or moss. Nice thing,,, not many thieves walking around the bush with a screw driver.