best trail cam? ??

[yota]

I had 2 trail cams but the bear ate one so I'm down to one and need to replace it but I don't want the same one. I'm looking for one with quick recovery time and reaction time as I keep getting lots of but pics and then followed by 2 or 3 nothing pics. so what's your guys/gals suggestions on a good fairly inexpensive trail cams?

[bc_buckshot]

Moultrie..........

[Ourea]

Lots of information on this topic on HBC.


My 2 cents....
My best bang for the buck to date for performance (not features) is the Browning Strike Force.
I run a dozen plus cams any given day.
Lightening fast trigger speed with excellent recovery time.
It's detection zone is almost flawless.

Numerous trail cam review sites rate this cam as the best bang for the buck at $129.99 US.

Watch how the Browning picks up this calf moose at a full run.
Pretty impressive detection and trigger speed.


https://youtu.be/EuoezsC-gvc

[Ferenc]

Seen lots of those Spypoint Ir6 ones out in the field.. Must be a good one.

[Sofa King]

it's all personal preference really, much like everything else.
the top models of any of the brands are all elite cams.
there's little differences, like some do hd video, some don't, some have higher resolution photos, some do this, some do that.

[GOLDEN TOP SNIPER]

I just got the UWAY MB 600 . im testing it daily .. so far . it takes great photos . except , the viewer is small on the cam , which is fine . the trick is to send to your phone or email or download to your computer , blow up and get a better look ,annoying, but ok . if your planning on being a area with not so good cell service , a known dead spot on your property where your samsung phone works good but your not your iphone , its spotty at the best of time .sometimes photos come right away then a hour later or not at all . ,Trees and whatever drown out the service . Working out some of the settings is a little bit of a pain , and its very sensitive to light . if your cam is pointed west during the later afternoon . it sometimes drowns out the filter and you got white out photos . yard and motion lights do the same for night shots . like i said . im testing it daily . mostly on my property for now so i can keep a eye on it . i will try and keep everyone posted .. is it worth the 450 plus tax.. ? im on the fence . the whole point was to have instant cell phone connection to your cam so photos are send right away . if you have good cell service on your land or hunting area , then it should and will work good . it works good in town with good cell service so ya maybe its better to get some cheaper ones , buy more of them . and then go check them when you get around to it . like i said Still on the fence . still testing . i will get my money out of it one way or the other tho . .

[HarryToolips]

moultrie..........
x2...........

[The Dawg]

x2...........


Moultrie warranty sucks for Canada.

I had to jump through a ton of hoops to get it done.

They dinged me for shipping down, and brokerage up.

Took 4 or 5 months too

[.300WSMImpact!]

uway, have been great for me!!

[Sofa King]

Moultrie warranty sucks for Canada.

I had to jump through a ton of hoops to get it done.

They dinged me for shipping down, and brokerage up.

Took 4 or 5 months too

and just the fact that your Moultrie needed warranty work sucks as well.

[bc_buckshot]

Moultrie warranty sucks for Canada.

I had to jump through a ton of hoops to get it done.

They dinged me for shipping down, and brokerage up.

Took 4 or 5 months too


well maybe dawg if you didnt bark at them so much and spoke nicely it would of been better. I had a melon moultrie that wasnt working properly and spoke nice and i paid the shipping to send it back and they sent me a brand new one and they paid for shipping for the new one and all good. I run 3 moultries all diffrent models and years and not one problem. They do stand behind the name and are do what they say.

[Drillbit]

What the best one that sends pictures to smartphones? (immediately)

[bc_buckshot]

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z404/bc_buckshot/image_zpse3b0995a.jpg (http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/bc_buckshot/media/image_zpse3b0995a.jpg.html)
http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z404/bc_buckshot/image_zps3984a24e.jpg (http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/bc_buckshot/media/image_zps3984a24e.jpg.html)
http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z404/bc_buckshot/image_zpsfe55f6dc.jpg (http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/bc_buckshot/media/image_zpsfe55f6dc.jpg.html)

[Ourea]

it's all personal preference really, much like everything else.
the top models of any of the brands are all elite cams.
there's little differences, like some do hd video, some don't, some have higher resolution photos, some do this, some do that.

All do respect Sofa King but ur comment is incredibly ignorant, if not ridiculous, and flies in the face of the endless professional consumer testing that goes on.

(My apologies if u r an elite prostaff member representing numerous brands based on ur respected and endless field expertise.....and that is sure as sh*t aint the case)

Companies put every conceivable make and model of trail cams thru rigorous testing....... evaluating all aspects of performance to help consumers make informed choices. There are HUGE differences in performance between makes and models regardless of price. Anyone that buys a trail cam and hangs it on a tree and thinks it will trigger every time, from all angles of entry and depth of field, ......well, they r sadly mistaken.

Every new cam that enters my fleet I will hang it 180 degrees face to face against one of my "proven" cams to "test".....at the same height and horizontal angle. The average consumer would be amazed at the difference of pics captured between cams. They can vary as much as 80%....and the results are different yet in video mode.

I leave nothing to chance with all aspects of how I approach my intel gathering in the field.

To read ur comment is embarrassing. (and sorry)

I make an effort to share my information and field experiences (which are considerable thanks to time, passion and resources).....in an attempt to help steer and or help others in their success, knowledge and to some extent...purchases.
You have a way of undermining that message, of numerous contributors to this site, with ur need to simply make a comment.


I am going to digress......

Not making a personal attack on u but think before ur desperate need to hit the send button kicks in on every thread.
There are a lot of young and upcoming hunters that cruise the sidelines of HBC....some of them don't have the luxury of a hunting parent or mentor.
What's ur message to them?

Think about that....
Then hit send.

Peace

[Sofa King]

All do respect Sofa King but ur comment is incredibly ignorant, if not ridiculous, and flies in the face of the endless professional consumer testing that goes on.

(My apologies if u r an elite prostaff member representing numerous brands based on ur respected and endless field expertise.....and that is sure as sh*t aint the case)

Companies put every conceivable make and model of trail cams thru rigorous testing....... evaluating all aspects of performance to help consumers make informed choices. There are HUGE differences in performance between makes and models regardless of price. Anyone that buys a trail cam and hangs it on a tree and thinks it will trigger every time, from all angles of entry and depth of field, ......well, they r sadly mistaken.

Every new cam that enters my fleet I will hang it 180 degrees face to face against one of my "proven" cams to "test".....at the same height and horizontal angle. The average consumer would be amazed at the difference of pics captured between cams. They can vary as much as 80%....and the results are different yet in video mode.

I leave nothing to chance with all aspects of how I approach my intel gathering in the field.

To read ur comment is embarrassing. (and sorry)

I make an effort to share my information and field experiences (which are considerable thanks to time, passion and resources).....in an attempt to help steer and or help others in their success, knowledge and to some extent...purchases.
You have a way of undermining that message, of numerous contributors to this site, with ur need to simply make a comment.


I am going to digress......

Not making a personal attack on u but think before ur desperate need to hit the send button kicks in on every thread.
There are a lot of young and upcoming hunters that cruise the sidelines of HBC....some of them don't have the luxury of a hunting parent or mentor.
What's ur message to them?

Think about that....
Then hit send.

Peace

oh piss the F off!!!!!
and don't say you aren't making a personal attack....and then personally attack me.
and then end your complete bullshit post with "peace"?

I have tcams too.
lots of us do.
and we all have different experiences with them, good and bad.
you want to relay yours, go F'ing nuts, and we can all relay ours as well.
nothing says any of us are right or wrong, it's our experiences, and that's what we are sharing.

and all I said was that it really comes down to personal preference, which it does.
are you trying to say that the top cell-tcams aren't fairly similar?
sorry, but they are.
if you want to get all snooty-technical about milliseconds of trigger speed, have fun.
but not everyone gives two shits about it.
I never knocked one F'ing brand, or even said one is better than another.
I think you've put on some pounds over the winter and your panties are getting a little tight now.
you want to share your views and experiences, I ain't telling you you can't, that's what this place is for.
but get off your damn perch and stop thinking you should tell others what they can share.

[Ourea]

Easy princess.
All do respect but I think someone needs a time out.

My objective is to share quantified information or observations.

I never preach or "tell others" based on opinion.

If you wish to disagree with the professional evaluation by companies in this category .....feel free.
You obviously know better.

FYI...electronic products are evaluated, and consumers base their purchases, on all that "snooty-technical" stuff.

Thanks for ur input.

[TheProvider]

I used to run a lot of Moultrie cams however they lost my business. Pain in the butt to do software updates on them. Specially when your swapping out cards miles from a road and the camera will not function till you do it. To top it off they eventually stop offering certain updates meaning your camera becomes useless. I had 4 cameras of a certain model that are now useless because they need a software update that is no longer available. Contacted Moultrie multiple times and never got a response. Know guys in the same vote.

[Wentrot]

All do respect Sofa King but ur comment is incredibly ignorant, if not ridiculous, and flies in the face of the endless professional consumer testing that goes on.

(My apologies if u r an elite prostaff member representing numerous brands based on ur respected and endless field expertise.....and that is sure as sh*t aint the case)

Companies put every conceivable make and model of trail cams thru rigorous testing....... evaluating all aspects of performance to help consumers make informed choices. There are HUGE differences in performance between makes and models regardless of price. Anyone that buys a trail cam and hangs it on a tree and thinks it will trigger every time, from all angles of entry and depth of field, ......well, they r sadly mistaken.

Every new cam that enters my fleet I will hang it 180 degrees face to face against one of my "proven" cams to "test".....at the same height and horizontal angle. The average consumer would be amazed at the difference of pics captured between cams. They can vary as much as 80%....and the results are different yet in video mode.

I leave nothing to chance with all aspects of how I approach my intel gathering in the field.

To read ur comment is embarrassing. (and sorry)

I make an effort to share my information and field experiences (which are considerable thanks to time, passion and resources).....in an attempt to help steer and or help others in their success, knowledge and to some extent...purchases.
You have a way of undermining that message, of numerous contributors to this site, with ur need to simply make a comment.


I am going to digress......

Not making a personal attack on u but think before ur desperate need to hit the send button kicks in on every thread.
There are a lot of young and upcoming hunters that cruise the sidelines of HBC....some of them don't have the luxury of a hunting parent or mentor.
What's ur message to them?

Think about that....
Then hit send.

Peace

I have seen people with their head crammed up their pooper before but good lord man...

[caddisguy]

Best trailcam (for me) is Simmons 4/5/6MP cams. Always grab one at a good deal... $80-100. Triggers in about 1-1.5 secs, does 30 second vids at 640x480 which still look pretty good at full screen on a 40 inch flat screen. Battery (4xAA) lasts for many months and hundreds of 30 second vids. Been running 3-5 of them for 2 years with no issues. Cost and reliability are my main factors. Rather run 5 cheap ones than 1 $500cam. If I needed pics emailed to me pics or took blown up poster quality pics I'd have something different. People have different needs for different specs. Whenever I'm buying anything, I find what meets my spec requirements, then read reviews and ask others.

I tried a Moultrie (xmas gift) but it only lasted a week. Display would just show blocks and it would turn on as soon as the batteries were inserted (even with the switch off) and get VERY hot. Realized the round shipping for warranty with no guarantee it would even come back fixed (read lots of warranty stories) was pricey and may as well put that money towards a new cam. I took the Moultie apart and cleaned up all the gunk and corrosion. Lasted another week... same thing... repeated disassembly and cleaning. Seems to have been good since but I'll never hang it in the bush. I just use it around my camps to see what creeps around the tent. Don't want to waste effort or risk starting a forest fire. If it dies again it will be the subject of my next slow motion shoot vid!!!

[J_T]

Best trailcam (for me) is Simmons 4/5/6MP cams. Always grab one at a good deal... $80-100. Triggers in about 1-1.5 secs, does 30 second vids at 640x480 which still look pretty good at full screen on a 40 inch flat screen. Battery (4xAA) lasts for many months and hundreds of 30 second vids. Been running 3-5 of them for 2 years with no issues. Cost and reliability are my main factors. Rather run 5 cheap ones than 1 $500cam. If I needed pics emailed to me pics or took blown up poster quality pics I'd have something different. People have different needs for different specs. Whenever I'm buying anything, I find what meets my spec requirements, then read reviews and ask others.

I tried a Moultrie (xmas gift) but it only lasted a week. Display would just show blocks and it would turn on as soon as the batteries were inserted (even with the switch off) and get VERY hot. Realized the round shipping for warranty with no guarantee it would even come back fixed (read lots of warranty stories) was pricey and may as well put that money towards a new cam. I took the Moultie apart and cleaned up all the gunk and corrosion. Lasted another week... same thing... repeated disassembly and cleaning. Seems to have been good since but I'll never hang it in the bush. I just use it around my camps to see what creeps around the tent. Don't want to waste effort or risk starting a forest fire. If it dies again it will be the subject of my next slow motion shoot vid!!!
Interesting. For me, I would not buy another Simmonds. I do have Moultrie and I find they take great pics and work well.

With all of my cams I do have a concern about the transferability of memory cards. Some work better than others. I'm trying to buy only the quality cards.

My preferred trailcam is the Uway.

[caddisguy]

Interesting. For me, I would not buy another Simmonds. I do have Moultrie and I find they take great pics and work well.

With all of my cams I do have a concern about the transferability of memory cards. Some work better than others. I'm trying to buy only the quality cards.

My preferred trailcam is the Uway.

Did you end up with a Simmons paperweight? I'm sure it happens. And to be fair, if I had 5 Moulties running flawlessly for 2 years and if my only experience with Simmons was a lemon, I would be singing a different tune called "the opposite". Getting burned on Moultrie 1/1 and having great experience with the Simmons influenced my decisions, but plain dumb luck and the opposite could have happened.

[J_T]

Did you end up with a Simmons paperweight? I'm sure it happens. And to be fair, if I had 5 Moulties running flawlessly for 2 years and if my only experience with Simmons was a lemon, I would be singing a different tune called "the opposite". Getting burned on Moultrie 1/1 and having great experience with the Simmons influenced my decisions, but plain dumb luck and the opposite could have happened. Not sure what my models are. They're all out hanging in the bush so I can't check. One bad experience does have us shying away though.

[Cyrus]

here are my cams:

Primos 35 63011
Primos 46 63021
Moultrie M990i
Moultrie M60
2-Moultrie M880
Spypoint IR6
Bushnell 119335
Bushnell 119446
Bushnell 119436
Bushnell HD 119577
Bushnell HD 119437
Bushnell HD 119447
Bushnell HD 119677
Simmons Whitetail
Simmons ProHunter
Scoutguard SG560K-8M
2-Browning BTC-2
Stealth Cam G42NG

all have there pros and cons...all of them are made in China...I get the best battery life and night pic quality out of the Bushnells. Spypoint are junk...so many out there because they come on sale at crappy tire all the time. Primos are not great but easy to set up. Moultrie had a very bad production run last year but year before that they were good. All of mine are likely heading to the for sale section of this site. Each comes with a python lock and 2 sd cards in either 8gb and 16gb per camera. I am going to try and sell them as a lot only...

[Clint_S]

Looks like Cyrus has a good sample set.

Just ordered my 4th Simmons 6mp whitetail. http://www.amazon.ca/Simmons-Whitetail-Trail-Camera-Vision/dp/B006U0Z76Q and will get more if they go on sale again this year.
I can virtually get 2 or three for the price of other models and have had nothing but great pictures from all of them although I have read some bad reviews?.
The tree mount costs $4.50 (any tree stand step)
I've got a moultrie (can't recall the model but it's crap) and a WGI which is also only half the camera at twice the price.

I don't really want anything above 6mp because the cards fill up too quickly if the cams are not in a spot you can check on a reg. basis and I'm not producing wall shots.

If I was going to spend some bigger bucks on a camera I wouldn't mind one with sound as I get quite a few triggers where I would have liked some sound to go with the vid.

Any of the sites that review these cams will give you some good benchmark references then it's all about bang for your buck which to me means most cameras in the field per dollar spent with the least amount of battery consumption so I can leave them sit if need be.

[caddisguy]

Looks like Cyrus has a good sample set.

Just ordered my 4th Simmons 6mp whitetail. http://www.amazon.ca/Simmons-Whitetail-Trail-Camera-Vision/dp/B006U0Z76Q and will get more if they go on sale again this year.
I can virtually get 2 or three for the price of other models and have had nothing but great pictures from all of them although I have read some bad reviews?.
The tree mount costs $4.50 (any tree stand step)
I've got a moultrie (can't recall the model but it's crap) and a WGI which is also only half the camera at twice the price.

I don't really want anything above 6mp because the cards fill up too quickly if the cams are not in a spot you can check on a reg. basis and I'm not producing wall shots.

If I was going to spend some bigger bucks on a camera I wouldn't mind one with sound as I get quite a few triggers where I would have liked some sound to go with the vid.

Any of the sites that review these cams will give you some good benchmark references then it's all about bang for your buck which to me means most cameras in the field per dollar spent with the least amount of battery consumption so I can leave them sit if need be.

Hmmm... $100 for the 6MP... very tempting. I have one of those. I believe you can actually change the photo resolution so it takes up less space by the way. I set all my Simmons Whitetail cams to video though.

[Sitkaspruce]

Here is my experiences so far:

I have 3 Spypoints going on year 3 with no problems, 2 IR-7 and 1 IR-5. The plus of these cameras are great battery life (6AA), great day picts and OK night picts. Add in a 100 IR booster and the night almost becomes day. The negative is no HD video and they are big cams.

I have 3 Bushnells going on 3 years with no problems. 2 - 436 and 1-466 HD. The 436 are great cheap cams when you can find them on sale. GPSCentral sometimes has them for around $120. The 466 is a great HD video cam for the bush. The down side for all 3 is the 8 or 12AA batteries to run them.

I have 3 Simmons Prohunter 7mp that are simply amazing cams for the $$$. 1 is on it's 3rd year and 2 are on their second year and not a hiccup yet. Cheap, take 4aa batteries and take great day picts and good night picts (some motion blur at night but most cams do). Downside is no bear case for them unless you modify a bushnell case or make your own. Costco 2 for $179 best deal I know.

I have 1 Browning HD cam and it is a great cam, on it's second year of running video and picts and so far no problems. Downside is it is not great on batteries and you need the thin cable lock to use on a tree.

I also have a homebrew Sony P40 camera and it is the best cam of all of them, mainly because I built it....Best picts day or night, fast trigger speed and easy on batteries. Downfall is the biggest card I can get is 2g, so needs to be checked often and is big with the case.

I use my cams from May to January and have most set at 2 picts every 30 seconds or 20 sec video every minute, so they get used a lot. Probably something around 40000+ pictures last year along with 10-12 hours of video. I run 8 or 16g cards for pictures and 32g cards for video, so I never have to worry about a card filling up. Amazon or The Source for deals on cards.

If I was looking for cams to put up and did not want to break the bank, either the Simmons or the cheaper Bushnell would be my first choice.

A couple sites to spend time looking and reading are;

www.chasingame.com (http://www.chasingame.com) or www.trailcampro.com (http://www.trailcampro.com)

What ever you decide to by, it is a must that you post up pictures......

Cheers

SS

[todbartell]

I like my U-Way 150's

[hunter1947]

I like to buy the ones that have at least 5mp and have the double AA batt I don't want to put out lots of cash on a trail cam reason being it that someone might steal it I like to perchuse trail cams that are around the $100.00 dollar mark and if I do loose one of my trail cams I am not out hundred of dollars I have had the moultrie trail cams for some time now

I have 7 of them there the older ones that take the D batt 6 of them coast lots of money to keep them up and running they do take decent pictures as you can see from my past trail cam pic I have put up on this site..

I am now switching over to the Simmon trai cams they are a decent cameras that will take 7mp if you want or you can lower down on the setting to 5mp this camera is much smaller in size that takes videos and still pictures and a time delay built in as well..

I get the Simmon trail cams from Walmart for $128.00 sometimes they go on sale for under a hundred dollars they take 4 double A batt that last up to 6 to 8 weeks depending how many pic you get on the trail as for if you have your camera on video settings ,,if you have your camera on video setting batt won't last as long as if it where on still pictures setting..

[RBooth]

Browning Range ops for 85 USD, works out to $114 Canadian shipped and brokerage fees through B&H video. Good bang for your buck. Great battery Life, Good day time photos, night time photos will be blurry if the animal is moving its head (Best have bait or something smelly to stop them at night or leave it on video mode).

[Rob Chipman]

My first was a Moultrie, and I've been happy with it. Second was a Simmons, and it crapped out after about 6 pics due to poor batteries. Since then it's been good. My only complaint is that the Simmons needs a really thin cable lock - the holes on the case are tiny. I left them out all winter and will go retrieve them soon. Hoping for some pics worthy of Hunter1947!

[yota]

Here is my experiences so far:

I have 3 Spypoints going on year 3 with no problems, 2 IR-7 and 1 IR-5. The plus of these cameras are great battery life (6AA), great day picts and OK night picts. Add in a 100 IR booster and the night almost becomes day. The negative is no HD video and they are big cams.

I have 3 Bushnells going on 3 years with no problems. 2 - 436 and 1-466 HD. The 436 are great cheap cams when you can find them on sale. GPSCentral sometimes has them for around $120. The 466 is a great HD video cam for the bush. The down side for all 3 is the 8 or 12AA batteries to run them.

I have 3 Simmons Prohunter 7mp that are simply amazing cams for the $$$. 1 is on it's 3rd year and 2 are on their second year and not a hiccup yet. Cheap, take 4aa batteries and take great day picts and good night picts (some motion blur at night but most cams do). Downside is no bear case for them unless you modify a bushnell case or make your own. Costco 2 for $179 best deal I know.

I have 1 Browning HD cam and it is a great cam, on it's second year of running video and picts and so far no problems. Downside is it is not great on batteries and you need the thin cable lock to use on a tree.

I also have a homebrew Sony P40 camera and it is the best cam of all of them, mainly because I built it....Best picts day or night, fast trigger speed and easy on batteries. Downfall is the biggest card I can get is 2g, so needs to be checked often and is big with the case.

I use my cams from May to January and have most set at 2 picts every 30 seconds or 20 sec video every minute, so they get used a lot. Probably something around 40000+ pictures last year along with 10-12 hours of video. I run 8 or 16g cards for pictures and 32g cards for video, so I never have to worry about a card filling up. Amazon or The Source for deals on cards.

If I was looking for cams to put up and did not want to break the bank, either the Simmons or the cheaper Bushnell would be my first choice.

A couple sites to spend time looking and reading are;

www.chasingame.com (http://www.chasingame.com) or www.trailcampro.com (http://www.trailcampro.com)

What ever you decide to by, it is a must that you post up pictures......

Cheers

SS

I got a few pics the other day of a couple nice prospect deer and of the bears once I check again I'll post the pics