Trail Cam recommendations?

Toreadorranger

Toreadorranger

Atomic Test Lab Rat
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
874
Messages
1,140
Loc
CT
I'm looking to pick up a trail cam for random use in the woods around the house and to see what is hanging around my Chicken coop at night. We have about 65 acres across from our house and my daughter has been getting really interested in the wildlife in our area so I thought it would be cool to pick up a cam to setup and see what we catch. The double duty would be using it watch the coop at night just to see if anything is coming around. I don't think I need anything to crazy, looks like there are a ton of options with cell, wifi, solar. I'm fine with battery powered and that I have to pull the SD card to view the pictures. Would like to be able to take video and pictures and be under $150.
 
Bumping this to the top.

Reading https://irate4x4.com/chit-chat/50515-riot-at-the-trail-cam got meinterested in a camera.

My backstory: I have a 20'x40' Garden in the local community garden a few blocks from my house.
Pretty cool set up actually, all the free water I want (took me a while to get it).
It's part of a nature park/Arboretum. There various owl nests, as well as a few hawks, so we don't have too many issues with rodents,
The fence around the garden is only 5' tall and keeps some folks out, but there are people who hop the fence to help themselves to free veggies.
There have also been reports of some of the less successful gardeners pilfering others veggies (although thats rare).

I don't want this thing to get stolen, so I'd like to mount it high up in a tree (requiring a ladder). Are the bluetooth versions worth the extra money?
 
I run 3 different brand cameras. 2 SPYPOINT mico (cell) 100 photos a month free with zero CC info needed. 2 Bushnell’s and 4 or 5 of another brand Both trail cam brand are around 50-75 a camera depending on the amount you buy. I think I got 5 for $200 for my last purchase. For the 150-200 range SPYPOINT is the way to go in my opinion. As you get your photos in you phone with a short delay. 1 minute or leas usually for me, I am in a shitty cell area. Otherwise for regular trail cams go with a no glow IR flash as well as good battery life and good reviews.
 
Just bought 3 spypoint micro cells today, I will post up the results
 
Find one on sale and run with it. I have 8 cameras that I use on my property, made up of 4 different manufacturers. Moultrie, Wildgame Innovations, and Stealth Cam all make good cameras. My favorite right now is my 2 Coverts. They really take nice pics and have good trigger response. $80-130 is my price point on cameras. Since I run so many I don't want to spend more than that. All of mine are battery powered and use SD cards.
 
I ordered & got this yesterday. Just realized I only have 64G+ cards, ordered a 32G & will set it up tomorrow

https://www.amazon.com/Victure-Advan...4231907&sr=8-1

Screen Shot 2020-07-08 at 11.15.19 AM.png
 
The photo quality of the wild game innovations camera I had wasn’t the best, but that dang thing didn’t die over the 5 year period it spent outside.

Have a bushnell branded on right now. It takes way better photos.
 
Got my second spypoint micro with the range extender on it out today. First spypoint micro has been out for 2 weeks now and working good enough. The quality of the picture sent to your phone sucks, but of course, you can pay more for hi def pictures. The camera is a 10 megapixel, so you have to get the card if you want to see the full photo.
I know these cameras will drive me crazy during season when I’m not in the woods and I’m getting notifications of game pics.
 
My bushnells get warranteed every couple years. Moultrie are massive and heavy, but also old. And I have steel bear boxes for them. Lag em to a tree and put a good padlock on em.
 
General question from new user. I have two Moultrie bought cheap at Sportsmans Warehouse on sale, one year apart. They take great pics. Thousands and thousands of pics. No matter where or how I set them, they trigger by moving grass and leaves, sagebrush. So out of 2 x 3,200 pics I have about 40 of game. No bucks or the kitty that stalks and kills them, leaving the bones. You that have successfully used these devices, how did you deal with oversensitive cameras ? - thanks
 
Splib said:
General question from new user. I have two Moultrie bought cheap at Sportsmans Warehouse on sale, one year apart. They take great pics. Thousands and thousands of pics. No matter where or how I set them, they trigger by moving grass and leaves, sagebrush. So out of 2 x 3,200 pics I have about 40 of game. No bucks or the kitty that stalks and kills them, leaving the bones. You that have successfully used these devices, how did you deal with oversensitive cameras ? - thanks
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If it doesn't have a sensitivity adjustment, you are pretty much screwed. What does help is trying to point it in a direction where the sun reflecting off the grass and weeds won't trigger it as easily. Or trim the grass and brush that's in it's trigger zone. How high do you have it mounted?
 
Tin Roof said:
If it doesn't have a sensitivity adjustment, you are pretty much screwed. What does help is trying to point it in a direction where the sun reflecting off the grass and weeds won't trigger it as easily. Or trim the grass and brush that's in it's trigger zone. How high do you have it mounted?
Click to expand...

I have two trail areas that have fresh tracks, bent grass etc. At one location, there are a row of 6-inch diameter post driven into the ground as a property boundary. I have put cams there twice, once as high up as I can, say 4 1/2 feet. Still thousands of grass pics. The second location is sheltered and in a shallow tree lined ditch...... same thing there, 3.200 pics in 3 weeks of leaves moving.

Nothing ventured nothing lost as they are close out cheapy cams....

How do you tell if there is a sensitivity adjustment ? I havent seen this in any cam description or tech info that I have seen advertised at say Midway, Cabelas or on the floor at Sportsmans Warehouse. I dont mind checking an SD card, I dont have cell where the cams are. I would like to filter out all the static.

Your point about the sun is valid, as there are no night pics of the grass and leaves, only does and fawns....... No kitty yet
 
They don’t all have sensitivity settings. If yours does, it will be somewhere in the section you scroll through to adjust time delay and photo sequence.
 
Tin Roof said:
They don’t all have sensitivity settings. If yours does, it will be somewhere in the section you scroll through to adjust time delay and photo sequence.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time and effort to reply. Like a lot of modern convenience packed items, blister packs, what not. Real hard to tell much about specific functions on off the shelf item like the kinds I have already. I have yet to see in an item description or specification that the sensitivity is adjustable. I just went through Moultrie and their products including reading parts of an owners manual. No mention of sensitivity in the text. I gather Moultrie is bottom feeder shit. Do any of your cams have a setting ? If so what are they ? - thanks.

EDIT: for example - https://browningtrailcameras.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/search?utf8=✓&query=sensitivity&commit=Search
 
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I’ll be checking cards this weekend. I’ll see which ones if any have adjustable sensitivity. I’m pretty sure my older stealth cams did.
 
martyfowler said:
Any updates?
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I've been super busy with work (started teaching HS).
I've pulled it 2x and it took lots of pics....
Resolution isn't bad.
I noticed some pics at dusk go into night vision early.
My garden is really overgrown and there are pics with no people in them, so it must be cridders, but I can't find them.
I'll try and pull a disc this week and post up recent pics.
 
MochaMike said:
I've been super busy with work (started teaching HS).
I've pulled it 2x and it took lots of pics....
Resolution isn't bad.
I noticed some pics at dusk go into night vision early.
My garden is really overgrown and there are pics with no people in them, so it must be cridders, but I can't find them.
I'll try and pull a disc this week and post up recent pics.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm needing to get a few more cameras. I think i might order a couple like yours if they work decent. That's definitely a good price.
 
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