which Game camera

[J E Custom]

My game cam is getting tired and I want to buy a new one and would like to hear
from the membership what they would recomend.

Brand,model,quality and cost would be a start.

The one I have uses the compact flash card and they are becoming extinct also looking
for something with a 12 volt system. (Mine uses 6 D size battery and they don't last long)
that can be left alone for 3 or 4 months at a time.

Thanks for any help.

J E CUSTOM

 

[J E Custom]

Come on guys !!!

I know I am not the only one using a trail/game cam.

Need some input.

I have always gotton good advice on this Web Site and need some now.

I have looked at all of the online comparisons but this is a tough crowd to please
and opinions are needed and welcomed.

Thanks.

J E CUSTOM

 

[BountyHunter]

JE

I bought two of the new Bushnell Trophy Cams with built in viewers for about $180 each from a place online in Iowa. (cannot remember the name now, when I find it will send to you). We used them on hunts in MO last month and worked extremely well.

Absolutely love them. super small, simple to use, quick to set up, fast shutter speed and best of all is that 6 AA batteries will last one year!

BH

 

[esshup]

I've had 3 game cams so far and they all either have gone back for repairs or will be.

Stealth Cam - worked good for a year and a half, then the buttons that are needed to change the menu wouldn't work. It functioned fine for a while, but it finally stopped sensing, and quit taking pictures. It was sent back for repairs (called and got a RMA#) Nov. 1. No word from them yet.

Moultrie I-40. Worked better than the Stealth Cam, although I did have minimal problems with white-outs. After 1 year the LCD screen that showed how many pics were taken, battery level, etc. went bad. The date and time is wrong, and I cannot read the numbers on the screen to change it. It is still taking pictures, and lasts for quite a while (3 months) on a set of batteries.

Cuddie Capture IR 5.0 Purchased it 11-18-09 to take the place of the Moultrie when I sent it in. From the get-go it wouldn't take pictures. I called Cuddie and they said "send it back and we'll fix it". That's fine, but the 4-6 week turn around time puts getting it back after season is over. I could take it back to the place where I bought it and exchange it, but I purchased it via the internet and I'd have to ship it anyway.

I've found that shutter speed is everything. I can't always set the cameras where there is a food source and the deer are walking slowly or stopped. A short delay, or a couple of pictures within a couple of seconds gives me multiple times to see a deer, and there are many times where the first picture won't show what I want to see of the deer. If the delay for the 2nd pic is long, my chance of seeing what the deer looks like is usually gone.

I don't know where you looked for camera reviews, but I've found that www.chasingame.com is the one that I seem to gravitate back to when looking for camera reviews. For very recent information, they also have a forum.

While I believe the "visible flash" game cams work just fine, I want mine to be as invisible as possible even tho I place them on my property - less chance of someone seeing it go off and maybe walking off with it.

 

[J E Custom]

Thanks for the comments guys
I'm still looking.

I did find out about the flash card problem. The older game cams have trouble with the big
compact flash cards (2,4,6 and 8 Gig) but the new ones don,t.

I still cant find any that will run for 3+ months .

J E CUSTOM

 

[esshup]

It all depends on the flash card size, and teh amount of pictures taken. There are some units that will accept an external battery, and you could hook up a solar panel to that battery. The only limiting factor is the amount of pictures on the card.

 

[BountyHunter]

JE the bushnell Trophy Cams will last one year, that is well over 3 months.

BH

 

[1/2 slam]

J E Custom, I have two Cuddebacks ( 195 each) and have 0 problems with them. Simple to operate, take great pictures. Pretty tough to. I've had cattle & elk rub on them set up at elk wallows. They run off 4 D-cells for up to 1,000 pictures on a set a batteries. You can also get a cuddeView (150 bucks) to enable you to view, and deleate, your pics in the field. No expierence with any of the other brands.

 

[lanman89]

JE

I bought two of the new Bushnell Trophy Cams with built in viewers for about $180 each from a place online in Iowa. (cannot remember the name now, when I find it will send to you). We used them on hunts in MO last month and worked extremely well.

Absolutely love them. super small, simple to use, quick to set up, fast shutter speed and best of all is that 6 AA batteries will last one year!

BH

I have 3 different trail cameras.

I have a moultrie D-40. VERY slow trigger and poor battery life.

My second cam is a scoutguard sg550. For the first year I loved this camera. It takes 8 AA has the infrared flash and a 1.3 second trigger time. I've changed batteries twice in a year, and they have never been dead when changed. I just didn't believe they could possibly still be working.

I say that I used to love it.. It is still a great camera. Then I bought the Bushnell Trophy cam. The internals are made by uway, the same people who manufacture the scoutguard sg550 internals. In fact the screen is identical. The main differences and reasons that I prefer the Bushnell are.

1) The scoutguard requires a wired remote to change setting on the camera or view battery level.
2) the Bushnell offers a 2 year warranty, scoutguard 1 year.
3) both cameras have amazing battery life and take 5MP Pictures.
4) both cameras shoot good video, programmable from (I think) 1-60 seconds.

I paid approx $100 for the moultrie and $200 for the Bushnell/scoutguard.

If you opperate them both continuous for a year as I do, you will save the difference in battery costs. I have not gotten the advertised 1 year on a set of batteries, however I have taken well over 4000 pictures without changing them.