Where to start with trail cams?

[Smalljawbasser]

There’s something about a trail camera that a bear can’t resist. When they find one they won’t rest till it’s destroyed. I’ve had more lost to bears than thieves and I’ve lost a lot to thieves

 

[snakelk]

Well plastic and bears usually aren’t a good combo. I’ve had bears rip them off trees multiple times, bite holes in them, and even walk off with them. Normally the cameras survive but are broken up a bit. Boxes work much better IMO.

Cahunter805 is spot on. Bears are my biggest problem by far and I now have all of my cameras in boxes (factory built and homemade). I've lost too many cams to bears.

They still try to mess with them while in the boxes, but most of the time they give up quickly once they realize it isn't coming off the tree easily. Obviously they can, and will, poke holes in lenses and IR covers, but for the most part using boxes has solved my bear problem.

It must be the plastic or the batteries, or a combo of both that the bears are attracted to.

 

[Silveroddo]

I bought my first browning 4-5 years ago and buy several a year. I'm up to 15-16 right now and the first ones are still in operation. Only thing to watch is they quit taking night pictures when the batteries get down to 60-65%, which is several months and several thousand pictures. I put new batteries in in September and after my final check this time of year I'll leave them till spring and they are all in operation when I pull them after the snow is gone. Cabelas and the big box stores usually have a few sales per year on various models, unit, battery, and card for around $100. I've also got 2 spy point cellular cams and at the price point they serve a purpose but they aren't the same quality of camera when it comes to photo quality and trigger speed/reliability.

 

[sndmn11]

Here's here Christmas/birthday haul. Thanks to all who chimed in.

 

[Peteyur]

Wish I would have read all this before today!!
I own 6 stealth cameras and one already doesn’t work!
Spent over 100 a piece and the best the warranty department will do is sell me more at a discount
Very disappointed to say the least
Thank you to all that have helped and given personal experience in this thread it has helped me moving forward

 

[sndmn11]

Wish I would have read all this before today!!
I own 6 stealth cameras and one already doesn’t work!
Spent over 100 a piece and the best the warranty department will do is sell me more at a discount
Very disappointed to say the least
Thank you to all that have helped and given personal experience in this thread it has helped me moving forward

Honestly, I really liked everything about the stealth cams I meantiones earlier in the thread, and the trigger distance/time didn't bother me much due to the confined spaces she has said she wants to try first.

What did make me no longer consider them is all the negative feedback on Stealth's facebook page, posts, and their lack of interaction to people on there. I think if you have that much going on publicly, there is probably a lot of broken units that people never mention.

 

[LostArra]

Probably not a fair assessment but with the number of refurbed Stealth cameras on Camofire, I've just avoided them and stuck with Browning.

One "issue" I've had with some well-used Brownings is I will get an incorrect message, usually "no SD card" or "card is full". In both cases, I ignored the message and the camera has worked fine.

 

[Cahunter805]

Probably not a fair assessment but with the number of refurbed Stealth cameras on Camofire, I've just avoided them and stuck with Browning.

One "issue" I've had with some well-used Brownings is I will get an incorrect message, usually "no SD card" or "card is full". In both cases, I ignored the message and the camera has worked fine.

Sometimes when I get the no SD card message I will leave the card in and shut the camera off and then back on and it usually reads it then.
Also I ALWAYS format the card with the camera it’s in.

 

[HondoArcher]

Here is sample trail camera videos. Bushnell, Browing, Wildgame.

 

[wind gypsy]

I snapped the camera closing buckle on a browning dark ops extreme trying to close it with a cell link cord coming out in zero degree temps last week. I’ll see how helpful browning in on that one. They have stated they won’t warrant cams used with spypoint’s cell-link.

 

[sacad]

I have been a broken record about this but just buy Browning StrikeForce models and never look back. Usually on sale for $99 if you wait and look. I started out with the first 35mm film CamTrakker many years ago and have bought and sold virtually every flavor over the years until landing on these. No quirks...fast response, super long battery life, clear night pictures etc. rock solid
Do not buy the black flash emitters. stick with the standard red led's.

Why would you stay away from the no glow leds?

 

[sacad]

I understand that no glow cam don’t do as well at night but are the animals really spooked by the low glow cams that have better pic quality at night?

 

[Afineis91]

My wife has asked for a bank of trail cameras for her birthday/holiday gifts. Neither of us know anything about them, and I am a little overwhelmed with the dozen or so options out there for manufacturers, and then the dozen or so model for each manufacturer.

These would be in the Colorado mountains, public land, no cell service, looking for bear and elk. Video would be neat, but I would prioritize durability, ease of use, and reliability over other attributes that I can think of.

So, what are some brands to stay away from, and more importantly, what brands would be great choices? Are their any particular models that are are considered the standard of trail cams? Are there any cool features that I need to be on the look out for?

I recently just got a Stealthcam and have a few concerns so far. I don’t like the delay the camera has. Another issue is the directions say it’s good up to 60 feet but from testing that out, it isn’t true. I’m only getting pictures at maybe 30-40 feet.

 

[Boltfluter]

Browning has been great, no more stealth cams for me. Thousands of pics of nothing! Just flat out junk.

 

[Forest522]

Good day, from a perspective of repeated/long term use (2 + years) I have had very good luck with Reconyx systems. Yes, they are on the high side of what has been discussed here however, they consistently captured great shots, clear image and super durable in a wide range of weather.

Also an absolute +1 on the lithium batteries - far better than alkaline for sure!

 

[Autumn]

My favorite has been some spy points that are a decade old and still going this one does well also.....the cabelas one is nice as it has built in cable system and takes good pics....many options and for a $100 bucks you get solid cams ......stealth cams have done ok for me but are behind


spypoint from my experience.....I look for simple ones that do basic stuff

Do you have any shots you could post up from your Spypoint? I currently have one out in the field, been there since the holidays and will be retrieving this week - pretty excited to see whats on there.

 

[Ross]

Do you have any shots you could post up from your Spypoint? I currently have one out in the field, been there since the holidays and will be retrieving this week - pretty excited to see whats on there.

Let’s see what we can find here are a few over the last few years 7-8 weeks and will start the rounds I have 15 out some take an entire day to get too this time of year

 

[Autumn]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! Looks like you took a picture of of a picture on the screen? If so, the quality looks pretty decent with good lighting. Beautiful elk.. There's a bull moose roaming around here, as well as a cow and calf - will be trying to get pictures of them next.

 

[Ross]

Some were uploaded right to computer others yes taking photo from card reader in the field good luck with your pics