phade

Sorry for your loss - remember the good times.

Casual turkey hunting is the name of the game for me - that and mediocre turkey populations usually lead to me hunting 3-4x a season. This year, two hunts and that is it for me. It's more an excuse to get out to the woods at that point.

This is long...but it has alot of info. I wouldn't be afraid to run these cams through all of bow season with alkalines and probably the majority of gun season, save for some unseasonably early cold snap that puts temps into the 20s for an extended period of time (more than a day or two). Cold weather won't necessarily fully kill alkaline in the scenarios we get in November and early December with a short cold spell. Typically the cam will not fire/trigger when the temps are super low, but as temps rise, the cam comes "alive" again. I wouldn't run alkaline in a cell cam in say late season through March, but I rarely set cell cams out then. My "guess" at this point is a set of quality alkalines will easily get you six weeks (maybe 8 and 500 photos transmitted, which would work for people who would set one up over a scrape or a bedding area and let it ride for a month or two. Remember these cams aren't triggering every 10 or 15 seconds and re-triggering - cell/data cams really max out at the one trigger per minute, and maybe one trigger per 45 seconds in areas where you have strong signal and a serious aftermarket antenna. 500 triggers is alot of triggers for cams not set on bait/licks/food plots or areas where deer simply park themselves. My photo count is going to be exaggerated in this test because I am getting 150+ pics a week right now, and that is a ton in a short period of time. You'll lose some pic count when setting for longer periods of time because of the resting current draw when the cam is not snapping pics. I have advanced (not ultimates) lithium in another Gocam that is only sitting at 97 photos transmitted during the same time period - the one I posted a photo of above. Based on the alkalines, I am expecting 1,500-2,000 images over an extended period of time - 3 mos. or more with lithium. Tough part is that it took $19 to feed the cam. Cost wise is probably going to favor the alkaline (almost always does when the math is considered), but the convenience factor and probably the perk of setting a cam in August or Labor Day weekend and not needing to step foot in that spot again until you want to hunt is attractive. Part of the reason I have lithium in that cam is because I have zero desire to go back into that woods once the bugs arrive unless I absolutely need to. All that said, if you are savvy, you can buy a decent solar panel with integrated L-I battery for around $50, that would pay for itself in the first year of use or less depending on pic count sent. I am also getting 100% transmission of photos taken vs. sent on both cams. I've never had that on any cell cam prior, and that is important considering their use. Code Blacks and the other cheaper cell cams I use ran between 80-90%.

I've been testing out battery life on one in my backyard and it's giving me great performance. I have super cheap alkalines. These cams take 12 AA. The total cost in this cam battery wise is $2.70 right now. The camera has taken and sent 456 photos in the large format size of 1280 during the past three weeks with full flash setting on. Cam is still showing 5.7v, which is quite shocking to me. Either these batteries will fall off quickly and die, or I'm going to be really surprised. I got between 6 and 800 transmitted images on Code Blacks with similar batteries sending 640 size images with zero portal/two way communications, and I've been hammering this camera with status update requests and camera setting changes, which typically uses alot of juice. At the onset, I expected to get 200-300 photos before the batteries started to show a dent. If I got 300 photos in this test, I was going to be pleased. Being well over that at this point is impressive. If I break 600 transmitted images, it might be plausible to not need lithiums for some setups of for those who will have the cam out only a month at a time before a revisit. At this pace, the cam will get two pics for every penny of battery cost. That is cheap for a cell/data cam.

Brian Pragle will do a good job with a dip. Personal service. Kolorfusion and other coatings would have to be done elsewhere. But a dip... Go to Brian. He is maybe five minutes off of the Dansville exits on 390. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Found this matched set a few weeks ago. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For alot of turkey hunters, calling a bird in for a partner is just as fun as being the trigger man. Even with three people, it's not that hard to have a caller tailing behind or away to a pair that is set up.

They are nice scopes - Vortex is bringing back some production to the US apparently. That is even better news. I am sure you will like them in the field. I have a Crossfire II 3-9x40 brand new in box...willing to part with it if anyone wants it. Was going to put it on my Vortek UL but it fell victim to some rusting and the scope is just sitting idle now.

Actual transmitted pic in 1280 size. These cams are awesome.

That was enough for me and Moog. 9 a.m. and not a yelp, not a sighting of a field where we had birds showing up the week prior...not anything but a few deer. Ah well.

So quiet and slow here. Blind keeping us dry. Birds here daily up to Wednesday on cell cam and then nada. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here is a screenshot of the portal. I am running a pair of cams.

I have to say, the more this cam gives me updates and pics, the more I like this camera. The app, portal site, and the communications going back and forth is absolutely feature rich, and best part of all, is that it is pretty darn simple. I have near all information I could ever want or need to run this cam at its max potential. I will be toying with my solar panel setups for these cams as well. I have cheap alkalines in the one now and was trying to see how many pics I can get at the bird feeder but the beasts are not co-operating today. Probably because of our "adopted" feral cat that sticks around now.

No Tom around or he is bowing down to the gang of jakes? Nice pics!

Att models runs around low 300s for a deal. Most in the mid 300. Verizon is usually 50 or 100 more. Running the cam with the app and the data plan is around 11 a month but you can start and stop service without issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had a chance to toy with one a few weeks ago. I ended up getting a pair of ATT models this week. There are Verizon models but are more expensive to buy and run. Set them up and I have to say this cam is pretty fun and has a ton of new capabilities. The phone app is convenient and useful. I can check battery voltage, change settings and then some. Even request higher res images. I am receiving 1280 size pics, double the 640 of prior cell cams I have used. I can also give guest access to others to see pics. That's good for family or club ground. Cam is built well case wise. Solid battery banks and batteries will not pop out on you in the field. This cam is black flash and has good illumination for black flash as I am getting usable pics at 30 to 40 feet. Haven't tested beyond that yet. I'll have it deployed out of the backyard and in the woods this week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He got the camo Crocs for free as part of the deal, too.

The pressure is on - one target, but he's been there three days in a row now.

The spring style blinds are better for gun hunting turkey than hub style. More compact and light to travel with, provides the quick setup you need to be mobile. Hub style blinds are more of the set it and forget it use. First turkey I ever killed was set up minutes before the bird pitched down into the green field and there was zero brushing in.

$3-4 bucks for the card. 32GB cards can be had for $8-12 most times nowadays, which if you run video in that cam, you'll want to get because of the file size.

TCP is reputable for selling a cam and providing the warranty. Part of my concerns with them is that they try to state they are objective with their reviews but yet sell cams. That's a hard thing to accomplish - don't know many people who have done that. I've seen a few situations where I believe their reviews were tweaked here and there while pushing certain cam brands/families. It took two years for them to acknowledge the poor audio on the Primos cams, even after considerable feedback from lots of people. Both the 15 and 16 are going to be solid performers. 15 gets a little motion blur in very specific scenarios, but the 16 seems to be a champ at nighttime pics. I own a 15 and have no qualms other than its red IR.

I wish that cam were black flash. The dark ops hasn't historically reflected the same degree of nighttime performance in a black flash version. Black flash is more difficult to work with, but the gap is just too far for me. The strike force is quite the cam.

Spypoint supposedly has a new 2016 cam that is off the charts performance wise - haven't seen pics yet, but apparently they poured a big pile of cash into developing it. Very long battery life and very quick - multiple triggers per second - not pictures....triggers! I'm a bit interested to see it in the real-world, however.

It's rare for a cam deal right now. I'd buy a few different cams for vids and pics. Don't fall into a cheap cam trap. Big difference between a good cam on sale or clearance and a cheap cam. A great video cam in my mind is black flash and not cheap. The browning btc7fhd is on eBay for 110. Red ir but solid vids. Pics lack crispness. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the record, I support the dove hunting efforts. I don't support some of the tactics used to publicize/inform. Others have remarked the same to me about it, but it's not my role to insert myself into it. It just leaves a bitter taste on a topic that people should be excited about. I was and am prepared to donate for the advertising campaign, but the responses from you are making me second guess it out of concern for the abrasiveness.