buying my first trail cam

[Red]

I'm.buying my first my first trail camera 99% of the time I.hunt state land so.I.want to buy a few cheap cameras and try them out first and see how long they last out there I was looking at the moultri A5 I found them for $55 each and I was going to.pick.up a moultri 990I for one of my spots since this will be my.first trail.cam purchase I'm.looking for any input. Thank you

[stubby68]

                                     I have 4 moultris and they work great.Great pictures and video. The IR takes great night pics. The wake up time is fast very rarely do I get pictures of anything already half way through the view range. They are a little sensitive though sometimes a heavy rain or snow set them off. Other then that no complaints They hold up good in weather and battery last a long. I have mine out 10 months out of the year and only go through 2 sets of batteries a year.I get from 800 to 1500 pics a month.Very easy to use and good quality. I had a stealth cam and hated it eats up batteries, a set every 2 weeks and the pic and video quality sucks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           As far as putting them on state land I wouldn't put anything out that I wanted to keep. I would put the stealth cam on state land but not my others I value them too much.Wouldn't get up set if some one stole that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

[Doc]

Generally speaking, I am resigned to losing anything that I leave on state land. I have past experiences that have made this rule a necessary assumption. However, that rule does have exceptions. I have gotten away with setting out cameras in extremely dense areas where I have been able to completely hide the camera in a tree in an spot that was well above the normal line of sight. The tree was a very thick and gnarly old apple tree that was in an area where anyone walking through would normally be forced to walk stooped over, ducking and dodging wild rose and other thorny plants and trees. I have also had luck hiding cameras on the ground, again in places where they are not exactly in the line of normal sight.

 

There is absolutely no way that I would simply strap any camera (cheap or expensive) to a tree in an open woods or field edge. For one thing, that attaching strap sticks out like a sore thumb. It just looks out of place and quickly catches anyone's attention that is walking by.

 

No matter what you do, you are running a huge risk of having the camera stolen, but you can do things to make it not very easy for the filthy, stinking thieves that walk among us.

[phade]

A5 has a one minute delay setting which totally rules out this cam for use in anon mineral and non bait locations.

The 990 is a decent cam.

I am on staff for another company. Pm me and I can send you some info or answer any questions you may have.

[Hock3y24]

There are a lot of cameras on clearance right now, just saw a few 150 dollar cameras on sale for 80 at big box stores

[stubby68]

            Phade why do you say that? Mine only have 30 second delay I do not use minerals or bait do not have a problem getting pics or video. If an animal walks into view range pic or video is taken. Have mine set to take 3 pics at a time just in case of slow wake up but haven't really needed it. I keep them on the three pic setting cause I know as soon as I put in one pic I will have prob with slow wake up or something. I put on in a tree in front of parents house faceing the road to see how fast the wake up was. I was suprised I had pictures of the cars going by. They always fly passed there so I was impressed.I figured there would be empty frame shots but actually caught the cars,not in all three pics and but in first two every time car went by. Even got cars back to back

[phade]

            Phade why do you say that? Mine only have 30 second delay I do not use minerals or bait do not have a problem getting pics or video. If an animal walks into view range pic or video is taken. Have mine set to take 3 pics at a time just in case of slow wake up but haven't really needed it. I keep them on the three pic setting cause I know as soon as I put in one pic I will have prob with slow wake up or something. I put on in a tree in front of parents house faceing the road to see how fast the wake up was. I was suprised I had pictures of the cars going by. They always fly passed there so I was impressed.I figured there would be empty frame shots but actually caught the cars,not in all three pics and but in first two every time car went by. Even got cars back to back

 

The A5 according to Moultrie's information:

 

A-5 Game Camera

 

Moultrie’s A-5 provides easy setup and great features at a price that makes it affordable to outfit your entire property. This is a 5.0MP Low Glow infrared game camera. The night range spans up to 50-ft, and the A-5 captures day and night video. This camera has a picture delay of 1, 5, 10, and 30 minutes.

______________________________________

 

A 1 minute delay is worthless for non-bait and non mineral setups, with the only exception I would consider would be a small food plot area. It is not a camera to be used on trails like most use here in NY. Set that cam next to another that can reliably perform with a 5, 10, or 20 second delay, and watch what you are missing. I don't want to just "get pictures" with my cameras. I want to know I am capturing the bucks that will end up as targets. A one minute delay is unacceptable for that use.

[HuntOrBeHunted]

Get a WildGame.. They are really decent cameras and your using it on state land so god for bid someone finds it. I've had 2 of them for the longest and one of them ive had for almost 6 years. For 70 bucks I couldn't beat it.

[phade]

WGi cams are a roll of the dice.

 

I've owned 10 or so. They all worked until they needed warranty replacements. I've had a 100% return rate on WGI cams.

 

A cheap, reliable, and well performing game camera hasn't been released yet. If it were, the market wouldn't have so many players in it because that manufacturer would shrink the market in a year or two.

[stubby68]

                    All I know for sure is that I have tested my cameras with other cams,people walking by, cars going down the road, and from the time stamps on the pic I haven,t found anything they miss. As for knowing I am getting pics of the bucks that are going to end up as targets,That's not likely to happen just because I get 30 or 40 pics of a buck does not mean he will still be in the area when hunting time comes. I have no problems with and was wondering what probs you had experienced. The buck in my profile was tracked through the woods with the cams I knew where he would be and when before he did. How ever each experience is different.

 

[Hardcore]

Running cams can be addictive, fun and or stressful. Good luck I'm sure you should enjoy

I agree with Phade all day on the delay for a cam on non mineral or bait site. Getting good pics of bucks or even does on a "trail" where they are traveling through is an art itself. Without a hair trigger you'll get a lot of rear ends, tails blurry shots or nothing. Fastest trigger I know off is a Cuddleback, don't own one been known a few that have. Drawback on that is cost for the public land endeavor, Cuddleback is not cheap. Your going to get what you pay for, but research like crazy for ratings, Trigger Speed !! And other features. I have had good luck with primos & moultries but other options out there.

[wooly]

Hey Red, I got an old Moultrie D-55 IR you can have if you want it.

It's got video, 1- 3 shot burst per trigger, and a minimum one minute delay. Runs on 6-C-cells.

Should give you a good idea of what to expect from a sucky cam,lol

I don't use it any more.

[phade]

All I know for sure is that I have tested my cameras with other cams,people walking by, cars going down the road, and from the time stamps on the pic I haven,t found anything they miss. As for knowing I am getting pics of the bucks that are going to end up as targets,That's not likely to happen just because I get 30 or 40 pics of a buck does not mean he will still be in the area when hunting time comes. I have no problems with and was wondering what probs you had experienced. The buck in my profile was tracked through the woods with the cams I knew where he would be and when before he did. How ever each experience is different.

Look, if a one minute delay works for you, thats great. But I can gurantee you that you miss trailing deer in a one minute delay when set on a trail or in the woods as most ny hunters do. You seem convinced your camera doesnt miss anything. I dont see how you can make that claim when using a one minute delay. After deer one passes, there a one minute or more delay before the cam can snap another series. Anyone with a little hunting experience should realize how this can result in missed deer. Whether in bachelor groups or during rut stages.

I cant fathom why anyone would think a one minute delay makes a good choice when better options are out there.

[stubby68]

                                     Like I said every experience is different all we can do is give our thoughts and he can make his own decision. You don't like them that is fine, I do like them. I also like the fact that I do not have to replace the batteries every other week as my buddies do.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              As for my confidence,it is only my opinion not fact and I have been known to be wrong from time to time. I know my cams played a big roll in getting my profile buck so I will stick with them

 

[phade]

                                     Like I said every experience is different all we can do is give our thoughts and he can make his own decision. You don't like them that is fine, I do like them. I also like the fact that I do not have to replace the batteries every other week as my buddies do.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              As for my confidence,it is only my opinion not fact and I have been known to be wrong from time to time. I know my cams played a big roll in getting my profile buck so I will stick with them

 

Agreed on that premise. If a one minute delay makes you happy and think it works for you, then that's all that matters. I disagree wholeheartedly based on my experience, but again that's just an opinion. I don't want to get into a pissing match over who "knows what and why". It's just not worth it to me or this site.

 

It's been a few years since I've killed a buck I haven't picked up on cam. Last year, out of the four bucks my group killed, all were on cam. They certainly can be useful when used correctly.

 

What kind of battery life are you getting pic count wise with those cams? 10,000? 20,000?

[dbHunterNY]

I wouldn't put a camera out on public land.  it'd be gone in no time.  I don't even hang $35 stands on public land.  I've always known them to 'walk off'.  however, the cheapest cams I've had experience with are Wild Game Innovation cams.  similar to what Phade said expect most of them to be returned.  cost of shipping you have to eat but they will take it back and send you a new one with little questions asked.  I think they're getting better though as the newest ones I've got I haven't had any problems with yet.

 

public land aside there's some good cameras out there and any camera I buy here on out will definitely have field scan mode or equivalent.

 

...also seems like I'm running external battery packs on everything I can now.  pay back's there it's silly not too unless you're afraid of losing them like on public land.

Edited April 10, 2014 by dbHunterNY

[fasteddie]

I have 3 of the Primos Truth Cam Blackouts that take nice pics and have excellent battery life . I have one overlooking a horse trail that apparently has weeds moving in front and sets the camera off too often . If I click through the pics fast , it looks like a movie ( $80 at WalMart) .

I have a smaller Primos Cam 40 Ultra that takes good pics but .... I have set the date at least 3 times on trips and for some reason it reverts back to 2010 . But it only cost me $5 in a Raffle .

I have a Moultrie D338s that I have not put out yet and a couple other cameras .

I have a Moultrie in Geneseo that I have left for over a year and the deer are used to it even though it has the IR flash .

I gave up on Stealth Cams as 3 of them crapped out on me and I havn't had time to take them to the range yet . Never got a response from an email I sent to their company .

 

Apparently I lost some pics when The company transferred my files from my XP Desktot to the new computer . I will have to see if I can get them from the external hard drive .

 

And , like doc said , hide the camera . Take a step ladder and place it about 10' high where it's not noticable .

 

[Red]

Thanks for the help everyone like I said this will be my first trail cam purchase so I'm wide open to suggestions on what cameras are good. The ones that I'll.hang on state land will.be put.up.in the tree 8_10 feet high except for the one that's going in a thick torn patch that's 100 plus yards wide and atleast 200 yards long. I've been.wanting to.get cams for a long time especially after seeing some of the sweet.pics that some of you guys post

[philoshop]

I've had excellent results with Bushnell  cams. $200 list, but I've picked them up for about $130 or so on the 'net.

Great pics, very fast, and a good IR flash that doesn't scare the posers.

A slightly wider FOV would have picked up my bow shot on a 9-point two years ago. The camera picked up his butt headed away. As it turned out, that's about how I shot him too. Just above the left haunch and into the boiler-room. I would have sworn it was a perfect broadside shot.

[mbucks27]

Stay away from wild game cams they are trash. I would go with a covert mp6 black. You can get one for about 115.

John

[sbuff]

I have the m990i and it works beyond great.

[GreeneHunter]

I have an older EZ Cam Wildview that still works pretty good , nothing fancy but works fine !

 

[wooly]

I have an older EZ Cam Wildview that still works pretty good , nothing fancy but works fine !

 

 

I got one of those you can have too Red,lol

I never got any more than a weeks worth of battery life out of it, and no more than 100 pics on a fresh set.

That's another one that's collecting dust here.

 

You should come up to run around the park for antlers again sometime so I can get rid of some of this junk!

[skyhunter]

as far as getting pics of cars passing by at a decent rate of speed; the cam is being triggered by the cars ahead of the cars that show up in the pictures.

[hondamx32]

I have tried everything from Cuddebacks to Bushnells to Wildgame cameras and hands down the best camera I have ever owned is the Moultrie Panoramic 150.  I am ready to throw the rest of my cameras in the trash (instead I will sell them on eBay).  I highly recommend the camera to everybody its very affordable awesome battery life and they have a 5 digit password so when your scumbag neighbors steal them (like mine did) you at least have the satisfaction of knowing they cant use it.  Speaking of trail cameras does anyone have any old junk cameras (I prefer non working I am just going to use them as decoys to catch the poachers/thiefs that have robbed me 2 of the last 3 seasons) that they are willing to sell? 

Edited April 15, 2014 by hondamx32