Best Trail Camera Value

[phade]

Hey, thanks for the link phade!

 

Buying right now is out of the question. Maybe after the 1st of the year, but before the spring turkey rush.

 

At $80 a pop, I could afford about 6 of them. I like the 4-shot burst feature.

 

Another option would be 4 of them & 1 of the Black 60s.

 

Not sure if video would be a priority. Not looking for absolute trophy quality bucks, just the better specimins on the property.

 

Since I took the big dominant 4-point out of the gene pool ten years ago, The genetics seem to produce some nice symetrical 8-points.

 

I would like to take a 125-130 class but for a buck to survive past 4 1/2 years old in these parts would be rare.

 

I did find a 4-point (1/2 rack) shed that scored 57 7/8" several years back. I shot his great, great, great grandson in '09. He scored right at 100" at 3 1/2 years old. Almost a perfect smaller copy of the shed.

 

You are welcome for the advice. I wouldn't be worrying about genetics on 15 acres. A nice video cam will help you age a buck much better than a pic cam.

 

Cam prices come May are going to be silly because there's not much old stock left and new cams will have been on the market for a month or two. I'd be buying between now and end of Feb at the absolute latest.

[thphm]

Your ir filter is stuck. Wrap cam in towel and rap with a rubber mallet to try to free it. If that doesnt work you may be able to disassemble and free it.

 

The mallet thing NG. Might have to take it apart, Thanks.

I would not go by the adds and comments about trail cams  in mags. ect. I bought me last ones on pictures posted on this website and comments here from actual users. Pictures are good, battery life good, weather proof,use standard 8 gb. SanDicsk cards  Do not need more then that memory , can put them in any of my computers to view and download.

I strongly advise to buy and use the cable locks , not cheap but might just save the loss of the cam.Most are set up for there use.If you have been following the threads on here you will notice how many have complained about there cams dissapearing even on there own property.

[phade]

The mallet thing NG. Might have to take it apart, Thanks.

I would not go by the adds and comments about trail cams  in mags. ect. I bought me last ones on pictures posted on this website and comments here from actual users. Pictures are good, battery life good, weather proof,use standard 8 gb. SanDicsk cards  Do not need more then that memory , can put them in any of my computers to view and download.

I strongly advise to buy and use the cable locks , not cheap but might just save the loss of the cam.Most are set up for there use.If you have been following the threads on here you will notice how many have complained about there cams dissapearing even on there own property.

 

This is a common misconception. This exists because there are mismatched expectations. People expect to have few to no problems for trail cams. Not possible.

 

Understand something - if you are buying commerically made cameras, you are going to have failures of some sort. Most all cams do not have coated internals. These cams sit outside in fluctuating temps, humidity, precipitation, sun and heat, etc. One of the key characteristics is dealing with a company that will at least honor a warranty and hear you out when something goes wrong to work toward a solution.

 

It doesn't matter if it is Bushnell, Covert, Reconyx...they all have problems. Heck, Reconynx is selling their new model that was in development for YEARS, and it's got several problems/bugs that need to be worked out. For a $600 cam, too.

 

If you get two reliable years out of a cam below say the Reconyx line, you've got your money's worth and any added service over that is gravy.

 

I'm really a big advocate on no security. Why? Because when someone wants it, all you do is lose more money spent on lock boxes or cables or locks. Have I had cams stolen, yes. Some with and some without locks. Mount your cams up higher to get out of line of sight using screw-in or ratchet mounts...that's really the cheapest and best defense for most people.

Edited December 23, 2014 by phade

[wildcat junkie]

You are welcome for the advice. I wouldn't be worrying about genetics on 15 acres. A nice video cam will help you age a buck much better than a pic cam.

 

Cam prices come May are going to be silly because there's not much old stock left and new cams will have been on the market for a month or two. I'd be buying between now and end of Feb at the absolute latest.

15 acres is only the core area that is grown over from logging in the winter of '98/'99. It is surrounded by various types of mini habitat growth. Cedars, hemlocks, oaks/popples, oaks/maples, mature pines/oaks & hay fields. Small water holes from road material borrow are scattered along the  perimiter of the core area. I own 74 acres & control another 32 acres. It is a pinch point/funnel. I could probably get a look at just about every buck in the area traveling through if I could spread out my observation points.

 

Its not a lot of acreage, but it's a pretty good spot. It does take patience. I've lost track but since 1999 there have been 28 bucks & probably close to a dozen does taken from the place by 5 different hunters. No hunting in 2012 & little in 2011. We stopped shooting small bucks in 2010.

 

I want to make a purchase long before May. Right now heating oil is taking all of my income.

Edited December 24, 2014 by wildcat junkie

[phade]

15 acres is only the core area that is grown over from logging in the winter of '98/'99. It is surrounded by various types of mini habitat growth. Cedars, hemlocks, oaks/popples, oaks/maples, mature pines/oaks & hay fields. Small water holes from road material borrow are scattered along the  perimiter of the core area. I own 74 acres & control another 32 acres. It is a pinch point/funnel. I could probably get a look at just about every buck in the area traveling through if I could spread out my observation points.

 

Its not a lot of acreage, but it's a pretty good spot. It does take patience. I've lost track but since 1999 there have been 28 bucks & probably close to a dozen does taken from the place by 5 different hunters. No hunting in 2012 & little in 2011. We stopped shooting small bucks in 2010.

 

I want to make a purchase long before May. Right now heating oil is taking all of my income.

 

 

Still wouldn't worry about genetics.

[wildcat junkie]

Still wouldn't worry about genetics.

 

I didn't mean to imply that I would have much intentional impact on genetics. I'm not worried about it. I'm just making observations.

 

I observed the that when the big 285# (live weight) 4-point was around, he seemed to run off all the rack bucks. Over a 3 year period I never saw anything bigger than a 2 1/2 year old 6-point until he was eliminated. Like a switch, in the following seasons 8 points became fairly common.

 

I have also observed there seems to be an uncanny genetic similarity to to some of those racks.

 

In addition, there seems to be better antler traits & increased body weight since the late '90s when the population was way too high. 100# yearling bucks & 2 1/2 year old bucks with odd, uneven & scrawny antlers were the norm for the 1st 5 years or so.

 

All of that, other than the dominance of the 4-point keeping other bucks off his turf & low body weight due to over browsing, seems to point to genetic traits.

 

I have some racks & a shed that I'll post PIX of.

[moog5050]

You had a 285lb 4pt.  That is a slob of a buck no matter the size of the rack.

[wildcat junkie]

You had a 285lb 4pt.  That is a slob of a buck no matter the size of the rack.

That was live weight. He dressed 219#. He had scars all over his cape & 1 scar from an encounter with me from 3 years earlier. I had a shoulder mount done since we had so much history. I saw him 3 times in 2001, shot at him once, fumbled once with a gun that I was unloading when I looked up & saw him 150yds across the field. He avoided me for 3 years after all that but slipped up on election day 2004 when I stayed out longer than usual on a rainy morning. I was trying to wait out the rain while sitting nice & dry in my tri-pod that has a tin roof.

 

I am 5'10" & weighed about 285 myself in this picture.

 

In 2001 I took a shot at him at about 230yds quartering to me to his left. He had his head down feeding. I held just to the left of what I thought was the pocket shadow behind the shoulder. At the shot he turned & ran off with his tail flagging. All I found was a piece of fat about the size of a match head & some short hair.

 

As it turned out that "shadow" I was holding to the left of (his right) was the dark streak down the center of the back of his neck. I was going to sell the cape since it was so large, but when I saw the scar on the hide I decided to have him mounted. The finished mount has a dark streak in the fur where the bullet creased him. You can see one of his many battle scars just below the throat patch.

 

Edited December 24, 2014 by wildcat junkie

[moog5050]

Yep - big buck.  Congrats

[wildcat junkie]

Yep - big buck.  Congrats

 

His rack was just big enough to hook up & I doubt there were many bucks in the area that could win a wraslin' match with him. I think my cut over area was his core area.There was still a $hit load of does hanging around my hayfields in those days & there were lots of scapes in the woods adjacent to them. Not a lot of rubs though. The thickest area was about 50 yds in from the corner of one of the hay fields. That's exactly were I caught him. He was trying to slip across the horse trail from one thicket to another.

 

I had caught a glimpse of him through the small 2nd growth pine trees & got a good look at his left main beam. I had the drop on him & hammered him with the 280 at 75yds as soon as he tried to slip across the 12' wide opening. He was doing a quick sneak walk. After the shot I recoverd in time to see him digging franticly for traction with his belly almost touching the ground. He went about 12 yds, not a drop of blood. Blew his heart wide open. You can see the spot the bullet exited were the hair was clipped just in front of the right shoulder.

 

[jim335]

....and just think, that would be an illegal buck in a AR zone.

[wildcat junkie]

....and just think, that would be an illegal buck in a AR zone.

Yeah, he would definately be the poster child for anti-AR. One of his offspring was taken a few weeks later from the same stand. An almost exact smaller replica. 1 1/2 years old 142# dressed fairly large 4-point rack..

 

I think he was definately screwing up the local gene pool. I haven't seen any simialar smallish rack/big body traits since.

[t_barb]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-Range-ScoutGuard-BolyGuard-SG550V-31B-5MP-Hunting-Scouting-Game-Camera-/161343254802?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2590ceb112

In my opinion, the best camera for the money... Scoutguard 550.. Have had 2 of them for 5 or 6 years now and they have outperformed any other camera that I have owned.. They are not sold in the big box stores, so not as popular as some of the other brands.. They just work year after year..

Edited December 24, 2014 by t_barb

[phade]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-Range-ScoutGuard-BolyGuard-SG550V-31B-5MP-Hunting-Scouting-Game-Camera-/161343254802?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2590ceb112

In my opinion, the best camera for the money... Scoutguard 550.. Have had 2 of them for 5 or 6 years now and they have outperformed any other camera that I have owned.. They are not sold in the big box stores, so not as popular as some of the other brands.. They just work year after year..

 

The SG550 models of 5-6 years ago are not the same as the ones sold today. Bolyguard had a mass exodus of the engineers that designed and built their cams and they started Uovision, which gained market share. Uovision has had some business issues as of late and Scoutguard has been recovering. Problem is though, the 550 internals are not made of the same components they were made of when they first came out and revolutionized the market. HCO is the US distributor of them. The Ebay guy is actually tied to Bolyguard either by relation or ownership and undermines HCO's agreement to be the US distributor.

[t_barb]

uovision... Is that the company that makes the U-way camers? Would like to get some new ones built similar to the old 550's

[phade]

uovision... Is that the company that makes the U-way camers? Would like to get some new ones built similar to the old 550's

 

Uovision makes quite a few cameras...many of the distributors here - Bushnell, Covert, Browning, Cabelas, Moultrie, etc. all source from the same 2-3 manufacturers.

 

Uway I believe is made by Uovision. Covert is Uovision...many of the newer HCO lines are Uovision. Some of the signs are similar user interfaces. Pretty confident that Browning and Moultrie are made on the same assembly lines too, although the 2015 models have a "stealth cam" appearance. Could be they're all from the same manufacturer.

[peepsight]

I just started using trail cams recently and after much deliberation started out with a Browning Range ops for about $60.00. So far it's been good .... some low light pics are dark. I'm going to continue to expand my camera arsenal and as mention here I figured right after the holidays would be the best time to purchase a few more. The coverts sound great and I'm keeping an eye on sales for them. Anyone had experience with the Brownings? 

[phade]

I just started using trail cams recently and after much deliberation started out with a Browning Range ops for about $60.00. So far it's been good .... some low light pics are dark. I'm going to continue to expand my camera arsenal and as mention here I figured right after the holidays would be the best time to purchase a few more. The coverts sound great and I'm keeping an eye on sales for them. Anyone had experience with the Brownings? 

2013 BTC 2 has a pretty large following in the game camera enthusiast market. I have one and got it for $60. It's an interesting cam. I'm NOT a big fan of red IR and this cam is one that shows me why. It is very bright. It does take pretty good pics as a result, but I see bucks look at it more often as a result. I think the two series delay options (standard or burst) are too far on either end of the spectrum - way too fast or way too slow. MP wise... I run mine on the 4MP. The higher setting tends to result in pixelation and blur. It is horrible in heavy canopy for summer use. I had a Covert Black 60 and the BTC-2 in the same woods about 60 yds apart this summer. Super super heavy canopy. I can undestand why the cams both had trouble dealing with it, but the BTC2 pics were absolute worthless. The Covert I could make out details and do some editing to get the info I needed. Battery life is pretty good on it; again not quite as good as Covert, but no complaints from me on it. The latches are a little too tight to use easily and make a bit of a pop, but the overall case design is a freaking tank - I really think it is well made. The cams seems to adjust exposure to take some pretty good pics at times. Seems random, but you can get some pretty impressive shots once in a while. If I had a fleet of these, I wouldn't be unhappy. I'd have to use wisely to account for the canopy situation in summer and probably mount high exclusively.

 

Having said that, the 2014 models are generally considered to have taken a step back. I also think their black flash isn't up to par yet with other manufacturers. Its a new company. Cams seem to have been made on the same factory line as Moultrie in 2013. Don't think that was the case in 2014 as I believe Moultrie used a different manufacturer to make their cams and it bit them in the butt. Is yours a 2014 model?

Edited January 6, 2015 by phade

[moog5050]

OK - who got phade started on cams - 10 demerits for you!  lol

[phade]

That's it, you get to run Stealth and Wildview cams next season. (not a good thing)

[peepsight]

Phade ...... Thanks for the info. Worth 10 demerits to me (HeeHee) I just got the camera last month via overstock.com ...... my assumption is that it's a 2014 but don't see a true indicator on it that confirms it (___14 in the serial#?). I had to chuckle a bit when you mentioned the latches as I have thought the exact same thing.

[phade]

Phade ...... Thanks for the info. Worth 10 demerits to me (HeeHee) I just got the camera last month via overstock.com ...... my assumption is that it's a 2014 but don't see a true indicator on it that confirms it (___14 in the serial#?). I had to chuckle a bit when you mentioned the latches as I have thought the exact same thing.

 

Don't know much about the '14 model other than the impression that the line was a minor setback over the '13 model. If I remember correctly it had to do with the reduced capabilities for the camera to adjust its properties to take pics. Their black flash needs work though imo.

 

Covert deals might be a little later this year. New models will trickle out in April-ish. I would suggest reaching out to the smaller online dealers to ask for better pricing than what is listed. A phone call can often net a savings. wingsupply, camo-online, macks prarie wings, custom1, fifeiled feed and seed (spelling?) etc. are ones to keep an eye on. MP8 Black is a good cam to get into Black flash. Black 60 is a better all around performer, but more money.

 

The spypoint deal is pretty good for a black flash cam at Gander that I mentioned.

Edited January 6, 2015 by phade

[moog5050]

That's it, you get to run Stealth and Wildview cams next season. (not a good thing)

 

Like I would know the difference

[chiefbkt]

That's it, you get to run Stealth and Wildview cams next season. (not a good thing)

He might as well wave his white flag..

[chiefbkt]

I just started using trail cams recently and after much deliberation started out with a Browning Range ops for about $60.00. So far it's been good .... some low light pics are dark. I'm going to continue to expand my camera arsenal and as mention here I figured right after the holidays would be the best time to purchase a few more. The coverts sound great and I'm keeping an eye on sales for them. Anyone had experience with the Brownings? 

 

I have 3 Browning's that I received over the last 2 months, 2 Dark Ops (black flash) and 1 Strike Force (IR).  I am pleased with the results that I have seen so far.  I am still figuring these out and trying to find the best settings for them.  This is my first time using the no glow black flash style cams.  For the money they don't seem to be horrible.  I am most impressed with the battery life and trigger speed.  I have attached some of my most recent pictures from the cams.  

 

Black Ops-This cam is located in some dense hardwoods and is facing directly south.

 

Black Ops-This cam is located on the edge of the dense hardwoods in a thicket type of area and facing north.

 

Strike Force-This cam is located in dense hardwoods as well and is facing south east.