Trail Cam Question

I know a ton of you run trail cams for hunting. I have two that I use and rely on for establishing patterns and identifying particular animals. Well one of mine is undependable and unpredictable. With brand new batteries and set up properly, it just decided not to work. My bait station got hit all three days with no pics to tell what time or the size of the bear. Before it quit, I was getting pics like these two. One perfect and the next like crap. My night pics were great as well…then “Ghost” pictures. Today I contacted the manufacturer to see if anything could be done with the camera and they said they do not repair their cameras and without the receipt from Fleet Farm from a year ago, they didn’t want to talk to me. And that is fine. I should have kept my receipt. It is only 11 months old…so SAVE your receipts. But my question is what would you see as the best trail cam out there? Something that is dependable and would last longer than 11 months. BTW I did get a bear yesterday , but not one of the big ones I was hoping for.

I actually just sent a wildgame camera in a couple weeks ago. It was over 3 years old and on Monday I got a brand new rage 4 in the box.

I didnt call or anything, just filled out the online warranty deal and shipped it to them.

I have always figured the ghost effect was due to the dirrection of the sun and how much sun the camera was able to pull in.

That is who I talked to today. Not the same response you got. The sun is not the issue. 1 out of 2 pics in my living room do it too. Can you shoot me the online link you used on a PM? Thanks Eric!

If you want the best. Reconyx is it. My buddy down the road started running one this year. The pics and trigger speed are great. He has not had to deal with customer service so I can’t speak to that.

As for Ford/Chevy middle of the road, I’d by a Covert or Bushnell.

One thing I will say, all my cameras take bad pics. They all also take some amazing pics. Foggy/dewy mornings are a killer.

Here is a recent discussion on cameras. Trail Cams

Those last two pics out of the four sucked Chris. Send them into the company along with a link to this post.

Ps I’ll take that broken camera off your hands. I need something to protect my evaporating Spam.

I am not out to ruin any camera makers reputation. I have gotten some fantastic pics from both of my WGI cameras. Just bummed it was the more expensive of the two. My son uses the other. I was hoping it would be a “You get what you pay for” situation but it didn’t work out that way. I need something that I can depend on. I have limited time to hunt with my new job. A lot of my hunting hours revolved around data from these cams. Time, approach to the bait, direction when leaving not to mention which animal had been hitting when. It quit working when I needed it most. I know I am whining. But deer season is coming up and we have some nice bucks up there this year. And mow I need a new camera.

If your spam is evaporating I would guess someone is “sleep eating”. A trail cam can prove it.

BTW BK, Thanks for the Spam! It makes great bait!
The bear in the clear photo was the one I got. He had Hormel breath.

I cant seem to find the form now. I would call them and ask for the warranty return form. They should know what your talking about.

I used a Bushnell TrophyCam for the first time last year and was really impressed for the $139 price. Great pics and the trigger speed is obviously exceptionally fast because there were none of those “arse end” pictures where you can tell the camera just didn’t wake up in time.

Night pics were great, day pics were great. Very good battery life with 4 AA or you can install 8 AA for very long life.

I also like the small overall size. I put it on a screw-in mount using a small portable ladder to get above reaching height in trees. With the camera up this high, it’s NOT easy to see and I’ve walked by my own camera several times because I wasn’t looking “up” enough.

Grouse

I bought two of these cameras this year and I have the exact same problem. With no reciept I think I’ll just send them back and see what happens. They are so bad that I’d rather risk losing them than having them sitting around tweeking my nerve. They are worthless, may as well take a chance.

I did and was told I needed a receipt. Like I said, I should have kept it. I will go with a different brand.

Chris I run Moultrie cams and have had very good luck with them, I cannot speak for other cams as Moultrie is the only brand I have owned but I can tell you that I have heard from quite a few guys that they have not had good luck with the Wild game cams. All of my cams have been under $100 usually pay around $70 to $80 bucks for mine, I cannot justify paying more than that as I have 8 cams and one of my hunting partners has 2, I try to add a couple of cams a year to my collection. I would rather have more cams out and pay less for them instead of just a couple of the top end cams. Also it does not hurt so bad if I have a cheap cam stolen vs a an expensive one, knock on wood I have not had one stolen yet. 5 of my cams are the older flash cams and 3 of them are I-35’s inferred cams. I buy all of my Moultrie’s directly from the Moultie web site, a few times a year they have two pack deals on cams that have been discontinued. Go to the Internet Specials link on the Moultrie web site. http://www.moultriefeeders.com

I have had very good luck with Moultrie customer service, you get a live person when you call not a recording. When ever I have needed new bungees or straps for my cams they send them to me free of charge. One thing I always do when I get a new cam from them is to register the cam on line so it is coverd under their one year warranty. Earlier this year in April I put one of my I-35’s out for turkey season and I forgot about it and did not get back to check on it till July, it was infested with thousands of tiny ants and the cam no longer worked. This cam was over a year old and was out of warranty and would have been too costly to repair. Even if it would have still been under warranty it would not have been covered from ants getting inside it. What they did do for me was offer me a refurbished cam (same model) for $59 so I got two of them for around $120. From what I have head and read Reconyx is one of the best cams on the market & I wish I could afford them but the prices I have seen run anywhere from $450 to $1200!!! A good source of info to compare cams is http://www.trailcampro.com

Wildgame cams are at the bottom of Trailcampro’s star rankings list.

Trailcampro Star Rankings

I’m with Grouse. Went with the Bushnell last year as well. For the price and quality it can’t be beat.

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I put it on a screw-in mount using a small portable ladder to get above reaching height in trees.

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Grouse I was just reading an article about this very topic, the article recommended for older flash cams or units that make noise to hang them 7 to 10 feet off the ground and angle them down. Also set them to single shot mode. I am going to give this a try with my older flash cams.

How high do you hang your cams and how tall is your portable ladder? Do you just carry your ladder in or is it a style that you can carry like a back pack?

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I put it on a screw-in mount using a small portable ladder to get above reaching height in trees.

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Grouse I was just reading an article about this very topic, the article recommended for older flash cams or units that make noise to hang them 7 to 10 feet off the ground and angle them down. Also set them to single shot mode. I am going to give this a try with my older flash cams.

How high do you hang your cams and how tall is your portable ladder? Do you just carry your ladder in or is it a style that you can carry like a back pack?

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I found a small 5 step ladder at a garage sale that looks like it came off of some piece of farm or construction equipment. It’s kind of narrow, but it does the job and weighs probably 5 pounds.

One of those tree stand “ladder sticks” that you strap on the tree would accomplish the same thing. You don’t need much.

If I’m putting a camera on public land, I’ll often just hide the ladder nearby figuring there’s almost no chance that somebody would find the ladder AND find a camo trail cam that’s hidden up in a tree 100 yards away.

If I stand on the top rung, I can easily reach 12+ feet up the tree. The height seems to have no impact on how the camera works, just a higher point of view.

The plus side on the security end is that I don’t think people are used to looking UP like that. Most of the time, you actaually have to tilt your head upward to see the camera, it’s not like it’s within your normal line of siet. With the camera 12 feet up in a tree, it’s up there where ther are leaves and branches and other stuff to hide it better. In fact, I carry a little pruner to cut away branches so the camer has a clear view.

Bottom line is that 12+ feet up in a tree, the camera is damn tough to see. You would REALLY have to be looking carefully to ever even see it up there. As I’ve said, I’ve actually walked right past my own camera. The leaves fall off and coming in from a different angle, it can be really difficult to spot the camera that I left out there 4 weeks earlier.

Grouse