I hate trail cams!

[RobbyW]

Seems like I am fighting them or babying them to keep them working. I am down to 4 that are "working". By that I mean almost kind of working. I have a Primos DPS that is working as design. A bushnell that i bought last year that would not take night pictures. Sent it back and got that fixed, but the display just went out in it. It takes pics just can't program time/date:mode. Picked up two Stealth unit X cameras this year. One works (goes through batteries like my 14yo boy goes through grocerys) and the other misses a ton of pictures. Put in the same tree as the bushnell and the Bush gets 278 pictures while the stealth got 12.


Has anyone found a camera they like? I figure buying cheaper units is costing me more than if I could find a higher end camera that would last and not eat batteries. Looking at the Leopolds. If what I read is right you buy a camera and controller which is pricey, but after you have a controller you can then buy just the cameras which aren't too bad. Hoping their name built on scopes carries over to their game cameras

 

[Jmed]

Look at the coverts. Mp8 blacks for $100. You usually get what you pay for

 

[dogman]

i have two browings recon ops and i like them going to go to there blacks next yr.. my try a coverts as well alot o people seem to like them

 

[REM7]

I had great luck with my moultries. and for 89$ cant go wrong. Was in woods 10 months on original set of batteries.

 

[FIREMANJIM]

And yet another member has "Seen the Light"!!!!! LOL

WWW.JTSWildlifeCameras.Com

 

[MUP]

Yep, the cheap $50 Tasco Mini. :)

 

[BSK]

Covert Black cams
Uway VH200B
Reconyx (but get ready to pay through the nose)

 

[buckaroo]

I second Moultrie!!!!!

 

[TheLBLman]

I figure buying cheaper units is costing me more than if I could find a higher end camera that would last and not eat batteries.

And there you have it.
Don't fail to overlook the cost of gasoline required to check less reliable cams more frequently.

Besides the mistake of thinking up-front lower cost is cheaper, the biggest mistake I see new users making is falling for aggressive advertising. Many of the most "popular" cams are really being mass used by victims of their advertising, as way too many "name brands" are simply over-priced junk.

You really need to totally ignore the advertising, and pay more attention to the more independent reviews such as

www.chasingame.com

And that Leupold line of trail cams has received some of the very worst reviews. Very disappointing.

FOR THE MONEY, hard to beat the Covert brand.
Any new cams in my future, presently I'll only consider Reconyx, Covert, and/or "Homebrews" such as those offered by FiremanJim.

There's a few brands I will never ever buy again:
Cuddeback, Uway (sorry BSK), and Bushnell.

Chasingame's Leupold Review:
http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=278

 

[Roost 1]

Look at the coverts. Mp8 blacks for $100. You usually get what you pay for

Where are you getting these for $100.... I want to know.

 

[Southern Sportsman]

^^ x2

 

[Jmed]

Wing supply had em for $96. But not anymore, but good prices non-the-less;

http://www.wingsupply.com/search.php?se ... ery=Covert

 

[Mossy]

Covert, for the money is the best can you can buy IMO! I have 6 coverts, various ones and they are all great cams...great battery life!

 

[PickettSFHunter]

That's exactly why I started building my own. A lot less issues and when you do have an issue you can fix it yourself.

 

[Boone 58]

I third it, but I have had some issues with the m 80 not lasting at all. I have a d444 that has been excellent so far. All I have used for the last 8 years are moultries. I am happy with them overall.

 

[PalsPal]

Another vote for the cheap Moultries. I currently use two that are on their 3rd & 4th years.

I would love to have one of Jim's, but have had a couple "walk away", so I just can't take that risk.

 

[BSK]

Crazy as it sounds coming from me, but I have a client running a bunch of the Cuddeback Ambush Black Flash cameras, and I actually REALLY like them. Fast trigger, good flash distance and fairly good night-time images. Daytime images are stellar. However, I suspect battery life won't be the greatest as they don't suggest using lithium AAs, only alkaline, and a doubt those will last long.

 

[Nealmeally]

I'm still using several Moultries that are 5+ years old, never had one fail. And I got I think 6 Moultries running now.. But for the price, I really love my Coverts and that's all I'll buy from now on. Battery life is amazing and daytime picture quality is as clear as it gets..

 

[Good time Charlie]

Build your own ...homebrew is the way to go...and it is a fun hobby.I started out easy with a P 32 I now have around 30 many different kinds and different hacks.
You can build your own boards if you want.
If you mess a hack up save it for parts or go on e-bay and buy a junk cam for a few bucks .There are a few sites that will be glad to help you camtrapper Buckshots site DIY trailcams a few more.
FIREMAN JIM will help you on this site.

 

[UpperTully]

Ive had no problem with the Moultries ive had. Batteries last forever in my M80xt

 

[CAW]

Covert and Reconyx.

 

[Realtree]

I think all of them has their lemons. Just gotta find one that suits yourself and chance it. Moultrie a5 is $50 and does what I want.

 

[BSK]

Build your own ...homebrew is the way to go...

Until good black-flash build kits are available, I'll keep buying $150-200 Chinese cams. The Chinese cams get better every year.

 

[catman529]

I had at least 3 but down to 1 and it's the first one I bought, a moultrie that has a malfunction with the IR filter resulting in black night pics... I pulled out the filter and now all night pics are normal and day pics are pink, but that's ok, the camera works great. I move it around every so often to check new areas.

 

[muzzy76]

ive had luck with the big moultries from back in the day when they took the 6 D batteries- those suckers probably still work but are in my garage as the batteries only lasted 2-3 months. now I will say that the bushnells are just like obama... pure trash