Need help picking a trail cam

[Green380]

My Santa has just informed me to let him know what trail cam I'd like.
I was looking at the Spypoint cameras and I understand they have good customer service.
Mostly I'm not sure what I should be looking for. The IRON 9 seems decent, is it worth paying more? It will be my only camera, I don't want one over $200 in case it goes 'missing'. I see myself only using still images and want at least a date and time stamp.
Any advice?
How is battery life on these normally?

[W.Miguire]

I just bought 2 Browning Recon Force . and so far so good . goggle them and check them out and they where less than 130.00.
W.M.

[Bullzeye]

Go to this web site" chasingame.com " you will get great unbiased reviews of tons of cams.

[TheBig1]

TrailCamPro.com

I'm liking the Browning Strike Force HD myself.

Chad

[deerman41]

Whatever kind of camera you get, put it in a metal box made for it. I put 2 -3/8x3" lag bolts and a masterlock cable through the box around a tree. I have tried a lot of different cameras, I favor fast trigger speeds, cuddeback, bushnell HD, browning. However the next one I buy will be a spypoint. Stay away from Moultrie and wildgame innovations. I do not like black flash cams, they take horrible night pics. I have 8 cams out on my farm mainly as security, I have caught many trespassers including 1 night hunter. I have 3 cams without boxes that do not work any more that I put within range of a working cam daring someone to take them.

[Bullzeye]

I have two Spypoints and an old Bushnell. My Spypoints pick up more pics than the Bushnell , but my Bushnell takes better pics.

[Hester0305]

I have 4 Bushnell cams and they take pretty good pics for the money, I've had one go bad and they sent me a new one. I've had 2 Wildgame Innovations go bad and they don't even have a repair shop, if its past the year warranty they simply tell you too bad or you can buy a new one. I have a Moultrie Trace camera for the house and yard that takes great daytime and nighttime pics. Good luck , if you can get an extended warranty on any you decide on I would buy it.

[IroquoisArcher]

Also try www.slaycam.com . They are mainly commercial units and have most all of them listed (manufacturers). I only use homebrews (www.diytrailcams.com they also hasve a commercial cam section to compare manufacturers and models) so can't help on a commercial brand other then saying my Dad's only one is a StealthCam unit and they suck on ir, ANY movement and you almost wouldn't be able to tell if it is a buck or not.

[Hunt it]

Bushnell is a great Canadian Company. I have had many of thier trail cams over the years. I just sent back a 4 yr old one that was acting up to see if they could repair it - brand new this years model sent as free replacement, no questions asked. I had another on 6-7 years back act up and they replaced it with brand new model. I'd say thier customer service model is very similar to Excalibur - Great!

[Bcwn]

DLC covert black ops. Best camera ever. Why? It's 4G, and LTE. I've owned the same one for 4 years. $19 a month gets you unlimited text pictures and video in real time. No need to go stink the joint up, or wasting gas checking cameras soon as an animal breaks the IR beam the pic and videos are sent at that very moment. You can also wake up the camera to just check things out that may be out of the beam range, but well within the camera range of sight. Customer service? I went to a new location to hunt, couldn't get the camera on the net work due to the fact I bought the gen 1 version which was 2G, called DLC they sent me a brand new 4G camera free of charge. I did have to send my 2 G back once I received the 4G/LTE camera. Down side they cost $300, but in my opinion a great investment given the situation.

[Bullzeye]

I looked at those cams where you pay monthly, I do not know about now, but back when I checked it out you have to sign up for a yearly subscription, but I really only wanted it for about four or five months.

[ko4nrbs]

I would start with an inexpensive camera until you really discover what you want in pictures. Pictures suitable for framing are not required for scouting but if that is what you really want then a Homebrew is the best choice.

For just scouting purposes I would try this one:
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/produ ... earch=true

I've used the less expensive WGI cams for soucting with good results.
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/produ ... _rr_1_1356

It's all in what quality you expect from the pictures and if you need bells and whistles.

Just my thoughts after having evolved from inexpensive Game Cameras to Homebrews.

Bill

[Green380]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll dig through all the sites you mentioned.
There are DIY cameras...great I'll have some fun reading over the winter .
At this point I really only need one for scouting, I'd like to know what's around on my property and maybe move it around a bit.
Looks like any of the lower cost cameras should do the trick.

[way123hockey]

I have 2 Wild Game Innovation cameras and they both will no longer take night time pics. Because the one year warranty is up they will no longer warranty this product. I would stay away from WGI. Sometimes the price is right but they will not stand behind their products.

[Green380]

I have 2 Wild Game Innovation cameras and they both will no longer take night time pics. Because the one year warranty is up they will no longer warranty this product. I would stay away from WGI. Sometimes the price is right but they will not stand behind their products.

From reading all the reviews it seems getting one from a company that supports it's products is pretty important.


And I would love one of the 3g or 4g models but with data plans being what they are in the great white north I won't be doing that unless I find one that uses the MMS network and not data; and accepts a Sim card.