Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Trail Cameras

Ok these things are all basically junk.I have been through just about every manufacturer.I had settled on Reconyx and Covert cameras.
Scratch Covert off my list the 3rd camera in less than a month is heading back for exchange. The customer service is great they just exchange them for new without a problem but the last one they send me was defective from day one(pink day time pictures)I had one in the woods for 2 weeks went to retrieve my card today an 0 pictures. Batteries are new and it turns on just doesn't take pictures. This is the 4th total that has had to go back,I'm done

My $550 Reconyx is in the shop being fixed new day/light shutter and flash array,new firmware and refocus and test the camera is a 2012 costing me $50 +shipping both ways for the repair.

I have 2 new Browning Dark Ops I'm trying out so I'll see how these hold up

I did just purchase a 2nd Reconyx as it is the best available and only American made trail cam

OK rant over

Tried Bushnell trophy cams Dan? These are all I use....

I've sent two Stealthcams back in the last month.

Greg that's nexted I guess... I've shied away from them because of past experiences with their crappy scopes

Usually keep around 15-20 cameras out on my farm.

Have tried pretty much all of them, from the cheapest i could find, to premium high-dollar cams. Over the last 8 years, the high dollar cams failed about as often as the cheap ones.

The biggest difference i could see was that the high-dollar cams had a better trigger time & took better night pix, and better battery life....but they failed just as often as the el-cheapos . Most common failure was that they'd start taking photos and just keep doing so until the SD card was loaded, or the batteries died; whichever came first.

A few years ago i decided they were ALL semi-disposable products, and if i get 3-4 years out of one, i'm pretty happy....so i got the cheapest ones i can find, a mix of several brands. had fair luck with most, except Moultrie; had quite a few issues with those.

Dicks sporting goods had some Wildgame Innovations cams on clearance this spring at $49, and last month a local farm/ranch chain store (Atwooods) had Wildview cams on clearance at $40, so i bought a bunch. About 4 years ago i bought 7 of the Wildview cameras, and 5 of that batch are still working now, after 4 years of use.

The trophy cams Dan are very good cameras and my HD's have been surprising durable. I like then.

The trophy cams Dan are very good cameras and my HD's have been surprising durable. I like then.

10/4 Greg I have heard that from more than one

Wildgame Innovations cams suck along with Stealth cam and Moultries

I've had good luck with the Scoutguard/Coverts and Bushnell. I have one Browning Dark Opts now that is just OK. Night video sucks.........

I went through 4 this year before giving up and accepting grainy nighttime pictures. At least it takes them.
Two I bought wouldn't work at all from day one.
I have a buddy who bought one of the TRACE cameras at acadamy for 40 that's flawless but takes pictures at every motion. Falling leaves set it off.
He averages 900 pictures a day.

Wildgame innovations have been amazing for me, I used to use them for work almost year round. 4 years and only lost 2. one was to extremely cold temps it became finicky after that, but it was out for 2 years straight, and the other I have no idea where I put it. they are less than a C-note a piece and they plain work.

Dan, we don't use anything but Primos Blackouts anymore. I don't know about cold weather though.

Pat, Primos sucks I've had 4 of them go tits up, 2 were blackouts
They eat batteries also

My experience is that this pretty much sums up the trail cam market.

I will say Reconyx makes a good product.I am surprised to have to have one repaired but they ARE repairing it,its not a throw away like the rest of the trail cams.$50 for parts and labor is reasonable. But how many $549.00 cameras can one guy buy,that's the downfall the price
They are thorough also

Camera Model Serial Number Current Status History
HC600
09/28/2015 Received
10/07/2015 Troubleshooting / Repair
10/13/2015 Ready For Focus
10/13/2015 Ready For Test
10/13/2015 Testing
10/14/2015 Final Checkout

I know, but they work good when they work, and you can buy six of them for the price of one Reconyx. (Twelve if you get them at the pawn shops.)

We run about 28 where I hunt and while some like Reconix (sp?) do a little better, we have settled on the Bushnells for overall reliability, ease of use, etc...

I have 15 Moultrie in RSA all worked fine, never a failure or broken one.

I have a dozen moultrie in the states on my farm and all but one is perfect. The one that is funky will at random not take photo's, the SD card is blank after a few days which is impossible. Never know when it will take photo's or not? Thought is was the SD card but I marked them and it's various SD cards not a bad one.

Other then that they have been just fine for me. The Rnach where I hunt bears uses Recoynx and they have been fine as well. My neighbor uses Bushnell and they have all failed him, he no longer has any cameras.

I run Primos, getting 3-4 years out of each. Been through 3, need to pick up a new one since the last one stopped recognizing any SD card. Wish the trigger was faster, but the pictures are great and price is good.

Running a SuperCharged Blackout now in video mode. Love it, batteries are good for 6 months.

We run up to 14-16 cameras leading up to deer season. Bushnells have been good and the batteries really last. Cuddebacks have also been good, with slightly better night time photo quality.