Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics School me on Trail Cameras

I don't know much about them, I am looking for some cheap ones to put on water holes in the desert. (on public land) I am guessing the pictures will be in from 0-20 yards, mostly at night.

Any Cheap recommendations that will work?

Define "cheap". I bought a Cuddeback several years ago for around $120 (Cabela's,com). This particular model uses not use a flash at night time and provides pretty good image quality, even at night. It uses batteries up pretty quickly, though. I think it's 6 D cells will last 6 weeks on a heavily used trail. That might change your calculus.

I started using trail cams 7 years ago and its a real eye opener what you'll find. I think they should have a heading for sharing your favorite trail cam photos on this forum. Have fun.

I'd like to keep them under 125 each..

I've had good results using wildgame innovation $49 cams. IR night shots are black & white but decent detail

It does not matter how much you spend or the name on the camera.They are a throw away product.1 to 2 years is what you get if you are lucky.I bought two better Cuddybacks last fall that lasted about 8 weeks.I have digital cameras I have used for 15 years with no problem ,but trail cameras are all chit.

I shop amazon and try under 100 bucks. I like more batteries for extended time, and camera not really video options. I also like simple programming.
I agree they are really disposable, especially on public land. I generally have about 10 out, but it would be easy to steal all of them by tracking me in the snow. My good friend and I check them every sunday in the post season until spring (and bugs come out). We probably lose 25% a year due to failure. Cost does not seem to correlate to longevity. Good exercise in the off season.

Spypoint, Bushnell, Moultrie have decent cameras in your price range.

I have Spypoints that are 5 years old, under $100 new, and still taking OK pictures. I have had one out of probably 8-10 cameras quit, and it recovered after doing the software update from the website.

For the most part, you are paying for trigger/shutter speed at night, and how fast the camera can processes the picture, reset, chargethe IR, and can take another picture.

Lower price points are 1.5-2 seconds or more, over $100 generally starts getting under 1.5 seconds.

Day shots will be great, but expect any movement in the night picture to be blurred. Faster cameras help at night, but all seem to have a bit of blur in the dark.

I've had good luck with the bushnell cameras. I've tried several different brNds and they seem to be as good or better than some of my night dollar cameras

The only brand I won't buy again is Wild Game Innovation.I have a friend who has a feed/sporting goods store who stopped selling them because he got most of them back.The one I bought still works but is PITA to use.He sell Brownings now not getting a lot of returns on them.I use Moultries myself pretty good luck with them and the ones I retuned they treated me fairly

We're running 50 Brownings and haven't had an issue. Picture quality is fantastic and battery life is even better. Batteries will last 5+ months and the cameras take a lot of pictures

Drummond, do you know the model # of the Browning's y'all are using?
I'm about to buy a bunch for the big Tx Hill Country Ranch I manage. Battery life and picture quality are the main reqirements as far as I'm concerned. Also, what type of batteries does that model use, as I will be buying in bulk. Thanks, Buddy!

Browning here. Uses 6 AA batteries. Incredible battery life and good pics

I run quite a few cameras (6 right now). I usually buy the ones that are right around $100. At that price, they seem to work well with pretty good picture quality. Mine are mostly used on public land and I lose one every now and then, $100 is all I want to risk. Here are my priorities when I buy new ones:

1) I stick with ones that runs on AA's. I have some that run on D's. They cost more and don't last as long. Also USE GOOD BATTERIES. Most of the cams I've had fail were because I used cheap batteries that leaked. Many times, I noticed I had a leaky battery and tried to clean it up as best I could and replaced the batteries, only to have it quit working in about a month

2) I like a 3-5 shot burst mode. It really helps you to see different angles of a deer that 1 picture may not show. Video is nice, but I have found checking videos in the field can be tricky. I check with my phone or an IPad and both will show some videos and will not show others.

3) If I'm buying one, it has to have a hole for a Python Lock. For me, it is so much more convenient to use a Python because it holds the cam to the tree and also locks it. Instead of having to have a strap and a lock or a lock box to have to deal with. I know Primos, Browning, Cabelas cams and I'm sure some others have this.

I have or have had several Primos, Bushnell, Wild Game and one Cabelas cam. I have had good luck with all of them except the Wild Game ones. Although, I do have one Wildgame now that seems to be OK. I swore I would never buy another one, but I got this one for Christmas. Good luck

Which model? I need to buy some more.

StrikeForce HD is what we're running now. Hard to beat...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00T...Pl=1&dpID=61m7qbc3s0L&ref=plSrch

I've had terrible luck with trail cameras overall. I've tried cameras from most of the common brands you can name, and the only one I've had last longer than 3 years has been a Reconyx HC500, which has given me 6 years of continuous use so far. I bought it from the "Bargain Cave" at a Cabelas at 50% off retail. Reconyx cameras are at least 2X more expensive than most other trail cams, so the fact mine was discounted for being a "blemished" item (there was a flaw in the camo finish) is the only reason I have the one I own. If mine is typical of the brand, I guess they cost more for a legit reason.

Every other trail camera I've had has been a cheap piece of crap. I agree with the gent above who stated they're a "throw away product."

I will say besides the Reconyx, the Bushnell and Spypoint cameras have lasted longest, but still, 3 years is about the upper limit.

I probably have 20-25 cams of various makes and Browning is my favorite for a cheap cam. I have 7 of the Range Ops units. Sometimes you'll find them on sale for about $69.99. Midway sold them for $69 last Nov and I bought some for gifts. Good battery life and pretty good pics. I've only lost two Brownings after 2 seasons and both were due to a flood(20"+ of rain in just a few days). That said, those have been sitting in my shop for 6 months opened. They might just power up when I get around to trying them. Surprisingly the seals held ok as it just looked like they had excessive condensation inside after the water was gone instead of just dumping water out.

The other cheap cams I've had really good luck with are the WGI Blade black flash models that run on AAs. I've had them for a couple seasons with no issues and really good pics. I have and have had a bunch of other WGI cams as well and they seem to last a few years before giving up. I do have one WGI IR4 that's probably 6 years old and still going strong.

Cams are a gamble, some last years, some make it one season. I have some old Bushnell Trophy Cams that are still going after 6+ years, but all of the newer TCs I bought were junk, so I moved to Browning and WGI.

Many claimed Wild View were junk, I bought 3 as my first cams. The one that was their first IR cam lasted over 10 years!

Stealth has been junk for me.

If these Brownings keep going strong, that's what I'm sticking with.

Some laugh at cheap cams, but after having some +$200 units stolen, it's all I'll buy now.

These work great.

I use Brownings also, look at a 100 pig pics, get a deer pic, 100 pig pics, one deer pics, a few turkey pics. Cameras good buy