Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Game cameras, cellular

What is a good brand of camera that sends pics to your phone? Does it cost a monthly fee? How does that all work? Do you like them? Are they worth the trouble? I haven’t used cameras in years, got tired of fooling with them.

We’ve used cuddelinks, MoultrieMobile, exodus and now Tactacam Reveal. By far the Tactacam are the easiest to setup and most reliable. Use solar panels to save on batteries. Although 12 AA Duracells seem to do just fine for about 3 months.

Make sure you get the right SD Cards. Sandusky Extreme pro 32gb I think.

I use the intermediate plan. 500 pics per month for each of 9 cams. The cams will use each others data if one uses all photos and it’s been fine. About 75 per month is the fee

There is a feature to load photos in HD that is 5$ for 50 hd photos.

I have had good luck getting the Verizon cams to pick up service in weak areas.

We run them on the Missouri property and here at home in PA. Nice to see what’s going on without walking in to check cams. Being able to monitor a property 900 miles away is priceless

In the end they all have a few pros and cons. But were it me looking to get in the game it would be Tactacam and MoultrieMobile in that order. Cuddles links are a pain to setup and the exodus eats batteries.

+1 on the Tactacam Reveal with a solar panel. We had three of them last year in MS and used the strap to easily move & mount them on various trees. This was the only brand we ever had so no comparisons. But if my technically-challenged buddy Dwight can setup & operate one, I have a high level of confidence most people can.

Hanco...
I have a good friend that is pricey to free cameras. He told me to get the Tacticams... I got 3 last year off eBay (new) for about 65 each during the summer when no one wanted them. Could not be more pleased. Will probably pick up a couple more this year. Totally programable by your smartphone for everything. My cheap batteries lasted 3-4months only sending pics a couple of times a day. Let me know if you need any info... I'm sold.

I have the Tactacam Reveal and it work’s really well. Good pics both day and night, batteries are on their 4th month. I’ve gotten clear pics as far out as 80 feet.

I’ve used older Moultrie models and had good results with all but the VX-6000 which doesn’t seem to work well in extreme cold. I’m running 4 of the newer Moultrie Edge cams with no complaints. Battery life is dependent on how often you have it transmitting pics. I use longer interval settings to conserve battery life. I have no use for instant photo transmission with as many pics as I get some days. Several of my buddies like the Spypoint cams.

We use Tactacam and Spypoint. As was said, the Tactacam needs a specific SD Card to operate correctly. Spypoint customer service sucks and must be updated in the field occasionally. All in all both work pretty good with Tactacam having an edge in useability and receiving signal service.

I wanted to buy some Tacticam units but couldn't find any. A buddy was using Muddy cameras and I bought 3. They've been performing well, so long as I can get a signal, which can be really spotty in my area. Lots of spots on my place won't even get one bar on my phone.

Received a SpyPoint as a Christmas gift, had it up on the 26th.
Get 100 free pics month.

No issues so far.

Bought 2 of the MoultrieMobile edge . No sd cards to worry with, not tied to any one network.
So far they have worked well for me.
Ronnie

Thank you all for the replies, birthday in a couple weeks, gotta get Wifey on this soon

I will also add... The best part for me is not actually having to pull the sd cards - Ido everything I can to LIMIT my intrusion. This helps immensly

hanco they are worth it to keep track of things at the hog traps . stops a lot of checking empty ones

Another vote for the Tactacam Reveal

I run 11 Reconyx Cellulars that are expensive but you get what you pay for, you don't miss any pictures and fast transmission along with a 5 year warranty and great customer service
These are low resolution pics you can request high resolution for an extra charge or down load them off the SD card

Check cell service where you’re going to use them. If it’s spotty, you might want to pass. I don’t like SPYPOINT. MoultrieMobile was ok. I like getting the instant pics, but it’s almost cheating. I’ve got mixed feelings about them.

I like being able to change the timer delay on the fly. If some hogs move in and start homesteading, I can easily bump the delay timer up to 2-3 minutes between pics. If bucks are rutting, I can set the timer much shorter and catch more deer on camera. The instant pic functionality has helped me before with hogs, as they'll sometimes mill around long enough for me to sneak in on them. Not so with deer, as they are usually on the move much more.

This. With a solar unit I can put a camera up and leave for 3 or 4 months, maybe longer and never have to enter an area. Very good if you are watching bedding areas.

Looking at some cellular options other than Tactacam which I really like.

My SIL talked me into a cellular camera system this last year. We went with Cuddebacks with Solar panels. The data plan with Verizon, I believe, was $120 a year. The system worked flawlessly, sending pics to my PC and his phone. He lives about 2 and a half hours south of me. Had 4 cameras around the property linked to a single sending unit. Solar panels are the way to go. No replacing batteries. We did have a couple cameras fail due to water leaks during the year. These were replaced by the company without question. The only downside was that the cameras wouldn't link up well in heavy pines. According to the SIL, the data signal wavelength is pretty close to the length of red pine needles so they are very efficient in blocking the data transfer.

Tried the first gen Reveal and it sucked. 2 cameras for 3 months- 0 pics sent.
Traded those for the Gen 2 and those have been flawless. The new Pro model looks great too

Givin the Reveal a hard look for '23 season

We are all runnin gen 2 tacticam round here

Started using my first cell camera a month ago "Tacticam". Been monitoring it and pulled the other day to verify what was on the camera card and what was actually sent to my cell phone. I was very happy to there were no photos on the card that were not sent to my phone. Had reservations about how well it would work as the cell reception is terrible at my property. I did notice that when it would snow, the sent photos may be a couple hours behind the actual time stamped on them. So far I am very pleased with the results.

I have a couple coming, wanting to get a better idea of when aoudads show up to one of my stands. One came to feeder last season at 12:00 PM. It was cold and raining so I stayed in stand, usually out by 10AM

He messed up

When using the cellular cameras do you have to use the same cell service for your phone as the camera?

No, you do not have to.

Tactacam are the best I've used. Very easy to set up, batteries last forever and the picture quality is great.

I got a tacticam pro a little over a month ago. I wanted to see what it was like before it was "important" to me in the fall.


I had a feed pile on a new property to monitor inventory.


Through the cell cam, I was able to see the bucks dropped a few weeks early. I collected 7 sheds that I wouldn't have even looked for till a month later.


Service is pretty bad where it's at. I'm pretty certain I'm not always getting everything. But I knew service on my Verizon phone was pretty much none before I hung it. I should have tried the ATT card....still might if I stay on that property.


I'm impressed and happy with it. Because it's on food and poor service, it's going through batteries. I bought 2 lithium packs and they seem to work great.


So far, I'm completely happy.

Another Tactacam user - Gen 1 are still going strong, and have added a few Gen 2s in the mix.

Tactacam did an outreach program in the late Fall where their Techs reached out to their data plan subscribers for issues, questions, and product suggestions. I learned a few things about mine that was useful. And - the tech kept up with additional discussion topics, it was not a “one and done” contact.

The recommended SD card for Tactacam is a must, they just don’t operate as reliable without them. You’ll get pictures, but generally only 1/2 or less of the picture will recorded.

What is the recommended SD card for Tactacam?

Take a look at the Blackgate R4G, it is a newer company, they appear to have good service plans and true black flash capability and they will email you back if you any questions. I plan on buying several this summer after emailing them and talking with a gentleman who is currently running them.

I got two of the Tactacams for my birthday, will put them up soon

Class 10 / Not Class 4
U3 / Not U1
16GB or 32GB, No more, No less
Minimum read speed of 90mb/s
Full-size SD card (Not micro-SD)

I get them off Amazon for about $9

Thanks. Good info.

I have 3 of the dual antenna Tactacams. They will transmit pictures in areas that my cellphone has no service. Picture quality is good, but not exceptional, and their subscription plans are reasonable. No issues with any of them after almost a year in the field. The solar charger helps to extend battery life. After 6 months the rechargeable battery packs were still showing 80% charge. They also have GPS tracking in case someone decides they like them more than you do. The first time they are turned on they will ping their location to your cellphone.

That’s good to know

I have Tactacam Reveal and Browning cameras . The Browning is superior in every way , especially in picture quality .

I've used SpyPoints for over 6 years for my house in the UP and for in the woods....with the free 100 photos a month it was cheaper than using an alarm company and I had more cameras....

In my circle we've used a few different brands. Some bad luck with spypoints. Although I do have a couple of their cell link devices with cheap amazon cameras that have been doing amazingly well all things considered. The bushnell cell cams have been working well for a buddy of mine, but we are on to the tacticam reveals now. Hands down they are the best cell cams we've used. I have 3 myself now and can't say enough good things about them. Any new cams I buy will be reveals. I'm going to keep those spypoint cell links going for as long as I can though as the 100 free pictures a month are nice in the off season.

I have two now, eager to put them up

We run spypoint's at our feeders, very good way to keep track of the animals and any onlookers that wander around without permission, we have the solar versions, and the free pic plans would do nothing for me unless maybe you push the delay way out on the picks, hell on any noght in the fall we can have a 50 pics ona feeder with pigs and deer coming and going, i think their unlimited pic plan was $120/year, saves me that on gas and had sure helped making sure the "neighbors" aren't visiting. Never had any other cell cams besides these so no comparison, where our lease is AtT and Verizon both work just fine.

Tactacam Reveal here.

Tactacam Reveal, but the major drawback is it always goes off when I'm at work. It got so bad last year that I nicknamed the buck Jody. he always showed up 30 minutes after I left the house.

Looking to buy one or two next month.
Using my Father-in-law’s SPYPOINT and the night photos leave a lot to be desired.
Leaning towards trying Tactacam. Are there any new models you guys would recommend?
The property it’s going on has excellent 5G coverage and I’m getting 3 months on the batteries currently.
Thanks!