Trail Cam Help

I use moultrie, but Trailcams are in that category of preference, and trial and error. The only way IMO to find out what cams are best, is through experience. Just my 2 cents.

Camo

Personally, I like the ones that use infrared flash rather than the typical white flash. I bought into the whole "it doesn't spook the animals" think, but I don't know if the the white flash really bothers animals. If for no other reason, the infrared flash doesn't give the camera location away to potential thieves.

I too use the moultrie cam. I think I paid around $200 for it. I went this route because they offered a steel security box for it. You are able to bolt the box to a tree, put the camera inside, and then lock the box. I learned the hard way when some low life stole my first camera. I had it set up on private land, a few hundred yards from public land....I was out $500 :>/ Don't underestimate the dishonest people in the woods!

There are several good cams out there. I say look for something with 5+ megapixels. And if you go the infrared route, the more individual bulbs you have, the better the quality of your night time pictures.

Someone stole it!? I'd hope to think that it was some young hoodlems hiking around up to no good that took it and not another hunter cause I've been looking at the security products and was debating if I should get the steel box and lock and all then I started thinking.... Hrmmm i don't think another hunter would steal it if he found it cause I know I wouldn't steal someones trailcam if I found. In fact I found one 2 years ago when I was scouting and it was laying on the ground at the base of a tree and the strap had broke so I pulled some small rope out of my bag and secured it back on the tree. You'd like to think that all other fellow outdoorsman are as honest as you but looks like that isn't the case anymore.

Thanks for making my decision on a lock box! How do you secure the steel box to the tree? Does it screw into the tree or does it have a chain go through it and wrap around the tree with a lock holding the chain in place?

secutiry products are a big help. Ive had a few cams stolen from me also :>/

"JimmyB" wrote:Someone stole it!? I'd hope to think that it was some young hoodlems hiking around up to no good that took it and not another hunter cause I've been looking at the security products and was debating if I should get the steel box and lock and all then I started thinking.... Hrmmm i don't think another hunter would steal it if he found it cause I know I wouldn't steal someones trailcam if I found. In fact I found one 2 years ago when I was scouting and it was laying on the ground at the base of a tree and the strap had broke so I pulled some small rope out of my bag and secured it back on the tree. You'd like to think that all other fellow outdoorsman are as honest as you but looks like that isn't the case anymore.

Thanks for making my decision on a lock box! How do you secure the steel box to the tree? Does it screw into the tree or does it have a chain go through it and wrap around the tree with a lock holding the chain in place?

I really would hope that another hunter wouldn't steal, but my property butts up against a fairly large chunk of BLM and Colorado DOW land, and the only way to access it is to hike up hill for a few hours. Seeing that it happened during hunting season, I can only assume that it was another hunter.
Here are some pictures of the box I have for my camera. First, the camera is bolted to the back part of the box. I then secure it to a tree using a few lag bolts. (yeah, yeah I can hear the tree huggers whining now! But I do it on private property, so its my trees at risk!) I then slide the cover over and stick a pad lock on it. I also have a cable that can go around the tree and secured by the lock for additional security, but I try to mount the camera on larger aspens, so the cable isn't long enough. I used larger trees so the camera isn't in as much danger of damage from a rutting elk, which typically target smaller trees to beat up on.
Another reason for the security box is just that...it adds a little protection from curious animals in addition to thieves. Elk have checked my camera out up close and personal before, as well as bears. There are even claw marks in the camo-clad material I put on the box. If you look closely, you might be able to see them.

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I build my own and love it. As for "spooking" the animals, it totally depends on several factors. Elk could really care less in most situations. Bears will destroy your cam if possible, Elk will mess with it also. Deer won't really mess with it much at all. Sometimes it spooks (flash) them, sometimes not.

Not: If it's a water source or salt lick etc.

Will: If it's on a game trail, they will take a different path sometimes...but not the first time. :)

I PREFER the flash myself to IR or non-flash, but that's just me. Both are good, but I like the more realistic color look.

Here is one of my home brew cam pics...

You might want to check out Camofire.com. Right now they have Spypoint trail cams on sale for $90 :thumb

The more megapix the more options u have after the picture is taken. Im with monster I like white flash for picture quality but agree ir is less likely to get messed with. Had my 2 scoutguard 550 for a couple years and they have taken thounds of pics with a small size and great battery life but I love my homebrews. Whatever you do secure your camera and enjoy

I know Cuddybacks are supposed the greatest things going, but not with me. Poor battery life, high priced, and the pics were nothing to write home about. Just bought a Promos 46 and so far so good and half the cost of a Cuddyback IR and it has more features to boot. I also build my own security boxes for maybe $10 bucks or less, never had one stolen. Although I thought about putting out the old Cuddyback out there for someone to steal, so they will know how lousy they are and they might think twice about stealing another one, and on the plus side, I won't have to throw it away. lol

I strongly recommend the Bushnel Trail cams. I had 2 (1 got stolen) and have had great experiences with them. They have outstanding battery life, fast trigger speeds and decent picture quality given the price. I only have the 5mp version but haven't had any issues with the quality of the pictures although they aren't comparable to those of homebrew cameras. I can get around 3-4 months with just cheap aa batteries and double that if I put 8 in it (you have the option to only use 4 or fill it with 8). I have a few really good pictures that I can post if you want to see the quality of them.