??? About game cameras

[Alan]

I've been looking into buying a couple of game cameras, I know enough about them to buy one I won't like. So I have some questions, IR or flash and why? I'm assuming they are all digital and images are stored on a card? I'm assuming they are all battery operated as opposed to rechargeable units? Which brand are the best and which brands to stay away from.

I tried a search, but mostly all I got was a pic of CB.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[dun]

Here's my take on them. I prefer IR because the animals stick around for the second picture but flash works pretty well. The Moultrie has great battery life but takes forever to trigger. Primus is a piece of junk, all I get with night pictures are shiny eyes and everything else is black, batterys seem to last fairly well. Cuddebak will be all I'll get from now on. Batterys seem to last and it has blazing fast trigger times. All of them tend to be overly sensitive in windy conditions even without the heat part to trigger them. The most sensitive (based on the nuber of pictures taken on a windy day) is the Moultrie, next is Primus, last is Cuddebak but it doesn;t seem to be as bizzarly sensitive as the other 2. My one irritant with Cuddebak is that the way it's set up it's darn near impossible to mount it on a tripod, has to strap to a tree or something. The Mountrie is the most felxible for mounting. The primus strap clasp is crap. Even without it being tight the weight of the camera pops the clasp open. Primus is easiest to get into, Cuddebak is next, both are real easy to program. The Moultrie is a pain in the butt to get into AND change the card and can be a bit tedious to program.

 

[Isomade]

Great info Dun. Thanks

 

[Dave]

I had a Moultrie with a flash. It worked fine for me taking pictures in an old apple orchard in the back of one of the pastures. I got pictures of deer, elk bear, and coyotes. The flash didn't seem to scare anything off. Then my son borrowed it. He set it up along an old logging road. On private property but a location that does get some human foot traffic. I am thinking that the flash alerted some trespasser to the location of the camera. That is why I said that I "had" a Moultrie. Son says I bought a new one to replace it but strangely I have never seen this new camera......

 

[Alan]

Dun, great info, thanks. Was a bit concerned about 2 legged wildlife and flashes.

Alan

 

[dun]

I've never set them up where that would be a problem. To test them out and see the affect the flash has and the sensitivity you could set it up in a pasture and see how the cows react. I had one camera I did that with and all I got was pictures of a cows nose and tongue and the lenses was alwasy cruddy. I learned then to set it up differently.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I had a Moultrie with a flash. It worked fine for me taking pictures in an old apple orchard in the back of one of the pastures. I got pictures of deer, elk bear, and coyotes. The flash didn't seem to scare anything off. Then my son borrowed it. He set it up along an old logging road. On private property but a location that does get some human foot traffic. I am thinking that the flash alerted some trespasser to the location of the camera. That is why I said that I "had" a Moultrie. Son says I bought a new one to replace it but strangely I have never seen this new camera......

As the father of a 19 year old boy I can relate Dave.

 

[gimpyrancher]

I've bought three, so far. First was the cheapest and worst (about $100). Next one was a bit more and about the same quality, none (about $125). The last one was a little more (maybe $150) and what I'm learning is to save my money and wait a while to buy a good one. So far, I keep getting little to nothing in the pictures. People that have paid more for their cameras always seem to have pictures of animals I'd like to get on mine. I know I have deer on my property because I see them when I'm there. I'm gonna spend the money for a good one and that should give me something worth having. :bang:

 

[Jogeephus]

I don't know about the others but I have a Cuddeback and it has done well for me. At times, it will go into IR mode when its daylight though. Normally on dreary overcast days but that's just knit picking.

 

[Farmerjon]

I've bought three, so far. First was the cheapest and worst (about $100). Next one was a bit more and about the same quality, none (about $125). The last one was a little more (maybe $150) and what I'm learning is to save my money and wait a while to buy a good one. So far, I keep getting little to nothing in the pictures. People that have paid more for their cameras always seem to have pictures of animals I'd like to get on mine. I know I have deer on my property because I see them when I'm there. I'm gonna spend the money for a good one and that should give me something worth having. :bang:

Take a half five gallon bucket of shelled corn out and pour on the ground a distance from your camera (distance depends on the angle of the camera). That is not baiting but creating a photo op!

 

[Caustic Burno]

Have had the best luck with Moultrie IR models. I have had to send some back in after years of use and Moultrie repaired them all cheap. I have a half dozen or so.

 

[dun]

Have had the best luck with Moultrie IR models. I have had to send some back in after years of use and Moultrie repaired them all cheap. I have a half dozen or so.

I've got 2 of th IRs and they both need to go in at least once a year to have the display fixed. I'm retiring them and gonna replace them with Cuddebacks