17 replies to this topic

[Tommy]

I am hoping to pick up a few trail cams on sale after the holidays. I have a Wildgame now and it sucks the batteries bad, for what I have paid in batteries this season I could have bought a much better trail cam. I would never recommend it. Any recommendations on a trail cam under $200 to put alone deer trails and feeders?

[SPECIALIZED]

[quote name='Tommy']I am hoping to pick up a few trail cams on sale after the holidays. I have a Wildgame now and it sucks the batteries bad, for what I have paid in batteries this season I could have bought a much better trail cam. I would never recommend it. Any recommendations on a trail cam under $200 to put alone deer trails and feeders?[/QUOT

Do a search on the words, trail cams,several bits of information and discussions available.

[Mike K]

Quote

Any recommendations on a trail cam under $200 to put alone deer trails and feeders?

If you dont mind the work, for that price you could build your own that would blow away any commercial trail camera. it's really not that hard to do. here's a picture of one, and the picture quality is great.

[Iron Duke]

I've been using a Moultrie I40 ($160.00 Amazon.com)  Takes very good photos and only used two sets of batteries since July.  Gathered 360 photos yesterday from it.  Infraed flash so you don't alarm game, and don't lead the theives to your stand at night.

Attached Files

•  MDGC0121.jpg   29.66K   7 downloads
•  MDGC0191.jpg   83.64K   6 downloads
•  MDGC0045.jpg   134.13K   6 downloads
•  MDGC0239.jpg   51.47K   7 downloads
•  MDGC0121.jpg   29.66K   7 downloads
•  MDGC0191.jpg   83.64K   6 downloads
•  MDGC0045.jpg   134.13K   6 downloads
•  MDGC0239.jpg   51.47K   7 downloads

Edited by Iron Duke, 31 December 2009 - 03:02 AM.
added night photo

[mopar1969]

Mike K said:

If you dont mind the work, for that price you could build your own that would blow away any commercial trail camera. it's really not that hard to do. here's a picture of one, and the picture quality is great.

That cool Mike I was looking at those components and thinking about building one. Which site did you use?  Does that have a regular camera in it of is it a board?

Also I can't find a kit to put a wifi card in i have a spot close enough to a hotspot I could transmitt the pics back.

Thanks


Here is a pretty good link about the Moultry I40 and others
http://trailcam.com/...ultrie-i40.aspx

Edited by mopar1969, 31 December 2009 - 09:06 AM.

[Mike K]

Mopar,  there is a regular sony P41 camera inside with a control board.  I get all my parts from Daryl at Whitetail supply. http://www.whitetailsupply.com/
  I don't know much about the wifi card but i'm sure Daryl can help with that.
  Here's a picture of the inside, it's not the same one from the first picture, but a smaller one that I made.

and here's a picture from that camera.

[mopar1969]

Mike K said:

Mopar,  there is a regular sony P41 camera inside with a control board.  I get all my parts from Daryl at Whitetail supply. http://www.whitetailsupply.com/
  I don't know much about the wifi card but i'm sure Daryl can help with that.
  Here's a picture of the inside, it's not the same one from the first picture, but a smaller one that I made.

thanks, I'll check it out .

[briarpatch]

ditto for the Moultrie...good pics...easy set up

[nboost]

I made my own also. They are really easy to make and are much better than store bought.




I also made some infrared video cameras and they are even easier to make than the still picture cameras.

[scumhunter]

You guys have great skills.  I can barely make my own breakfast.......

[cal45]

I have a Moultree Gamespy i50 5.0 megapixel camera. Great with batteries. Even rechargable ones. I get at least four weeks on the batteries at this time of year. Average below 30 degrees. I was looking into building one. I understood the term "case". Then I was lost.

[Mike K]

Cal45.  I know what you mean, I was lost at first. it's not all that hard.  here's another site if your interested.  http://realdealhunti...visionzone.com/
you'll get all the help and advice you need and then some on that site. If you start building, beware, it's addictive you can't just stop with one.

[Iron Duke]

For 160 bucks, seems that building one yourself is a lot of work.  Unless you have the time and the inclination to tinker.  Store bought is water tight; comes with day/date/time/temperature; runs 15 second videos; and guaranteed.  Not to take anything away from the great photos, and workmanship of the home mades.

[Mike K]

To each their own.  not everyone has the time to spend to build one, or the desire to.  it is much easier to just buy one.  but I like to tinker.  and if anything goes wrong, I can fix it, I don't have to send it out and wait god knows how long to get it back.

[Mister B]

Tommy, I've tried several different brands of trailcams (Bushnell, Stealth,Remington, and Wildview) but the one that has outlasted all, and been the most dependable, is one of the least expensive ones I got as a gift for my birthday..It is a Moultrie D40. Sells for 89.99 at Academy (69.99 on sale once). Takes good pictures, even videos, and you can purchase a solar/battery combo kit that plugs in and works great. The solar panel is itself a little pricy, I paid 59.95 for mine..I think it is more now but well worth it. Go to Amazon or EBay or Cabelas etc and read the reviews. Good Luck:)

[crazyfarmer]

Cuddeback Capture 199.99
Bushnell Trophy Camera 199.99

Im very pick about my cameras but I also dont want to spend an arm and a leg on something.  Im not going to waste me money on cheap cameras that go through batteries every 3-4 weeks either.

Both of the above cameras get you a good solid 3 months.  I change mine every 3months just to be safe.  Pictures on the capture are crisp and clear.  Pics on the trophy cam are very good also, but the capture has better images since its a flash camera.  I havent had any issues spooking 3.5-5.5 year old bucks with it.  The trophy cam is IR at night.  

I have 9 captures and 2 trophy cams and none have had issues.  All do a very good job.  I perfer the capture though.  Im obessed over hunting and I have 3 more captures coming now for post season scouting.  If they didnt work and didnt take good pictures I wouldnt use them at all.  Most like getting the 70buck cams and wonder why they only last a week.  Then they get a bad impression of trail cams.  Spend some cash and your images will get much better

Edited by crazyfarmer, 06 January 2010 - 05:06 PM.

[Iron Duke]

One more point ... don't spend any more than you can handle getting stolen.  Unfortunately this can be a fact of life.  There are some spectacular $500.00 camera out there, but if I had one stolen they'd have me on suicide watch.  

[Buddly]

I've soldered 12" wires to the pos and neg battery terminals and run them out thru a 3/16" hole drilled in the bottom.(seal the hole with silicon or something) The wires are fitted with a quick disconnect.

I then got some 6V sealed lead acid batteries (4 amp/hour, rechargable) and rigged them with 4' of wire with the mating connector on them.

This setup has given me 1 1/2 months of operation. Something needed since it's 120 miles to my hunting cabin in Central Ohio.

Right now I have camera number 3 across from my house here in Lorain. It's been on the same tree since the first week of November and I just changed the battery last Saturday.

I'll bring it in tonight and get some photos posted.

Getting 2 batteries for each camera means I always have one charged up and ready to go. And, any 6V lead acid or alkaline battery will work. NiCad's have a lower cell voltage that'll cause the camera to go into battery save mode once they get below 6 Volts which means there will be no flash available for night pix.

Over 3 years the batteries have more than paid for themselves.

Attached Files

•  Devil Eyes 091909.jpg   26.83K   0 downloads
•  dinner 033.jpg   120.6K   0 downloads
•  dinner 034.jpg   120.25K   0 downloads