Game trail cameras

B

B Finnigan

Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
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Has anyone used game trail cameras? I live around alot of wildlife and I would like to see what else is roaming around my place. There are plenty of trails around to stake one out. But there are alot of cameras available to pick from.

Right now I am looking at the Bushnell Trail Scout Pro which is a 3MP.
 
No experience with these, but I wouldn't look too much into the MP rating. Remember that a lot of Moose Peterson's famous wildlife photos were taken with a 2MP camera.
 
No, but I have a funny story about them.:thumbup:

Summer before this last one I was backpacking in the Cranberry Wilderness. Well I was going on a fairly long route, it was about 23 miles in about 2 and a half days.

Anyway the weather was nice but several times in some of the most remote parts it was like I saw a flash of lightning in the clear sky.

Finally I was going up this mountain to come down on the other side and as I looked up I saw it again and these game cameras had been taking my picture the whole trip:D

"Who in the hell put these cameras way back here" I thought, because you'd never want to drag a deer 7 miles to the nearest road:confused:

Later I found out they were put there by the Eastern Cougar Foundation I think it's called who are trying to get some evidence of cougars in the area.

Kinda wild:cool:
 
If you are anything like me, you should get a lot of enjoyment out of using a trail camera.

A couple of years back I bought a Leaf River brand that used an ordinary 35mm film camera. It worked well, but I guess I should have waited and bought a digital model because of the expense of getting film developed...and the frustration of having to wait so long to see what was on the film. I think I only put maybe two films through that camera. I used it to prove that there was a wild pig on some nearby farmland, plus I tried it out in a few different locations.

I wouldn't worry about how high the megapixel rating is either. Things that are possibly more important are:
-Reliability, ruggedness and weather resistance
-Battery life
-Ease of operation
-Alignment of the camera with the infrared trigger (ie: will the target be in view of the camera when it trips the trigger?)

Not so long ago I got the urge to use a trail camera again, so I started to research the various options on the 'net. I found quite a few different comments and reviews around the place...and decided in the end that I'd have to spend too much to get a model that everybody seemed to think was good.

Id be tempted to get an infra-red model. This probably won't give you wonderful magazine-quality pics ...but it should give you a good idea of what is hanging around without having a bright flash showing everybody where your camera is.

Sorry I can't recommend a particular brand.

I will be interested to hear what you get, and how it all works out. Here are some pics I took with mine:

Here's one of the pigs that wandered close to civilization:

GCKellysApril05.jpg


A family of hogs:

Jenk7pm.jpg


Light-colored fallow deer:

GCJBApril05.jpg
 
Great shots! It would have been tough to get those if you were standing there. The one I am looking at has infared flash so the critters don't get startled. In the summer when it gets dry here there are alot of tracks and turds around our dogs water bucket. I know if I set up a trail cam next to a tub of water away from the house I would get some great shots.

Last winter we had a mouse problem in the house and were trapping 2-3 each night. We would throw the dead ones on our deck and within five minute a big old owl would swoop down and snag it. I think that would be cool to try and photograph.
 
Yes, those shots would be hard to get with a hand-held camera. Our game animals are very shy and cunning. We don't have any bag limits or closed seasons here, so the animals have to stay right out of our way to survive.

I think those Bushnell cameras have been around for a while. If the price isn't too high it is probably worth trying one out. Surely they'd have some sort of a guarantee....and if it didn't perform, you could take it back for a refund.

I've thought of two more things to consider....one is how far away is the flash effective? In other words if the animal trips the trigger from 20 feet away, will the flash illuminate it enough so that the animal is visible in the photo?

The other thing is...can you view the shots taken on the camera itself...or do you have to buy a special viewer...or plug the camera into a computer to see what is there? This isn't a matter of 'good or bad'...just something to think about in relation to how you might operate.

I reckon a man could learn a lot by operating a game camera on a regular basis. It is kinda like setting traps without killing anything.
 
I've heard good things about the Cuddeback (sp). They offer both flash and IR models.

A key specification to look at is shutter lag. (Unless you want to get a series of pictures of the animal's rumps as they pass out of frame!)

-- FLIX
 
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