Trail Cams

lukew

Administrator
Jul 1, 2019
255
276
Hey guys! Need some input... What are the best trail cam's you have been using? Looking about buying a few.
Thanks!
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
3,904
3,218
Browning

We have had 1 or more of the following cameras fail us:

Cuddeback (These ones suck)
Wild Game (Had good luck with most of these but the battery life is horrible)
Bushnell (These really suck)
Stealthcam (These kinda suck)
Spypoint
Moultrie
Primos (These really suck)
Apeman (These really suck)

They have all failed over the years except for the Browning Cameras...
We have been slowly phasing all of the others out except for the Browning. We typically run about 25 cameras a year sometimes more. We have a lot of money invested in Browning Cameras at this point and we wish we would have only bought the Browning brand over the years and we would have been a lot of money ahead....
 
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bux4brainz

Member
Jul 18, 2017
65
29
Utah
I have used quite a few brands & there are several good ones but I have personally preferred Moultrie & Stealthcam. I've had great luck with both.
 
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JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,313
8,693
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Gypsum, Co
I wouldn't own another Moultrie if you gave it to me along with enough money to buy another one. I had a couple of them and found that their customer service was lousy. The LED readouts went blank after a year and they were no help getting them repaired.

I would go with the Browning or ones that don't cost very much. You need to consider them as throwaway items, when they quite working just junk them out and pick up a new one which I have found is every few years. Not to mention that when someone decides to walk away with the one that you have hanging you won't be out that much.
 
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dan maule

Veteran member
Jan 3, 2015
1,024
1,275
Upper Michigan
For me it's a quantity not a quality game. My wife always buys me a couple during the after Thanksgiving day sales. Most of mine are by Wildgame inovations, last year my wife bought me a couple by Hawk. We have so many bears around that I don't want to spend real money on a camera just to have it ripped off a tree and destroyed by a bear. I will second the opinion that Moultrie cameras suck. I have seen the pictures taken by some of the more expensive cameras and they are definitely better but I am not willing to pay for it. It all depends what you are looking to do. For me, it's simply a scouting tool and I just want a camera to will work reliably.
 
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JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
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Gypsum, Co
If you don't check it watch the web site Camo Fire. I believe that it is on Tuesdays that they usually have trail cameras on sale. But pay attention to the cost of them, at times you can find them cheaper elsewhere.

 
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archbull

Member
Nov 25, 2019
63
142
CO
Spypoint. Easy to set up and takes great pics and video. Looking like they're going to ban them in a few western states. Might get some great deals on some used ones soon.
 
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lukew

Administrator
Jul 1, 2019
255
276
If you don't check it watch the web site Camo Fire. I believe that it is on Tuesdays that they usually have trail cameras on sale. But pay attention to the cost of them, at times you can find them cheaper elsewhere.

Totally forgot about camo fire!
 

Muley bound

Active Member
Mar 12, 2013
392
601
Wisconsin
I run a bunch of different brands.
cabelas- not bad overall, the night pics are not that great, and sensitivity is touchy. Gotta make sure there’s no grass blades blowing in the wind. Battery life is decent too

covert-overall not really any complaints on them. I get a deal on them, so the price tag doesnt hurt.

cuddelink system- overall pretty happy with them. Battery life doesn’t last long due to the sending of pics from cam to home cam to cell phone. But you can get solar chargers and battery boosters. Pic quality is really good. I love the fact I get pics and not have to be physically there to check them. Price is high to get set up. But I got an awesome package deal on eBay. I got 4 cams, 48 batteries, 4SD cards, and 4 bear safe boxes with locks for $600! So every year I just buy one camera to add to the set up. Can run 15 or 16 I believe off one base.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
3,904
3,218
cuddelink system- overall pretty happy with them. Battery life doesn’t last long due to the sending of pics from cam to home cam to cell phone. But you can get solar chargers and battery boosters. Pic quality is really good. I love the fact I get pics and not have to be physically there to check them. Price is high to get set up. But I got an awesome package deal on eBay. I got 4 cams, 48 batteries, 4SD cards, and 4 bear safe boxes with locks for $600! So every year I just buy one camera to add to the set up. Can run 15 or 16 I believe off one base.
We almost sold everything and went with this system for our club. Nothing pisses me off more than someone driving all over the lease blowing the deer out of everywhere to "get the cards"

We were looking hard at the cuddeback system that just sent the pictures to one centralized home camera because we dont have good cell service there. The problem is that we all hate cuddeback so freaking bad after having so many issues/failures over the years that we just couldn't pull the trigger for the system knowing what we had experienced in the past with that brand...

If Browning had this system I would be all over it.

I am glad its working out for you though.
 
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buckbull

Veteran member
Jun 20, 2011
2,167
1,354
The only real loser out of a bunch of cameras has been wildgame innovations. Bought one that didn't work out of the box. Returned for a new one and it didn't work so gave up on them. Never even got as far as strapping to a tree. My oldest camera is a Primo's. Its old enough that it takes 4 D cell batteries; it might be 10 years old. I've had decent luck with bushnell; they seem to last about 3 or 4 years. I have a spypoint that has been solid but I have only had it out for 2 seasons. I don't run cameras year round, just from Sept-Dec. My next cameras will be browning; haven't heard anyone speak ill of them.
 

Muley bound

Active Member
Mar 12, 2013
392
601
Wisconsin
We almost sold everything and went with this system for our club. Nothing pisses me off more than someone driving all over the lease blowing the deer out of everywhere to "get the cards"

We were looking hard at the cuddeback system that just sent the pictures to one centralized home camera because we dont have good cell service there. The problem is that we all hate cuddeback so freaking bad after having so many issues/failures over the years that we just couldn't pull the trigger for the system know what we had experienced in the past with that brand...

If Browning had this system I would be all over it.

I am glad its working out for you though.
I was also pretty hesitant myself investing in this system, 4 cams deep. I was against cuddebacks for a long time as well. Years back I had nothing but problems with their cameras. I know others had quite a few issues as well. Fortunately, I really haven’t had any issues with cameras yet.
I would’ve rather just ran the link system to a base, rather than pay for the cell service, but my land is an hour and half away. Saves a lot of time for me to not have to drive. If it was setup within half hour of my house, I’d just run the baselink set up.
 
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CrimsonArrow

Very Active Member
Feb 21, 2011
857
363
Minnesota
I’ve had pretty good luck with moultrie cams, given the price point. Occasionally have poor nighttime photos, but never had one fail
 

Willy

New Member
Jan 25, 2021
3
8
I run browning, cuddelink, and spypoint. Browning has been bullet proof, cuddelink has been a great scouter and use both the cellular version and the wifi connected to home version and has been very good. The issues I've had were taken care of pronto by Cuddeback.

Spypoint has been flawless so far. only used since last Aug. 10,000 pics so far. I have it hooked to 12 volt battery. one battery swap so far.

Browning are cheap after thanksgiving and last for 5 plus years, good long battery life, usually 6000 pics or more per set. Cuddelink, recommend getting the battery booster pacs. Several thousand pics in 4-5 months on 10 d batteries.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
3,904
3,218
I set out browning's this past year with GOOD batteries in them and set them to take photos every 30 seconds and we never replaced the batteries from September 1 - January. They took thousands of pictures each. We have been very satisfied with them.

I did e-mail browning a few weeks back to see if they had any plans to do a linking trail camera system and this was their reply:

" I am sorry but currently there are no plans in the foreseeable future to make anything such as Cuddebacks Link System."

Oh well...
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,313
8,693
72
Gypsum, Co
One thing that you might want to look at is the states laws regarding trail cameras.

Last week I saw where Utah has a law before the legislature to limit their use and other states have similar laws.
 

raspy

Member
Apr 15, 2016
88
24
ND
Just started running the tactacam cell cams last year. Had really good luck with them so far. Battery life has been good and takes decent pictures. Plans are 13 a month a cam for unlimited photos. Saves on fuel and limits the amount of scent and disturbance you cause when checking a normal cam.
 

Extractor

Active Member
Jun 7, 2015
351
93
Appleton, Wisconsin
I run a bunch of different brands.
cabelas- not bad overall, the night pics are not that great, and sensitivity is touchy. Gotta make sure there’s no grass blades blowing in the wind. Battery life is decent too

covert-overall not really any complaints on them. I get a deal on them, so the price tag doesnt hurt.

cuddelink system- overall pretty happy with them. Battery life doesn’t last long due to the sending of pics from cam to home cam to cell phone. But you can get solar chargers and battery boosters. Pic quality is really good. I love the fact I get pics and not have to be physically there to check them. Price is high to get set up. But I got an awesome package deal on eBay. I got 4 cams, 48 batteries, 4SD cards, and 4 bear safe boxes with locks for $600! So every year I just buy one camera to add to the set up. Can run 15 or 16 I believe off one base.
I also have the Cuddelink system. You can run 24 remote cameras off of one base. I have not had one fail yet. Plus I live 20 minutes from Green Bay, I can bang on their door if I have a problem. Three year full warranty when I bought them through Scheels.