Buying trail cameras, cuddie backs not lasting?

[TeacherMan]

I have been reading a lot of reviews on the cuddie backs and there are several guys talking about them only lasting for a short time period before they break? Kills me to think of spending that kind of money to have it break in less than a year. Second question is has anyone ever had a problem with deer being spooked with a flash, the pics just look so much better than IR.

thanks, before I spend $1,000 of a hand full of cameras I just like a little feed back. the way I look at it is that's only about 10 days of scouting with the cost of gas   

[bow_dad]

I've been running several different brands of cameras for the past 5 or six years to get some comparison.  Never had a Cudde, just like to be different I guess.

I've had good experiences with the two Stealth Cams I've had.  One old flash camera that is really dependable but a little slow on trigger speed but has great battery life.  Works well over a mineral station.   The other is a Prowler HD which is far and away my best camera, takes great video but it should be good for the cost.

The several different Moultries I've had have all been about the same, they have worked well but don't do anything to really stand out.  In the world of trail cams not getting noticed too much might be a good thing, at least they are not breaking down.

I picked up a little 6mg IR Wildgame Innovations to try out this year.  It was looking like a super camera for the money, nice clear pics with great trigger speed, good IR pics.   I was really happy with it untill the temps dropped and it's performance went with the temps.  A nice camera above freezing though.
As far as the flash, I never thought it bothered them untill I started running IR's at the same time.  I don't believe the flash is an issue at all unitill season starts but I have definatley had better luck with the IRs once the preasure of season starts.  Good Luck

[CAMPMEAT]

I have a Cuddieback and it's junk. Nobody I know couuld get the thing to work. I gave it to a friend to use who called Cuddieback and with all of their expertise, couldn't get it to work. Get a different camera. Give me $50 and you pay shipping and it's yours.

[TeacherMan]

thanks for the info guys! I will pay shipping but that would be about it for a camera that doesn't work 

[Alan K]

With $1000 to spend on 'em, I'd go with 4x 8MP IR bushnells with lock boxes and python cables. 

I was a stealth cam guy from the beginning with their 35mm cameras up until last year.  Their quality has consistently gone down.  I think there is getting to be some serious parity in the TC business.  I can say though that the Bushnells I'm running now are better than any others I've used, including a 3MP cudde capture.

[Alan K]

Oh, and this is where I've gotten my set-ups from.  Good guys, good prices.

http://outdoortrailcams.com/

They're even offering the combo deal right now, everything but the batteries for $238.99:

http://outdoortrailcams.com/bushnell-trophy-cam-combo-119435.html

[gonehuntin68]

I have a cuddyback and i love it fast trigger and great pics

[CAMPMEAT]

thanks for the info guys! I will pay shipping but that would be about it for a camera that doesn't work 

Darn, I thought I could pull a fast one on you !!!! I saw that you were from Curlew originally ?

[bwhntr350]

 My first camera was a Cuddeback. I loved the fast trigger and quality of pictures. Battery life = so-so. Bummer is is that the camera lasted two years and the KAPUT!

[huntnnw]

From my experiece with cams, it doesnt matter how much u spend on these, $50-$500 they just dont really last past 2 years, there is so much electronics can take out in the elements day in and day out.  I jst recently purchased some tasco 5 mp Ir cams for $70 on sale, see how they work this year. I still have $60 wildviews form 3 years ago that work. The best Cam I had was a moultrie IR 4 mp.. it worked great for years and great battery life, someone stole it.

[DBHAWTHORNE]

Yeah I would go with something cheap that has decent reviews. The Tasco's Shane mentioned work fine for me. If I were trying to catch animals passing on a trail or something at further distances I would want something different but for my purposes they work fine. Plus it doesn't make me as sick when a 70 buck camera dies on me as opposed to my two $200 Bushnell cameras.

[TeacherMan]

That is really good info guys, most, if not all my cams will be set over hay, corn, or salt so they will be stopping at a set spot in WA or bait piles in AK. Thanks for all the info, keep it coming.

[Skyvalhunter]

Just spend some money on a reconyx

[fishcrazy]

Lots of problems with the newer 8mp Trophy cams. The older 5 mp are great cams and can still be found at Cabelas and Ebay. You won't find a better cam when it comes to battery life. I can run 2 cams on $5.00 worth of batterys for 1 year. They also take very good pics.

I biuld custom security boxes. send me an PM for a link to some of my boxes.
Kris

[rippinlips22]

I have two Cudde's and have never had a problem. One i have had for 4 years the other 3 years. Even in cold temps the battery life has been good. I had one weekend this last year when the temps were in the teens during the day and it took over 400 hundred pics of turkeys in two days and batteries weren't dead.
As for the flash spooking deer, NO Way! They get used to it fast...