Post by: westsidebuckslayer on February 09, 2010, 01:18:34 AM
Post by: Titan-1 on February 09, 2010, 05:40:32 PM
Post by: Jellymon on February 09, 2010, 07:57:50 PM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 09, 2010, 08:37:25 PM
One of the most important things that a camera needs to make it worth a $#!% is decent battery life. Moultrie D-40, Bushnell trail sentry and wildview game cams have terrible battery life especially in cold weather (2 days to 2 weeks average depending on temp) but an external 12v battery can be used to help them perform better.
$150
My Moultrie M-40 has a reported 150 day battery life - I have not had my M-40 out for and longer than 12 days and it still was reading 99% battery life. In march I will be putting this camera out with an external 12v until it dies.
$200
My next camera (when I can afford it) will be the Bushnell trophy cam - with a full set of AAA batteries it has a reported battery life of 12 months and it is half the size as my other cameras.
There are many other cameras out there but these are the only ones that I have experience with - hope this helps
Post by: Shawn Ryan on February 09, 2010, 10:36:46 PM
I had the same question a short while ago. After hours of internet research I decided on the Bushnell Trophy Cam. Amazon had the model with the view screen for less than $200--only $10 more than the text screen. (I got mine on Ebay. Hope I'm not sorry about that later.) I don't have any experience with the camera, but that is were I ended up. Its size, battery life, view screen, range, and how those features met my needs were my deciding factors. If you get one, read the manual. All of the bad reviews I read appeared to have been avoidable by following the instructions. This review and the Chasing Game website were really helpful: http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=85. (http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=85.)
Good luck with your decision; hope your dollars are well spent.
Shawn
Post by: buckmaster_wa on February 09, 2010, 11:50:49 PM
Post by: DOsborn on February 10, 2010, 06:54:14 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 11, 2010, 06:04:31 AM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 11, 2010, 06:20:43 AM
Just remember with the Bushnell Trophy it only has a 2 gig card size and if its out in a busy area for a while it will fill the card up. The Moultrie I40 has a great battery life and can take a 4gb card. Ryan has a decent breakdown but there are so many other trail cams out there.
The new trophy cam for 2010 will take up to 16 GB card. That is the one I am saving my money for.
Post by: markts on February 11, 2010, 06:29:01 AM
Post by: addicted on February 11, 2010, 06:32:28 AM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 11, 2010, 09:28:23 AM
Not sure where the test results on the Moultrie D-40 came from but I love mine and the battries last over a month with hundreds of pics taken.(we didnt get very cold here while mine were out) :twocents: Mark
These are my personal test results from NE WA. in Nov/Dec. It was very cold (down to 7 deg a couple days). The Cold weather hammers the batteries. These cameras were also set on the 3-shot mode and overnight I was getting anywhere from 150-350 pictures. So lots of activity, mostly all flash pics and cold weather so It was really the extreme test for battery life. My moultrie M-40 test was in Montana for 12 days and it got down to Zero a couple days and I don't think it ever made it out of the teens but I had very little activity on this setup and when I removed the camera it read 99% battery life.
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 11, 2010, 11:54:38 AM
Post by: Snowman on February 11, 2010, 11:57:35 AM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 11, 2010, 12:17:05 PM
The I-40 works great for me as far as winter use and long battery life. I also leave mine out up to 5 months over the summer with no battery life problem. I have a few Stealths with external batteries that have treated me well also. I am just figuring out the external battery for home brews but the clarity can't be beat.
So far I really like my M-40 (the only diff. from theI-40 is the M-40 is Flash rather than IR). I know that eventually I will build a homebrew
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 11, 2010, 08:56:48 PM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 11, 2010, 09:55:45 PM
I have found out that the flash makes the bears(and people) more intrested in the cam. Lost a couple to bears so now its security boxes for me.
I have yet to have trouble with bears or people but I am sure my day is coming. At least for bears - I am pretty selective on where I put my cameras. It is really too bad that we have to worry about theives. there are alot of areas that I would like to put cameras but I'm not willing to loose them to some *censored*. If I loose one to a bear than that is acceptable to me (atleast until it happens :chuckle:).
Post by: bowhunterforever on February 12, 2010, 12:03:58 AM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 16, 2010, 06:25:16 PM
The new trophy cam for 2010 will take up to 16 GB card. That is the one I am saving my money for.
[/quote]
The Bushnell Trophy won't be out until March.
Post by: bonkellekter on February 18, 2010, 10:28:50 PM
The new trophy cam for 2010 will take up to 16 GB card. That is the one I am saving my money for.
The Bushnell Trophy won't be out until March.
[/quote]
Really - Not till March? I'm not sure if I can wait another 2 weeks or so for them to hit the shelves :o :dunno:
Post by: bigcountry on February 23, 2010, 03:24:24 PM
Post by: Bob33 on February 23, 2010, 03:48:23 PM
Post by: bonkellekter on February 23, 2010, 04:50:12 PM
The 2009 Bushnell Trophy Cam is great. The new 2010 model holds a larger SD card, but are you sure that you need it?
Most of the time it is probably not necessary but I do have an area where I would like to leave a cam for 6+ months and I may not be in the area to check it. So if the batteries hold up that long I just may need the extra memory. In the past I have gotten anywhere from 60 to 400 pics per day in this area.
Post by: grundy53 on March 30, 2010, 03:14:36 PM
Post by: markts on March 30, 2010, 03:24:51 PM
Post by: grundy53 on March 30, 2010, 03:27:54 PM