trail cam question

[AJMD429]

I think my son has all my trail cameras with him out west. I just need a basic one not terribly expensive. I'm actually not planning to use it for dear, but just to use it to figure out things like where are dogs are escaping through the fence in the yard, or what sort of vermin gets into the chicken coop at night. Any comments as far as brands or models that are good or bad or ugly?

[Pete44ru]

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Have you given any thought to hooking up a web cam to your VCR/whatever ?

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[jeepnik]

Bushnell’s are reasonable and have pretty good images. Look for one with a solar power option. Costs a tad more but no battery worries.

[GunnyMack]

Look on Amazon for YI security cameras. Provided you have a wireless network and a smartphone,tablet or just a desktop you can get live feed from these very reasonable cameras. Just plug it in and set up the account.

[jeepnik]

I do use several Ring cameras at home. Mine are wireless, battery powered with solar panels. You have the option to use lights or not. With lights images are as good as daylight. Without the monochrome night vision is pretty darned good.

[AJMD429]

The camera wouldn't be near enough the house to tap into any wireless network.

[GunnyMack]

I was kinda figuring that...

[wm]

A little different approach then a trail camera ……

https://www.harborfreight.com/color-sec ... 63129.html

Wm

[Pisgah]

I have about the cheapest, most basic trailcam out there. It's a Wildgame Innovations camera usually available for $35-40. It's easy to find reviews that knock it. Some of those knocks are legit -- sure, $40 won't get you a $400 camera. But other than its lack of bells and whistles I have no problems with it. Its multitude of AA batteries last a long time -- I have gotten as many as 1200 photographs over 30 days. You do have to go to it to check it, and it has no display screen, so you need to plug its chip in to another device to view your take.

And here's a perfect reason why you want to go cheap. This camera was given to me by a friend, who found two of them on his property. He confiscated them and left notes telling the owner that the cameras could be reclaimed by calling him, and no prosecution would follow. Six months went by with no contact, so he kept one and I got the other! Now, if someone anonymous walking through the woods decides to appropriate my camera for whatever reason its no loss, and would only be $40 if I'd paid for it.

[AJMD429]

And here's a perfect reason why you want to go cheap. This camera was given to me by a friend, who found two of them on his property. He confiscated them and left notes telling the owner that the cameras could be reclaimed by calling him, and no prosecution would follow. Six months went by with no contact, so he kept one and I got the other! Now, if someone anonymous walking through the woods decides to appropriate my camera for whatever reason its no loss, and would only be $40 if I'd paid for it.

Yeah - I've been on the other side of that - trail cams on MY property have been stolen many times. I'd like to put skunk-scent in them on a timer that set it off about half an hour after the camera got moved....

[vancelw]

I have a TopGuard I bought from Amazon. Kinda cheap but takes great day and night photos and video. I think it was 59 bucks. My biggest complaint with it is, it is kind of fragile. The strap brackets broke off when I tried to attach it to a tree. I had to use the included tripod style mount. Still weatherproof after over a year, though

[BenT]

I have Moultrie. They can be had starting at $50. I have used them for over a dozen years. The first one I had, the display went blank after 4 years. I sent it in and they sent me a brand new one of the current model as a replacement. So they stood behind their product and I have been buying them ever since. Get one with the infa red LED lights, the batteries last for over a year.