# Inexpensive good quality digital trail cam?



## 243Savage (Mar 7, 2009)

I know....maybe "inexpensive" and "good quality" probably don't go together  but I want the most bang for the buck.

Here's the deal....I've got all sorts of critters wandering through the backyard at night as evidenced by tracks in the snow just about every morning.  There is somewhat of a funnel near the corner of the house and would be the perfect place to mount it.

Bears, mountain lions, wolves, elk, deer, etc., come through here frequently and I want some pics.  

Any suggestions?


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## Atlsooner (Mar 10, 2009)

My suggestion by the description your have desired would be a Moultrie D40. About $100 or check e-bay.


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## Atlsooner (Mar 10, 2009)

Don't know though if it is Bears, mountain lions, wolves proof or not.


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## Timbo 66 (Mar 18, 2009)

Moultrie I40 179.00 Walmart on line excelent camera for the money.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Apr 1, 2009)

Surprised you did not get more feedback already.  

Best most comprehensive Trail Camera review web site with lots of current info, evaluations, reviews, example photos & videos is:  

http://www.chasingame.com/ 


You've probably done this, but in case you have not so, doing forum searches on the Trail Cam category will serve you well.  

I've been running 3 to 8 trail cams June to January the past 3 years.  Even though Moultrie has good customer service, starting this year according to folks' threads & posts in the forum Trail Cam category where Moultrie has drawn a hard line mentality and is offering free service for their TC's now ONLY during their 1 year from date of purchase warranty period, otherwise charging expensive service fees.  They usually fix the TC & return it within a week.  

This past year, I have returned at least 5 Moultrie Model D40's (4MP) due to malfunctions, not working straight out of the box, not taking nite time photos, and/or too quick using up the new 6 D-cell Energizer batteries in a few days or less than a week when they are suppose to last at an average of 60 days, even when only taking a few pics & configuring settings to the lowest power consumption levels (lowest picture resolution).  I'm using several that last a little longer & other folks in the TC forum section do not have this problem.  Fully charged expensive Energizer rechargeable batteries only show 70% on the digital setup display when I 1st install them.  This $100 model has been on clearance as low as $80 since last Oct but recently some posted seeing it as low as $70.  

One of my three Moultrie I40 infrared flash $220 TC's that I've used the past 2 seasons/years has lost the digital setup display (cannot display settings) last August but still runs great, I just cannot read or change the configuration.  The batteries last 2-6 months, but usually 2-3 months.  These sell in the $180-200 range now.  

My four oldest 6 Volt Moultrie GameSpy 2.0MP $100 models I starting using 3 years ago have grown very flakey which intermittently stop working for unknown reasons, while only one now was reliable last season.  Rechargeable 6V batteries usually last 3-4 weeks, but I have had them work as long as 2 months.  

According to this forum, the Scoutguard entry level models seemed to be the most popular reliable TC's this past season, with the always faithful reliable Cuddeback TC's had many unexpected quality problems with their new lower cost entry level models.  

There is still much accumulating evidense of the white night flash TC's spooking or scaring big game leading to much fewer photo captures, so the infrared flash are much better in getting more pics running on less power but most IR flash TC's usually will not produce nite color photos.  There still are successful strategies for using bright white flash TC's like above the heads of big game (instead of 2-4 feet off the ground) & tilting it downward so that animals calmly experience it like it appears to be just like lightning from the sky that they are use to in their natural surroundings.  

Killdee on the forum is a great regular resource in building Homebrew trail cameras, along with several good web sites that have staight forward instructions which you sound capable of doing, but it may not be that much cost savings by the time you finish one.

All manufacturers of trail cameras eventually seem to have quality & reliability problems, some more than others which most in the industry have not yet been able to overcome despite the maturity of the technology, but I keep hoping & expecting that will change soon, although each deer season there's always some that still surprise us with unexpected defects.  

Hope this helps some folks. Sorry that I did not get around to posting the above experiences in the forum's TC category.  Good luck in your research in finding the one that best suits you.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Apr 12, 2009)

I bought one from Sportsmans guide...About $100 and 3mpxl...
Kinda slow trigger speed, but great quality pictures and has SD
slot and dc power plug for 12v battery....


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## Gentleman4561 (May 3, 2009)

Check out the scout guard it is a great camera


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## CamoCop (May 10, 2009)

Moultrie I40.  i have been using these for 2 years with no problems.  i get on average 5 months or 2100 pictures out of a set of batteries.


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