Trail Cams

[Ken's Deputy 4,460]

What's the level of interest, on here?  Is this something we could seriously get into, as a topic?

I've had one for a while now. Year or three? Stuff I'd ask my oppo, in a pub, about would be shit like;

• What make / model(s) have you?
• What do you, usually, use them for?
• How much did they cost?
• What's the films / photo's like?
• Do you prefer video or photo?
• What settings do you like most, in which situations?
• What's the battery life like?
• Which batteries do you use?
• Any shots you'd like to show us?
• Any tips on installation?

Christ, I could be here all night!

But, you get the picture? I'm sure anyone who's ever owned and - even vaguely seriously -  used a Trail Cam can.

Just throwing it out there, to see what The THL Massive think

[Ted Newgent 4,896]

Had 2 old moultries 

fckn great cameras but huge

bought 4 stealthcam NG45 

now these are amazing. Stick lithium batteries in them and I get over 4 months of pics. I get upto 2500 pics over 10days at animal peak movement time.bought one new at 120 dollars and picked up the rest 2nd hand. 
I have mine set to grab pics every 10 seconds 

picture daytime quality is bang on. Check my hunting thread. Night time pics aren’t good I need to change the settings 

[ands 544]

Love the trail cams, got some great footage with the mini acorn- including the fella that smashed it!! lol

 

[Greyman 28,594]

I think as you are finding out it is a total lottery, I have top end cameras broke in a year and cheapo ones still running 5 years on, I’ve  had 800 pictures of cows to go through just to find the arse and tail of my target sneaking away, have had whole carcasses moved away from cameras without a trigger on numerous occasions and if I had to put an honest figure on things I would say you get 1 or 2 good pictures in about 400/500 but if your into it that’s enough, as the odd rarity’s make it worth it, definitely a very frustrating hobby, but as time moves on and tech moves with it things are slowly swinging in your favour http://votreart.com/rare-black-leopard-is-photographed-emerging-from-the-darkness-for-the-first-time-in-100-years-in-africa/?fbclid=IwAR1m6PpXyj1pUDbasIcP_v5c58xzSUr3dB3aFNCCa3EKAmWAJGoM_2K99xI

[MH1 1,873]

I had that one to see why the dog was barking around the fence and shed every night.

Was pretty sensitive with pics of leaves blowing etc but also got what I needed.

[gnasher16 30,192]

Ive got a couple similar to the cheapo one above,a really pukka one would be wasted on me as technology aint my strong point.....i have my ones set on video and picture they stay on video for about 15 or 20 seconds and take a still pic every few seconds once triggered....ive realised its important to travel about a bit with them ive pretty much exhausted my local area and tend to see the same stuff all the time so vary the location a bit now.....lost a few from forgetting where they are but got that sussed now via the little blue dot on an Iphone ....like i say hi tech aint for me ..... its an interesting potter about with the dog and gets you out and about the countryside i really like them.

Edited December 15, 2020 by gnasher16

[jukel123 8,251]

4 hours ago, baker boy said:

Bought one a few years ago its still in the box somewhere

Got one as a Xmas present last year. Still unopened. Must get a grip and sort it out. Think I'm scared of the instructions tbh.

[Greb147 6,809]

4 hours ago, baker boy said:

Bought one a few years ago its still in the box somewhere

You're meant to take it out ya numpty. 

[gnasher16 30,192]

Just now, jukel123 said:

Got one as a Xmas present last year. Still unopened. Must get a grip and sort it out. Think I'm scared of the instructions tbh.

I was like that mate but realised once you know how to turn it on and off and watch it back the rest is just down to playing with it....just stick it out in the garden on different settings and learn that way.

[Greyman 28,594]

Just now, jukel123 said:

Got one as a Xmas present last year. Still unopened. Must get a grip and sort it out. Think I'm scared of the instructions tbh.

Mate I,m honestly technically retarded, getting them working is the easy part, most people have lost interest by the time they have learnt all the does and donts like clearing any flapping foliage and not setting them facing east, have also had mice nests near by with hundreds of mice coming and going all night and have photographed more badgers than any man should be exposed to, it’s a hobby really and takes time and patience to perfect like anything else,

[Ken's Deputy 4,460]

Well, lads, I've got another 'warning' to add to the discussion! Don't put bait in a bowl!!!

I've had mine out, all night. Since run through the 'sightings'. Then I thought, " Where's the bowl gone?! " That's the second fukking bowl in as many nights! They run off with them!

And, to make matters worse? The cam never picked up the culprit! WTF?! I've got dazzling clips of the fox(es?) sniffing around. But, even by then the bowl's gone.

I give up. I'm not Made of fukking bowls! On the floor from now on.

Anyway, nice to see some interest. Some great film and tips Let's keep it up. Maybe we can encourage them to theirs out of the box?

[Ken's Deputy 4,460]

Back on topic .... Here's good, lads! My pack of Forty Eight AA's has just arrived. Cost me less than £14.00, off Amazon UK Prime. That's a Lot of trail camming!

 

 

Energiser, look. Independently proven to outlast Duracell. And .....

 

 

 

[Greyman 28,594]

Don’t no if there is an Irish Costco but I use there own brand Kirkland battery’s simular money’s and have found they do better than Duracell, get about 3months use in warm weather and about a month in the cold, that’s running them on video which uses more juice and I try not to let them go below about 70% power as it seems to slow down trigger speed and you start missing much more below that level, still use the battery’s in lights,torch,s etc after I take them out the cams as they have plenty of life left  in them, if you want your cameras to last longer without visiting them set them on a 3 pic photo burst and turn the video off

[walshie 2,804]

12 hours ago, Ken's Deputy said:

What's the level of interest, on here?  Is this something we could seriously get into, as a topic?

I've had one for a while now. Year or three? Stuff I'd ask my oppo, in a pub, about would be shit like;

• What make / model(s) have you?
• What do you, usually, use them for?
• How much did they cost?
• What's the films / photo's like?
• Do you prefer video or photo?
• What settings do you like most, in which situations?
• What's the battery life like?
• Which batteries do you use?
• Any shots you'd like to show us?
• Any tips on installation?

Christ, I could be here all night!

But, you get the picture? I'm sure anyone who's ever owned and - even vaguely seriously -  used a Trail Cam can.

Just throwing it out there, to see what The THL Massive think

I had a Bushnell, but the LCD screen packed up as I've heard a lot do. I got one of those cheapies off Ebay and it was rubbish. Apart from the pics being naff, the clock and date gained a week in a couple of hours. I believe I was just unlucky as loads of people use them to good effect. I don't have the need for loads of cheap cams, so pushed the boat out and got a Browning as recommended by Greyman. Plus they have cool names like "Strike Force" and "Dark Ops". 

I only use it for photos rather than video. They seem pretty clear though.

[Greyman 28,594]

13 minutes ago, walshie said:

I had a Bushnell, but the LCD screen packed up as I've heard a lot do. I got one of those cheapies off Ebay and it was rubbish. Apart from the pics being naff, the clock and date gained a week in a couple of hours. I believe I was just unlucky as loads of people use them to good effect. I don't have the need for loads of cheap cams, so pushed the boat out and got a Browning as recommended by Greyman. Plus they have cool names like "Strike Force" and "Dark Ops". 

I only use it for photos rather than video. They seem pretty clear though.

Good size rural fox there mate the urban cousins seem to be getting smaller read somewhere there is now a 40% size difference between the two,