TBow Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 The wife of a friend of mine has asked me to pick up a trail cam for her husband's birthday. Not having used a trail cam myself, I set out to research what was available, what was good, what was bad and what was the best value for the money. I toured into a Bass Pro to check prices. Price ranged from about $99 to $800 cdn. I figured for value, units in the $200 to $300 range seemed to have the best value for the money when I compared the available options. I also went on the Cabela's web site and read the customer reviews where they were available. I've read some of the trail cam posts on RealTree and will be touring onto "chasingame.com" as has been suggested on other posts. I've seen the Cuddyback name advertised and endorsed on a few of the hunting shows as well as Stealthcam. After looking at the products at BassPro and reading the reviews at Cabela's, I'm sort'a leaning towards Cuddyback, but it does have some shortcomings in the options area and was tagged with poor design in regards to being awkward to remove SD cards and batteries. The issue of "eating batteries" seemes to have been resolved with a software update. The one issue that I am still hung up on, is if flash bulbs or LEDs for illumination are best suited for taking pictures. Some of the reports I've read seem to lean towards better quality of pics with the flash bulbs. Anyone have any preference in this area? Obviously, the flash bulb models seem to be a little more reasonably priced than the LED units. TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 The cams I am using all use a regular flash and they give pretty good quality pics. Have never used IR or LED cameras, really don't think the flash bothers deer too much. There are a couple that I would look closely at, mainly the cuddebacks and the leaf rivers. Moultries and stealth for the price seem to be fair, but they also seem to have more issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 I just went through the whole research myself...flash gives some nice picks but I went with the IR LEDS because around my area, the deer don't like the flash off my normal digital camera! I ended up getting a ScoutGuard 550...small and I like how easy it is to secure....but Cuddeback maybe would be my second choice....I've seen lots of good reviews on the Moultrie I40 as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorden Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I'd go with the flash. The are usually cheaper than infarred and I dont think it bothers the deer much, if at all. Hope that helps;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straight Shooter Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I've got two moultrie IR-4.0's and love them. A big advantage you have over a flash is video at night, a flash is a flash and doesn't stay on during a video. The IR stays lite to record video at night and does great. It also gives a good representation of how the deer react to a low IR light, they don't like it to much and makes them very nervous. So, it leads me to believe a bright flash would make them comeout of their skins. Battery life is a lot longer with LED IR and takes great photos as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackedUpZ71 Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 I can't speak too much from experience since I've only had one trailcam, but I love my leaf river IR-5. My girlfriend bought it for me last christmas and it has probably taken around 2000 pictures. Its been running none stop since then and I've only changed the batteries out once. It has a built in viewing screen, and can also record video and sound. You should look into it, I know that I'll have at least one or two more by the time hunting season rolls back around. Here's a couple of pics it has taken http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu8/socoz71/FILE0219.jpg http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu8/socoz71/FILE0205.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 for the money you won't find a better camera for 200 bucks than the cuddeback. I currently don't own one. I bought the reconyx convert 60 and absolutely love it, but I don't know if I can justify more of them at 600 bucks a pop versus the cuddeback which is the next best thing for 200-250... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 I found neither bugs deer on property on my land I have both versions, Moultries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Well I finally made a decision and ordered a Cuddyback flash bulb unit. There was over 160 reviews in the Cabela's section for this unit, and where there were a few bad reviews, for the most part they were really good. And some of the poor reports were before Cuddyback made a software update to correct the battery eating problem. Cuddyback also seemed to get high marks for customer service. The unit casing seemed to get fair reviews as well where other brands seemed lacking. There were still a few comments with regards to poor design with difficulty in removing the SD card and removing batteries, but I figure that's something that can be overcome, especially with the low price of under $200. There was also a mention of a weak mounting strap and many recommended the bear-proof case. I'd have like to have seen an external power port for either an external battery or solar panel, but what the heck, for $200, I can't complain. I read the reviews for the IR Cuddyback unit, and overall, I was a little leary about it. TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 Have fun with it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntcamp Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 i have infared Cuddyback No Flash the quality of pics is great, but deer still see it, i would go for flash if I had to do it over again. Quality in both is quite good. Infared takes only black and white at night. I have gotten a lot of pictures with the deer or bear just starring at the the camera and finally a bear ripped it off the tree. So much for the bear protection case i had on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camocop Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 been using Moultrie's for over 3 years with no issues. the last Moultrie i bought was the I40 with NO regrets. it takes great pic's and batteries last about 5 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike13candace Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Just purchase a Bushnell 5.0 megapixel Trophy Cam .. Battery life is supposed to be good.. I will let you know.. $199. for Black, $249. for camo at Cabela's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared264mag Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 The pic on my avitar or whatever it is is from a Wildveiw or something from Academy. I now have a Moultrie that I love it is the 8 megapixel and it works great day and night, it does have a regular flash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12-point Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Cuddeback All i have to say is cuddeback digital. THe only way to go. If you wanna see quality go to www.cuddebackdigital.com and see what i mean.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoods07 Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 I've never used anything but regular flash cams. The picture quality at night is decent, depending on the range of the flash and the distance of the animal (obviously). The BIGGEST problem I have with these cameras is the flashes always seem to be the first thing to go. I would imagine LED flashes wouldn't have this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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