Need Deer Camera Recommendations

[Sluggin_Guts]

I'm in the market for a few new cameras and need some recommendations. I've been running a dozen Moultrie M80s for several years. A couple of them walked off last fall and a couple more no longer work, so I'd like to buy 4 or 5 new ones. I don't need cellular data or a bunch of extra options. I strictly do pics, no videos. I just want something reliable that's going to catch the deer and hopefully not take 5000 pics of the grass blowing in the mean time. I was hoping to spend around $100 or less for each camera.

 

[Kickemup]

I run wild games. Never spent anymore than 40$ on one. Never had a problem with one. Last all year on one set of batteries. I hunt mostly public land so if they were to go missing I won't be out as much.

 

[bowhunter88]

I've gone through a few different cameras that decided one or two seasons was enough for them. I've had good luck with bushnell trophy cam, think it was around $100. Good pics but it does like taking pictures of the grass a lot. The best cam i've found for the money is the cuddeback long range IR for $150. Great camera but might be a little more than you want to spend if people can't keep their hands off of them.

 

[Big Iron]

I bought a Moultrie M-888 and immediately regretted it. The camera's motion detector did not work, i took continuous pictures. I spoke with Moultrie customer service, sent it back to the factory.

I will tip my hat to Moultrie- they sent a M40 back a week later.The M40 works well so far.

 

[jpv]

I also have a few moultrie m80s that I've had for quite a few years and they're still going and are still one of my favorite cams. Have a couple brownings that are pretty good cams and I paid right around $100 for each of them. Have one Bushnell trophy cam that takes great pics but the display stopped working a year or so after I bought it. I picked up a couple spypoint solars over the winter and I really like them, only downfall of them so far is the night pictures aren't the best. I've shyed away from the new moultrie cams the last few years after I bought what I figured would be equivalent to the m80s and it's garbage in my eyes.

 

[Shockwave]

I ran 2 Hunten Outdoor cameras for 8 years. They were good cameras for what I needed and I believe they were $50 a piece. Unfortunately, last year both of them broke and they are no longer made. I bought the Wildgame Innovations Blade 8X toward the end of last year and it seemed to take good pictures (approximately 15 pictures before I took it down for the year). I just bought the Moultrie M-880i a couple weeks ago and have not checked it yet, going to pull cards this weekend and I can get back to you.

 

[Motohunter]

I have an older Browning one that works awesome and just picked up a Strikeforce HD pro that takes awesome pictures and has a ton of nice fearures.

 

[Tikka280ai]

Have 1 stealthcam px12 and 3 px14. All take good pics and relatively inexpensive.

Sportsmans Guide has a good deal on a px14 bundle with 3 cams and a card reader

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/pro...game-camera-property-management-kit?a=2076279

 

[tinker]

have a moultrie m990i and a m999. just ordered another m999i. they work well, last forever on aa batteries. sometimes have minor sd card problems while opening up on the computer but they always work.

 

[ShootnBlanks]

We run a few different models of Moultrie. Looking at adding a few more myself no complaints. I have heard Browning makes a great camera. Anyone here use them?

 

[Fishmission]

A bit above your budget...Have 4 browning Strike Forces. Good Battery life with lithiums. They have all done the job. No complaints here. Can find bundles on Amazon of different models to save $$

 

[Traxion]

Just bought three m-550 cameras from Roger's for fifty bucks each. Daytime pics are nice, night are so so. Impressed for the money

 

[MarbleEyez]

We run a few different models of Moultrie. Looking at adding a few more myself no complaints. I have heard Browning makes a great camera. Anyone here use them?

I picked up a few of the Browning Dark Op's on sale at Scheels. I put a couple out to test them, ended up returning them all. The night pictures sucked. Out of 10 pictures, 8 were blurry. And the 2 that were somewhat clear we very distorted. I played with the settings from medium quality all the way up to ultra quality photos. Yes, the day pictures were good. But I'm not looking for a framing picture of a doe and her fawns!

I have 8 Moultrie camera's and they have worked extremely well. They take great quality night pictures and aren't an expensive camera. I went with the Browning camera's because they run off the same format as the Moultrie cameras. So you don't have to worry about making sure the SD card is formatted each time you put a fresh one in your camera. Also, with those Browning camera's an 8GB card gives around 1800pictures, depending on which setting you're on. A 4GB in my Moultrie's gets me around 4,000 pictures if I remember right. The cards on my browning are full usually within 4-5 days. So I now have to have 16gb cards if I want to have enough room, it's a pain in the ass. I usually check camera's every 7 days.

 

[pluckem]

One thing to keep in mind for the majority of cameras out there are specific model numbers and years. For some reason performance and reliability of some cameras can change drastically from year to year. Just seeing "I have had great luck with Bushnell trophy cams" does not mean going out to the store and buying a trophy cam will yield same results. Following and looking at specific model numbers and years is the only sure way of coordinating reviews with a lot of the major cameras.

I don't understand this, just seems like the way it is. Having said that, it looks like Browning has updated a couple cameras for 2017 that have performed really well in trailcampro reviews (StrikeForce HD Pro & Spec Ops Extreme) if I was going to buy a Browning camera I would look hard at these.

Also check out the Bushnells on the list.

 

[drayweb]

Have you tried one of these to secure your game cameras? I have two Moultrie game cameras on public land and haven't had any issues yet.

http://store.camlockbox.com/security-boxes/

 

[TFX 186]

I have used the Browning Dark Ops camera for the last 3 years and really like it. I found a pretty decent sale on another one and purchased it but haven't put it out yet. My night pictures are decent. I have no complaints with my Browning Dark Ops. Maybe I should check out my new one and see if its as good as the old one? Couple buddies are using the Moultrie cameras that send the pics to your phone. So far they really like them. I thought the new system that the Cuddeback's are advertising looked pretty cool if it fits your hunting area. #newstuffcanbecool

Fish On!

 

[Chas'n Tail]

i run browning, moultree, and bushnell. really like my browning cam most, but also most expensive. i got my bushnell from a site that sold them refurbished for under half price. they came and literally could not find one single thing that made me thing they were ever actually used. I've used them for 3 years and have had exactly 0 issues. i personally would't be afraid to buy refurbished again and save half my money. just a thought.

 

[lionslayer300winmag]

I run about 25 trail cams and have just about one of everything. I've been meaning to post a review on all the cams but haven't gotten around to it. I run several Brownings, Bushnell, Wildgame Innovation, Moultrie, Spypoint, and Spartans to name a few. The Wildgame Innovation seem the best for a budget minded hunter. They come at very nice price and work. The might not be the most advanced camera but they get the job done. They are simple to setup and are good on battery life. I bought mine during black friday sales at Menards for $40 a piece. If your looking for something a little more top of the line I'd go with the Brownings. The Brownings have a higher image quality than the Wildgame Innovation and still come in a nice compact size. They are just as easy to setup and have a little better battery life. I do like the strap mounting that comes with the browning better than the bungee cords with the Wildgame Innovation. I bought my Brownings at Scheels on sale for $80. Its alittle out of the $100 budget but I think worth mentioning is the Spartan. This is the camera I like best for several reasons. The image quality both day and night is excellent and the motion detector is the best that I've seen. The LCD screen on the camera is nice and it still has the strap mounting that the Browning does. The setup is a little more advanced but if you call HCO outdoors after receiving it they will walk you through the basic setup and functions of the camera, its probably worth the 15 minutes it takes. The only thing I don't like about the spartan is the latch system doesn't seem tight enough but it hasn't failed yet.

 

[TFX 186]

Lion,
Great info and great post for the first one! Welcome!

Fish On!

 

[grizzly]

I bought a Moultrie M-888 and immediately regretted it. The camera's motion detector did not work, i took continuous pictures. I spoke with Moultrie customer service, sent it back to the factory.

I will tip my hat to Moultrie- they sent a M40 back a week later.The M40 works well so far.

I had same 888 and were junk I got brownings and there great