I want a tree cam.

[John1961]

I save my change every year for a toy. This year I'm saving for a tree cam. I'm looking at about 100 bucks. I have seen some more and some less. I'm wondering, what is the range (distance from the cam )of a tree cam and the width of a picture.

[DeerCamp]

Thats a great idea to save change like that! I do that as well, and believe me, it adds up quick! Just a penny here and there you find on the ground can eaisly turn into a $100 bucks after an amount of time. Now for the distance, I believe it really varys.. Your best best might be to just go online and look em up. Or you could just go to cabelas or a hunting store that has them, and ask someone there. Sorry if Im not to much help.

[vipermann7]

I use moultrie cameras. the D40 is about 100 dollars, though if you look around they are on sale quite often and you can sometimes pick one up for as low as 70 dollars. they work pretty good. the only problem I have is some of the pictures come out pretty blurry, especially on animals that are just walking steadily. as far as how wide my pictures are, i can see an adult deer's entire body, broadside angle, from about 6-8 feet away, roughly. the frame is actually pretty wide, which is good for close up animals, but the down side is that sometimes animals are close enough to trigger the camera, but too far away to get a good picture of it. that happens a lot at night. i will have a picture of just two glowing eyes way off in the distance. anything within about 15 to 20 yards of the camera usually takes a good picture. where you have your camera set up makes a big difference. i like to set mine up so that the deer will be at least 8 to 10 yards away. that way my camera has time to power up and get a shot before it moves out of frame. when they are real close to the camera i get a lot of butt shots. ive heard the better cameras, like the cuddebacks, dont have that time delay issue. but even the cheap ones are a little pricey for my check book. good luck.

[Everyday Hunter]

I've had pretty good luck with the Moultrie D40. As vipermann7 said, the price is right. I have three D40s -- admittedly, they're not top of the line, but if one goes missing it doesn't break the bank. I don't want to spend $400 on a camera and find out one day that it's gone.

You don't need crystal clear, magazine quality photos from a trail camera. And it's nice to have more than one. For me, that adds up to a Moultrie, and I'm happy so far.

Steve

[Stickman]

Not going to be much help on the price but on performance thats another matter. Right now for the money nothing beats cuddeybacks new IR camera for $219.00. If you want quality pictures and fast trigger speed, and believe me that makes all the difference between getting  it and not. 

[Everyday Hunter]

ORIGINAL: Stickman

Not going to be much help on the price but on performance thats another matter. Right now for the money nothing beats cuddeybacks new IR camera for $219.00. If you want quality pictures and fast trigger speed, and believe me that makes all the difference between getting  it and not.

There is no question that the performance of a Cuddeback is hard to beat. Some people need and insist on quality trail cam photos -- and a Cuddeback is a good buy. Other people only need pictures that are "good enough." If "good enough" is good enough, a Moultrie will probably fill the bill.

Some people place trail cams where they can't control who goes on the land and they are very vulnerable to theft. In most places where I put out a camera, I would not put one out that cost much more than $100. If that's true for you, get a Moultrie and you're putting less than $100 at risk.

As far as trigger speed goes, I haven't had any problems with the Moultrie D40. You will miss pictures if you place the camera perpendicular to a trail, but if you angle it toward the trail you shouldn't have any problem. (An empty picture doesn't mean you missed a photo; it might mean a bird flew by.)

Yes, there is a whole range of performance levels in trail cams, and I would not try to convince anyone that a Moultrie is in the same class as a Cuddeback. Thre is little debate that Cuddeback makes some the very best. But it's like buying a pair of boots. For some purposes (like a sheep hunt) you want something like top of the line Danners; for others (like sitting at a bear bait) rubber WalMart boots will do the job.

That is the reason for the wide variety of quality levels in every manufactured product you see in the marketplace. All anyone can do is get the best he can for the money he wants to spend.

Steve

[DeanoZ]

ORIGINAL: Everyday Hunter

I've had pretty good luck with the Moultrie D40. As vipermann7 said, the price is right. I have three D40s -- admittedly, they're not top of the line, but if one goes missing it doesn't break the bank. I don't want to spend $400 on a camera and find out one day that it's gone.

You don't need crystal clear, magazine quality photos from a trail camera. And it's nice to have more than one. For me, that adds up to a Moultrie, and I'm happy so far.

Steve

 
Agreed....just purchased my second Moultire D-40, and for the price you can't beat the quality.

[texasdeerhunter]

I have found that about 25 feet is as far back as you should set your game cams from a trail/feeder. After that distance, the flash would not be effective. Obviously IR wouldnt matter that much but you will loose image quality if much more than that.
I have alot of cams set at that distance on www.deerhuntnow.com