My best homebrews pics from last year

[Iowabucks]

Although i never did see the 200" buck that should have been around last year, (we found one of his sheds), i did manage to come up with a few good buck pictures. All with homebrew cameras.
 

[whitetailtime]

Wow!! Great Deer!!! Are all these bucks on your hunting ground?

[SNIPERMAN]

GREAT PICKS, I NEED TO MOVE TO IOWA!!

[reeper0697]

Wow awesome looking deer! Your camera takes good pictures too. I have always wondered about the homemade ones, one of my friends brothers makes them but I have never seen one. Do you mind sharing any info?

[Iowabucks]

All those deer are on the same 200 acres i bowhunt. Taken just this last year. I have hunted it for the last 4 years and every year get just as good or better sets of pictures. Actually, this year was kinda slow compared to most.
 
reeper - Sure, i don't mind sharing info at all. There are a few hunting sites out there that have a forum for homebrews. I started building them because i couldn't find any commercial cams that i like. At first you need to do alot of reading to get up to speed, but it's very easy. You need to buy a case such as a Pelican brand case to put everything in. Drill holes for the PIR and cameras flash and shutter. There are a few companies out there that sell the boards to run these cameras. The board turns the camera on when something passes the pir, then snaps a pic, and turns the camera back off again through wires into the camera. Breaking the camera open to solder the wires to certain points or sliding a ribbon cable in between another is called "hacking" the camera. It's really not that hard after doing it once. Most homebrews use Sony cameras. They seem the be the best when it comes to speed when powering up to take a picture. They have good flash and battery life. Most popular ones are the Sony P41, P32, S40, and S600. Although most any camera can be hacked, alot are not good canidates to use for one reason or another. The cameras i mention are not in production anymore so Ebay or pawn shops are your best bet. There are some new Nikons that are showing good results too.
 
Below is a picture of my last one, with a Sony P41 and a Snapshot Sniper board. I'll post a couple links to some of the forums, (you will have to register to see most of them), and some other links with alot of info. Any questions just ask. One of the links is a pictoral on how to build one. Just remember that it doesn't need to use that type of camera, or be set up the same way. The good thing is you can build it like you want it. Good Luck. Jerry.
 
Hope it's alright to post links to other websites here.
 
http://www.easy3dcamo.com/building.html
http://realdealhuntingchat.invisionzone.com/index.php?showforum=4
http://www.hagshouse.com/forums/index.php?showforum=4
http://www.whitetailsupply.com/index.html
http://www.bfoutdoors.com/
http://www.snapshotsniper.com/
http://www.pixcontroller.com/Build-D360L/BuildD360L.htm
 

[reeper0697]

Iowabucks,
 
Thanks alot for the information and reply. I will check those sites out.
 
On average what is the cost to make one of your own cameras? I know the cost of the camera probably varies but I was just curious ballpark.
do you also have details on trigger speed and stuff?
 
 
Thanks again

[buckhunter21]

How much do these cost to make?  I would think they'd be more trouble and more costly than buying a good trail cam for $100?  ...I guess unless you're into this and it's a hobby then great!

[buckhunter21]

ORIGINAL: Iowabucks

Although i never did see the 200" buck that should have been around last year, (we found one of his sheds), i did manage to come up with a few good buck pictures. All with homebrew cameras.

 
Nice pics!!!!  The one pic with the stading soybean field, is that a field you put in for the deer that you leave up or is that right before harvesting?

[Iowabucks]

You could build one with an S40, which is the cheaper of the Sony's but still a very good camera. 4mp. S40's have a very good flash but have a somewhat slower 3 to 4 second trigger time. Looks like they are going for about $30 to $50 on ebay. With all the other parts you need you are looking at about $150.

The P41 is the prefered camera to go with but it goes for a heftier price. About $90 to $110, but worth every bit of it. It has a good flash and a very fast 1 to 2 second trigger time. 4.1mp. You would spend about  $225 to $250 on this one after all the parts. A P32 is a little larger, just as fast, only 3.2mp, but a little cheaper too. The P41 and P32 is also liked because they don't have a lens that extends, slowing the trigger time, or have parts wearing out from it.

I like homebrews because you can take the camera out and use it for everyday use. Also check your pics right there on the spot to decided on moving it or not. I have also used mine for harvest pictures after the kill. I usually don't have to walk more that 200 yards to reach one of mine.

If you ever run into any problems, there is all kinds of help on those homebrew sites to get it fixed. No more returning the camera to the factory and waiting.

The picture quality is what i like the most. The camera is using a CCD device to capture the image whereas the commercial cams use CMOS technology which is usually cheaper and mass produced so the trailcam compay can save money. A few of the homebrew cameras also work well as an IR camera with a few mods. You can also build it with external batteries for extended use. Although all mine last at least a month and a half with lithium batteries. Thats long enough for me. Lithiums or good rechargables work best in digital cameras rather than alkalines. Alkalines don't work well in high drain devices. You can also build a slave flash for more flash distance if needed.

There are a number of different boards out there. They look different, have different settings, different prices, but they all do the same thing and all work very well. Batteries for the boards last anywhere from 4 to 8 months. A couple years ago a few of the commercial brands had terrible triggers. You could put a homebrew and a commercial side by side looking at the same spot and the homebrew would get 5 times more pictures. I do think the commercial cams have gotten better there. They used to have alot of false triggers too. Homebrew boards have adjustable sensitivity. They do need adjusted from the heat of the summer to wintertime. Most have about a 40 to 60 foot range. You don't need more that that. That far out and you have a hard time telling what it is in a nightime picture anyway.

I think i have rambled on enough here, my fingers are getting sore. Let me know if you have anymore question. No problem at all.



Buckhunter21 - That is right on the edge of the bean field that the farmer planted. Should be corn this year. It was right before harvest.

Actually, i think they are less trouble than a commercial cam. I've done my share of waiting for one to be returned. I myself would put down a little more money than $100 if it meant better quality pictures. Not everybody would. It is more of a hobby than anything. It takes time to build them but the personal satisfaction is great too. Only problem is it's addicting. You can't just build one.

[Patriot]

Nice pics.  I am very surprised that there are that many quality deer on just 200 acres.