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Today’s most successful trophy whitetail hunters are using game trail cameras to scout out their quarry weeks in advance of hunting season. Trail cameras vary widely in price ($100-$500+), quality, and uses. The days of film-loaded cameras are long gone (ask Kodak) and most trail cameras are digital nowadays. Because deer, like many other animals, are usually more active at sunset and during the night, cameras with night-vision offer the opportunity to increase your chances at finding that trophy buck over cameras that need the light of day. The modest difference in cost weighs heavily in favor of the former for many hunters. While, for many, price is the most important factor in selection of a trail camera, bear in mind that these machines will last many hunting seasons and your chances of landing a big buck may be substantially improved by choosing quality over cost. Here are some features to consider. Price vary from about $35 to more than $500 Night Vision vs. Non-Night Vision Capabilities Image Quality Like any other camera, image quality varies widely by brand and model. The best images, these days, are often recorded by High Definition (HD) trail cameras. Just think about your TV viewing experience; what’s better, watching Avatar on your old analog or new HD television? Still Photos vs. Still Photos/Videos Obviously, videos eat up a lot of space on a disk so should be used sparingly, if at all. Still, there’s something really cool about watching a video of a trophy elk. Trigger Speed There’s trigger “speed” and there’s trigger “speed!!!” on different models. Faster trigger speeds can result in fewer blurry images but you’ll likely pay more. Triggering Mechanisms Audio Record Capabilities Built in Game Calls to entice animals to come to the camera. Some cameras can be set to call deer, elk, moose, turkeys, and predators Batteries and Battery Life Some of the most dedicated—and successful—hunters spend weeks scouting out hunting areas with their trail cameras so battery life is an important consideration to them. Some machines advertise up to 1 year of battery life while others. . . not so much. Laser Aim vs. Strobe Flash vs. Infra Red (IR) Imagine you’re a deer and you’re minding your own business at 2 a.m., walking a game trail, when suddenly there’s a red laser or bright white strobe flash that scares the poop out of you every time you get to a certain place. You may be a bit slow on the uptake but after 3 or 4 nights aren’t you likely to change your walking patterns? On the other hand, strobe flash cameras can often take great pics out to 50-60 feet and freeze good quality pics (less blurring). Since IR cameras don’t generate visual light, animals won’t be spooked (and your camera won’t be noticed by other hunters or camera poachers), and their battery lives are often longer than strobe cameras but few models take good pics out to 50 feet or so and night-time photos are going to be black and white. Optical Resolution (Mega Pixels) Camera Quality (Distance to Which Camera Takes Good Pics) Motion Sensors vs. Heat Sensors Ease of Use Can’t speak for you but I still don’t know why there are so many buttons on my TV remote. Do you really want to take your kid into the field just so you can set up your blasted trail camera? Check out extensive line of game and trail cameras at great prices.
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trail cameras, hunting cameras, game cameras, whitetail deer hunting,
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