We live near a river which acts like a wildlife corridor. We have had raccoon and something from the weasel family in our (6' high) fenced yard in the past. We have something coming in to our yard now, but I think it is different. I have found two dead rabbits and scat that is not our dog's but similar in size. In the past, I have thought about wireless trail cameras, somewhat as a curiosity thing but now I am concerned for our dog and more motivated. I don't want to spend huge money but I do want something that will "trigger" with movement, works in the dark, can handle the (very) occasional -35c lows of winter. Another consideration would be if it can be "programmed" to only operate at certain times of day (say 8PM to 9AM), as we are out in the yard with the dog during the day and don't want hours of useless recordings. This (timer) would be fairly important. Sound is not important to me. I need one camera but preferably want two.
I have noticed with Canon cameras, Canon states the minimum operating temperature is 32F/0c but in real life 1000s (including myself) have used them for hours in -30c (-22F). That said, if I had to bring the camera(s) in if an overnight low is expected to go below -35c, I would be willing to do that (that would be very infrequent. below -30c would be a bit more removals).
I am hoping Black Friday will bring the prices down on whatever I choose. My research revealed two interesting ones:
Browning Strike Force Pro X 1080 $174CDN (solar panel an option)
Scouteye Standard Scouting Trail Camera $180CDN (solar panel an option)
That said, this all based on reviews that could be biased or incomplete/inaccurate AOT real world experience. That's why I am looking for input from people here.
I imagine some of the fine folks here must have at least experimented with this type of camera. Even thoughts about what was good, what wasn't and what to watch out for would be very helpful.
Doesn't seem to be many hunters watching this forum! My suggestions would be to do a general internet search and then narrow your choices from there. I have found Chatgtp to be helpful when buying products I'm not familiar with. Good luck.
I have seen posts in the past from photographers here using such cameras to capture lynx, cougars, fox etc around their property. I was hoping to get real life experience replies from those folks.
Browning trail cameras are well regarded, although there are a number of models to choose from. The Voyageurs Wolf Project uses them, the Browning Spec Op camera.
I have a trail camera that has cost about 50€. It operates with either 4 or 8 AA NiMH-batteries. It has a PIR detector and is adjustable in many ways:
- photo, video or both
- resolution
- time
- sensitivity
The only real weakness is that even the top sensitivity is not that great. It can detect hedgehogs or smaller birds, but only close up, e.g. 50cm. A deer can be detected from about 4-5m. Charging the single batteries is uncomfortable, it would be more practical to e.g. have 2 18650 LiIon batteries.
For my purposes it is very usable and it would easily detect the animal you have in your yard. My main use is to check whether we have a hedgehog in the garden and which size it has and how good in form it is.
I built a little sheet metal roof that covers the lens to get no dew onto it.
I have 9 game cameras I use on our farm - 3 Muddy brand, 2 Browning, and 4 miscellaneous brands. These are all battery charged and must be manually checked (not cellular) - I'm not going to spend that much money on the cellular game cameras!
One thing I like about the Brownings I have is that they can be set for time lapse (I'll have it take a photo every 15-20 seconds throughout the day so I can see a whole field - the distance is great enough that animals will cross the field too far away to trigger the camera otherwise. The best thing about the Brownings is the response time ... the ones I have can trigger from .5 to 1 second as the fastest speed. A lot of other game cameras don't trigger for 5 or more seconds. Of course, you can typically set game cameras to take longer to trigger, but I want a fast trigger.
Also think about the capacity of the SD card. Some can't take anything above 16 GB but others (like my Browning models) can take higher capacity cards. Also, think about how many batteries it takes. The Brownings I have take 6 batteries while most of the other brands take 8. I'm using the Panasonic eneloop and eneloop pro rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.
Most game cameras will allow you to put a time/date stamp on the video or photo - that's pretty important to me. There are typically variables to set for the length of video, number of photos to take when triggered, etc.
You might have to use the Browning app to see the videos or I typically use the VLC Media Player. Check to see what format the camera uses for videos.
Also consider the type of strap/connector. I prefer straps that have clips to squeeze and quickly release rather than straps that you pull tight. I've also started using clamps like this one since I can attach the game camera and then clamp it onto a fence post or a small branch - it's a little easier than dealing with a strap around a big tree.