scouting camera questions

[Doug Treat]

I have never used a scouting camera before but I have a few places that I'd like to put one out just to see what walks by.  Here in Colorado, there are not a lot of places that get continuous use (like a trail in the whitetail woods) but I have found some water holes, saddles, and funnels that might get more action than other places.  It looks like I could get a good digital scouting camera for $100 or 3-35mm cameras for the same price.  Right now, I'm considering getting 2 or 3 less expensive cameras to spread them out and so I wouldn't be out $100 if they got stolen (public land). I wouldn't expect a lot of pictures in a week so having a 36 exposure roll and checking them once a week seems like it would work for me. I don't care too much about instant gratification and could wait a few days for developing. Does anyone have experience (good or bad) with these cheaper 35mm scouting cameras or recommendations on what and where to buy?  Thanks.  Doug

[bohuntr]

Go digital. The expense of processing the film will make the digital cameras cheap in short order. I just set up a digital camera the other day for the 1st time. I set it up too close to a bunch of cedar branches and when the wind blew it trigered the camera. I had more than 1000 pics in less than 3 days. Only 2 pics of critters on the whole deal. The good news is I viewed them and then deleted them with no processing cost. I now have worked through some of the initial bugs and the pictures are almost all game.  The chance to review and delete is the way to go and in no time at all it will save you money.

[flitz]

doug

watch the cheaper cams.they have a slower
trigger speed and only work well on bait piles.
as far as cheaper cams go bushnell has some of the faster speeds.nice one on archery talk
now with a remote 125.00

flitz

[Doug Treat]

Ok, maybe I should forget the 35mm idea.  I didn't think about getting a bunch of pictures of nothing caused by the wind (and there's plenty of wind where I hunt).  That could get expensive and frustrating.  So, looking @ digital, I've heard a lot of good things about the Moultrie D40 and it's about $100.  Do any of you Tradgangers have experience with these?

[ronp]

Doug, My experience with my Bushnell trail cam was terrible.  It is a piece of junk!  The quaility is extremely poor.  Because of this, I will never purchase anything from Bushnell regardless of price.

[Buckhammer]

I have a buddy who has a Moultrie (from WallyWorld) and he is happy with it. I have two Stealthcams and think they do a fine job. The cheaper they are the slower the shutter trigger speed but if you put some thought into their placement you can work around that.

I always try to place mine facing north (avoid pointing them into the sun) down a well-used deer trail. That way the deer will be sensed and even with the slower trigger speed you'll get a photo of them.

I also had a Leaf River which I liked and was a little more expensive - Someone smashed it and left it on the tree. They couldn't get it down since I had a Kryptonite cable lock around it. And that was on private property. Good luck and have fun. Mark