Trail Camera ??

[CC Hurl]

I picked up two of the Cabela's MOULTRIE 5.0 camera's as they were on sale for 100.00.

So far i have figured out how to use it other than a few questions.

First does anyone have this camera and how do you like it? Seems to me it has everything a guy would need. How far do you normaly set a camera off the trail? I am a little confused on how to set the sensor or if you even can set it on this camera.

It also says it will not work in below freezing wheather. Is this because the batteries will just go dead real fast or will freezing temps ruin the camera? I am looking forward to when i can get some good use out of this.

Any tips on how to better use this camera will be appreciated as these are the first ones i have ever had.

Thanks for any feed back.

CC HURL

[walterman]

My dad has one of these cameras and from what Ive seen and heard from him they are decent cameras for the price. If you are putting these on a trail try to point them facing in the direction you think the deer are usually going so it has a longer time to trigger. I have a few moultrie i40's and use them in below zero temps and they are still going strong. The battery life will go down quite a bit with your cam in very cold weather so you will need to check it more often.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I picked up two of the Cabela's MOULTRIE 5.0 camera's as they were on sale for 100.00.

So far i have figured out how to use it other than a few questions.

First does anyone have this camera and how do you like it? Seems to me it has everything a guy would need. How far do you normaly set a camera off the trail? I am a little confused on how to set the sensor or if you even can set it on this camera.

It also says it will not work in below freezing wheather. Is this because the batteries will just go dead real fast or will freezing temps ruin the camera? I am looking forward to when i can get some good use out of this.

Any tips on how to better use this camera will be appreciated as these are the first ones i have ever had.

Thanks for any feed back.

CC HURL

They will not function in cold weather, and will likely stop working entirely. If they do work, they will burn batteries quickly. I had several of these cameras and they were very fragile. Worked alright in warmer temps and when functioning properly took okay pictures. I have since switched to the Moultrie IR models (Cabela's has a special 5.0 IR cam that I have a couple of) and they are far better than the Outfitter cams. Longer battery life, better pictures, work in cold weather, more durable, etc. The only issue I have had with these is that the LED display screen has started to fade out in spots, but the camera still takes pictures as programmed (I will send them in to be fixed this winter likely).

[CC Hurl]

N.WOODS When you say they are fragile. Do you mean just in cold wheather or have you found them to not be very sturdy all together?

I will most likely not use them in below freezing wheather unless it is for half the day or something like that. If they will get ruined then i will not even think about it.

Walterman is there a way to set the sensor on these or do you just go with the setting that is there? Like i said before i am not sure how far to set them off the trail for best results.

Thanks for the inpute as i need all i can get.

I think i will like them even though i may have to wait until next year to get some good use out of them. I would like to set one out when i go into one of my stands and then pick it up on my way out so i can see what i missed. Lol

CC

[eyehead]

Face your camera to the East or west. I used to have mine faceing south over a scrape and would get hundereds of blank pictures a day. I think the heat from the direct sunlight triggers the inferred off and shoots a picture. Now that I have it faceing East I dont get those blank shots....

I had my camera on for 4 straight months this summer and still had 50% of my batteries left.....Like others have said though, once the temps drop so will your batteries. Overall there a pretty decent camera for the money.

[jigginjim]

I have a stealth Cam I590, so far I have gone through 8 c-size batteries this, got alot of photos of squerrils, plants moving, and a few deer. Next fall i am going to get the 12volt adapter kit plus a solar battery charger. I'm also looking at some of the other cams for faster shutter speed.

[InTheNorthwoods]

N.WOODS When you say they are fragile. Do you mean just in cold wheather or have you found them to not be very sturdy all together?

I will most likely not use them in below freezing wheather unless it is for half the day or something like that. If they will get ruined then i will not even think about it.

Walterman is there a way to set the sensor on these or do you just go with the setting that is there? Like i said before i am not sure how far to set them off the trail for best results.

Thanks for the inpute as i need all i can get.

I think i will like them even though i may have to wait until next year to get some good use out of them. I would like to set one out when i go into one of my stands and then pick it up on my way out so i can see what i missed. Lol

CC

I found them to be fragile in general. It seemed like if you did anything incorrectly something would go wrong. The SD card reader would quit working, the clips for the bungees would break, they would quit working entirely if it got cold, etc. I tried to take very good care of them, and I liked them during the summer and early fall, but once it got to be November (and the rut and most exciting time to get pictures) they disappointed me greatly.

The saving grace of these cams was that Cabelas would take them back no questions asked. But I learned quickly that they had lots of problems with these and they are getting returned left and right. I think Cabelas has since modified their return policy, so be sure to review that if you have any questions.

Hope I didn't scare you too much, I just think its better to be warned of some of the issues I found. Like I said, when they were working I liked them quite a bit, I just got fed up with trying to keep them working.

[96trigger]

I like that mine is way more dependable than my Wildviews ever were. However, the bungees holding it to the tree are absolutely cheesey, I will come up with a better system by this fall. Also, the picture quality is poor. Its very grainy for a 5.0 megapixel. the wildviews actually took much better pictures with less magapixels when they worked, but at least the moultrie took the pictures consistently.

[CC Hurl]

Triger thanks for the info. I was thinking the bungies were a liitle on the weak side. I did notice there is like a spot on top the camera you could hook something too. I was thinkig maybe screwing somethhing into the tree that would hook onto that spot on top.

Stil not sure about how far to put this thing off the trail or how far it will sence something and take the picture. Is it like 30,40,50 yards or do they need to be rather close to the trail for better results. Sorry for all the questions, but were is a better way to learn the pro's and con's of this thing besides here?

Thanks for all the replies you guys and keep the info coming if you feel something was missed or want to add more info.

CC HURL

[96trigger]

Aim it angled down the trail so you get a quartering away, or quartering towards shot. During daylight hours, you are probably good for 45 feet, at night, 30 max. If you can find a funnel where the deer will need to go between some kind of backstop and your camera, that will help. Best luck is to experiment. Be careful of moving branches as they will set it off.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Stil not sure about how far to put this thing off the trail or how far it will sence something and take the picture. Is it like 30,40,50 yards or do they need to be rather close to the trail for better results.

CC HURL

Your MAXIMUM effective range on a flash trail camera will be about 45 feet. That is stretching it sometimes. Ideally you would want the deer to be within 20 feet of the camera to get a shot. Its no different than taking a picture with a digital camera that isn't zoomed in, so in that sense, think of where you would want your subject to stand if you were taking a picture of them with no zoom.

When setting the camera, make sure to use the laser pointer to get an idea of where the camera is pointed and to stand in front of the laser at the distance you expect to get the deer photos. Deer are shorter than people, so you will want it about waist high at the point the deer are expected. I have found that this usually means hanging the camera lower in the tree than most first timers expect.

It also helps to avoid pointing the camera into the rising or setting sun as the light will cause the trigger to trip when nothing is present and to wash out photos.

Finally, unless you are going to place the camera over a food source or some type of attractant, it is best to place the camera at an angle down the trail that you expect the critter to come from. If you place it perpendicular to the trail, you will get lots of deer butt photos.