Trail Cam Pics

[chucker34]

Three of my "regular" ladies showed up on my first trail cam pics of the spring and I was trying to determine if they were with fawn (inside their bellies). I think at least two of them are because it looks like their milk sacks or udders are big and the one looks like her stomach is sagging from a shot of her from the rear. What do you guys think? I had to blow the pics up to see the udders well.

I've noticed the past few years that last year's fawns often reproduce the first year - and usually twins. I think I read somewhere that's one sign you've got good habitat and a nice deer to habitat ratio. If so, it's easy to see why the population could explode without a few years of hunting. If each kept having twins and everything went right, these three could turn into nine and those nine into 27 in just two years.

[Woodsy]

Chucker what type of trail camera do you have and how do you like it?

[chucker34]

Woodsy. I bought the Wildview Digital 2.0. It's performed wonderfully for the $100 I paid for it and I think the pics are pretty nice for that price too. I've been getting the same 5 does in the past week on it. I'm looking forward to pulling the corn and placing this along the main trails I hunt to help as a scouting tool come hunting season.

Here are a few more cool photos I got this past week.

[FL SNIPER]

I have the wildview digitel 2.0 also and agree with chucker34...good camera for the money. This is my first trail camera and learning how to use it was a snap. I use energizer rechargeable batteries in it...I have two sets of batteries that I swap out when I go to check the pictures. Has worked well so far. I would recommend this camera to anyone whose looking to get into trail camera usage.

[Woodsy]

I've been thinking about getting a Cuddeback scouting camera. Has anyone got one and would you recommend it? Looks like the Wildview takes some nice pics.

[Mark Christianson]

I have a Cudde and Leaf Rivers.

My Cudde is new, and I am still getting used to it.

The thing is NOT user friendly. Its about as cryptic to use as you can tolerate. There is no power switch. Yes, you cannot turn off the unit. I kid you not. Yank batteries to turn it off. There is no visible picture counter. You have to remove the lid, and go through a menu to see how many triggers took place. Its not easy to get used to.

But the picture quality and trigger speed is really nice. So I just need to get used to this thing.

The Leaf Rivers are much easier to set up and use than the Cudde. No question.

The downfall of the Leaf Rivers has been the trigger speed. But they have made a couple changes in the past year to address the slower trigger speeds, and I have a couple of the updated cameras and have started putting them to the test as well. So far, I have a little more experience on them than the Cudde, and I can say the newer DC2BU Leaf River with the 5 eye sensor and the Fast Trigger option, are doing pretty good.

But, I need some more time on my Cudde to determine how they stack up to each other.

[Gissert]

I'll vouch for the Leaf Rivers as BLB noted. I bought one from him. It has been a great unit after a couple of minor problems.

First, the focus was all messed up, which probably came from rough handling from shipping. Not Leaf Rivers fault. They fixed it free of charge. When I got it back, they had forgot to put the flash back in. Again, fixed quickly free of charge. Their customer service is very good.

The programming was problematic for me at first, the manual is not all that great. There is a CD that comes with the unit that is VERY informative. After watching that, I had no problems getting the unit set up the way I want it.

Trigger speed is a tad slow as BLB noted, but that has not been a problem for me since I put it over a mineral lick.

Battery life is amazing. I ran mine all summer last year one set of batts.

The Cudde units look great too. I am shopping for another camera now, and am giving them a serious look over.

[bobbersgone]

i just sent my leaf river back for them to update the sensor.i now build my own trail cameras,unless i find a good deal on a digital stealth,then i convert it into an IR camera for under 40 bucks.you can build some trail cameras,for under 200 bucks.the penns wood 4.1 digital sells for 699.99 at cabelas but you can build the same camera yourself for alot cheaper. scott

[PerchJerker]

I also built a couple of my own digitals trail cameras, to address issues like trigger speed, battery life, ability to view photos, etc. Really not that difficult to do, and a fun project.

[Woodsy]

Perchjerker how do you make your own camera, how do you get it to snap a photo when a deer passes by? Maybe you could start a new thread on this topic. I would be interested in finding out how you guys build them.

[PerchJerker]

Look on the web for a company called PixController. They sell small circuit boards that have passive infared sensors in them, that is what senses the heat/movement of the deer and triggers the camera. They also have info on their site about which cameras work well, how to modify them, etc.

I bought a couple used Olympus digital cameras off hsolist, bought a couple Pelican cases from some place on-line, and some misc hardware parts. Everything else came from PixController.

I got circuit boards with chips that send an intermittant pulse to my cameras, that prevents them from going into sleep mode and lets them take the photo within a second of when the sensor senses something. I power the sensors with 4 D cell batteries, which lasts a full season and then I use the batteries for something else. I power the cameras off rechargable 6 volt batteries (look like a Vexilar battery but are 6 volts). These last for about a month between recharges but my memory cards fill up before the batteries run out. I can view my photos on the cameras monitor screens or on my PC at home.

My picture quality isn't quite as good as you get with the commercial trail cams, but it's not bad and I like the advantages I get with mine. I have a photo of a deer that RAN past my camera and I got 1/2 the deer in the photo - compare that to other cameras that get the back half of walking deer.

I have about $225 into each camera, including the rechargeable batteries, 2 memory cards for each camera, and a card reader for my PC.

There should be a lot of info on the internet about home-built trail cameras.

[bobbersgone]

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[Mark Christianson]

Perch showed me some of his pics from his homemade cams, and they are definitely quick to respond. MUCH faster than any commercially produced camera that I have seen.

Commercially manufactured ones are getting faster by the year though. No question.

The battery life in the Leaf Rivers and Cuddebacks are pretty incredible, so if you can check the cameras at least once a month, there is little chance the batteries will go south on you before you get to the camera.

I was thinking about making one or some of my own, but I was just leary about the fact if something didnt work quite right, I would have been in a pickle. Although, I could have sent them to Perchjerker for service. But the fees I think woulda been pretty high.

One thing is certain. If you dont have a camera, you will become addicted with that first roll of film you turn in for developing, or the viewing of your first memory card.

Here are a couple from my boss' Leaf River.

[PerchJerker]

I charge high fees and provide crappy service, but I have plenty of time available if you'd like to make an appointment

Here's a few photos from one of my home-made trail cams. I had it overlooking a trail a couple hundred yards from a food plot so I got lots of walking deer, a few trotting deer, and a running deer.

I put in these first 2 photos because they're in the daylight.

Here's a night shot

Here's a running deer. Blurry, but on the right side of the photo you can see a deer that ran past at full speed.

[bobbersgone]

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[Woodsy]

Thanks for the info Perchjerker, I think I am going to try and build one and see how it goes. I am still planning on buying a Cuddeback, do you know where a guy can pick up an in expensive card viewer? Cuddebacks don't have the LCD screen on the back to view the pics and I want to be able to do it right there in the woods or back at the cabin.

[BLACKJACK]

Check hsolist or Best Buy or Walmart.

[chucker34]

Woodsy, do you have a laptop? That's how I download mine right in the woods. You can look the images as they download.

Thank the Lord for laptops. They're just as cheap if not cheaper than desktops these days and if you set up a wireless modem in your house, you can be looking at hunting web sites on the couch while your wife watches American Idol.

[Woodsy]

No I don't have a laptop, I have thought about it but I think it would be to spendy just for viewing my deer pic Unless I bought a used laptop off hsolist.

[Hubcat]

Perchjerker

Could a person buy a cheap 35mm trail camera and convert it over to a digital one using the already exsisting sensors and case?

[PerchJerker]

I don't know for sure, but I doubt it. The sensor needs to be connected to the camera to trigger it, and I think the boards and chips I got were camera-specific. Also, you would probably run into issues with the camera lens and camera flash not lining up right with the holes in the case.

[Hubcat]

Ok thanks, I just thought it might be a easy way to get half the work done.

[mcgarth]

no you cant convert a 35mm into a digital.this same question was asked on another site that has to do with trail cameras but as you know we cant mention any other site here.how ever you can convert a stleath digital into an IR camera meaning no flash fairly cheap. cheaper than buying a stleath IR. (Contact US Regarding This Word)