In the past several years there has been an obsession with game cameras. For many hunters they have become a secondary hobby. The excitement of pulling a card and finding a picture of “Mr. Big” is thrilling. It is our sneak peek of the upcoming season.
Game cameras introduce some caution of over pressuring the whitetail woods, spooking deer, and changing patterns before the season even opens. We are overcoming many of the pains with no glow illumination, transmitter boxes, and time lapse (plot watching) scouting. Many of these technologies are becoming standard in the units.
There is no question that game cameras are a significant part of the whitetails hunters’ annual scouting. Instead of spending hundreds of hours glassing field edges several game cameras can scout each property at the same time. All of this without spreading much game changing human scent around the woods. I can say game cameras have changed the way I hunt for whitetails. This is the stealth approach. Let’s check out a couple of the newest game cameras that have a mixture of no glow illumination, transmitter boxes, time lapse capability, and more.
Spypoint Tiny-W2
Breaking the mold this year was the Spypoint Tiny W2. This camera comes with a black box receiver that can be set 250 feet away. It allows photos to be taken but stored in a different location. This is ideal for both security and eliminating intrusions. Now I can set a camera in a core hunting area and check it more frequently by pulling the card from the receiver. My brain is turning with locations I want to place this camera.
This camera is truly a compact design measuring only, 4.7″ x 3.5″ x 2.7. The 3 sensors built in allows for 7 total detection zones that reach out to 50 feet. Combine that with a short trigger time and nothing is getting by unnoticed. Built into the unit is video recording from 10 to 90 seconds, color pictures by day, black and white LED pictures by night, and time-lapse mode. The burst mode can take up to 6 pictures. To fully pattern your big buck the pictures have the date, time, moon phase and temperature stamp on them. If you need to leave the camera for extended periods an external jack with a 12 volt or solar panel can be connected. This is an innovative camera that keeps your assets safe and whitetails unsuspecting of your presence.
StealthCam Sniper Shadow
This small game camera is all black from the box to the LED bulbs. The 54 “No Glo Night Vision” is not visible to the game and reaches out to 50 feet. This unit has several two great features, black LED lights and a time-lapse function. The time lapse function allows it to capture anything in the field during the duration of the day and also triggers when an animal passes in front of the camera both during daylight or evening.
The burst mode can take 1-9 images per trigger then will recover for a second set of pictures in 1 second to 60 minutes. The longer delay is ideal for bait piles and short recovery time is ideal for trail watching. Match that with a video recording that will capture 5-240 seconds to watch the deer interact. This is a nice camera that will hide out in the shadows.
Moultrie Game Spy M-80xt
With a 60 foot range, this camera will reach out and touch. Moultrie has built in three modes, trigger game camera, time-lapse plot watcher, and plot watcher by day and trigger IR camera by night. This is packed into a little black box that can hold up to a year’s battery life. Some testing has shown over 4,000 pictures on a set of batteries. This camera comes in two different models either the standard IR LEDs or the no glow LEDs.
There is a new fast fire feature that can take up to 3 pictures per second. The delay between pictures can range from 5 seconds to 60 minutes. To help capture more game, there is a 16:9 widescreen image and videos. There is a burst mode that takes up to 3 shots. This camera has a new motion freeze technology that reduces infrared nighttime blur. Packed onto the picture is a barometric pressure, temperature, moon phase, time, date and camera ID. This helps you track most variables that cause that big buck to move.
Bushnell Trophy
Cam HD Max LED
The Bushnell Trophy Cam has been a little work horse. One of the biggest features that pays for itself is the batteries. When you load this up with AA batteries it will run for a full year. True to the prior version you can set the programmable trigger in intervals of 1 sec. to 60 min. And the HD video can run from 1 second to 60 seconds. Video runs in 1280×720 pixels and up to 8 MP high-quality full color resolutions on photos. The 40 low-glow LEDs with 45′ range are virtually invisible to game. With a 1 second trigger speed this camera can be used along game trails or at feed stations. Also there is a Field Scan with Simultaneous Live Trigger that allows for plot watching. This allows a hunter to set up a time-lapse to take images at pre-set intervals from 1 to 60 minutes. This will give you a full days snapshot of activity.
Cuddeback Attack IR Game Camera
Talk about trigger speed and the Cuddeback® Attack IR needs to be in the discussion! This is a very fast trigger speed that comes in at ¼ of a second. Powered with 36 LEDs the illumination range reaches 50 feet. This camera can take both pictures and video. The delay between pictures varies from 5 seconds to 30 minutes. This makes it ideal for trail and scrape monitoring or feeder placement. Add in the time-lapse photography and it triples as a plot watcher during daylight hours.
Four D batteries can last almost a full year, which pairs up with their advertising. The flash is good and the picture quality provides perfect pictures. The camera is designed to take a picture of deer as they centered in the frame. Cuddeback designed the camera to have an easy setup with switches instead of buttons for easy setup.
Reconyx HC600 HyperFire
Getting rid of the red glow has been the game camera theme since 2010. I cannot be happier about the no glow technology that eliminates the tell-tale red glow. This company has developed a camera with true no glow technology. They have been receiving high reviews from both third party reviewers and customers. The HC600 HyperFire also carries a long battery life for up to one year.
Believe it; this little Reconyx can trigger pictures as fast as 2 frames per second. The case is sealed very nicely and completely waterproof. The case is coated with a nice camo pattern that conceals it into the tree. Even the faces of the black LED’s have a breakup over them providing total concealment. This reaches out to 50 feet. On the picture itself is printed the time, date, temperature, and moon phase. For added protection the camera has a password protection feature for theft. The Reconyx HyperFire Scouting Camera helps you see what you have been missing.
Primos Truth Cam Ultra BlackOut
The Primos Truth Cam Ultra has been getting some rave reviews in the past year. New this year they only improved upon the prior year’s features by making the oversized TruthCam ultra small. The Truth Cam Ultra Blackout is super compact at just 3.875″w X 5.25″h X 2.5″d. This includes models that are either built with standard LEDs or newer no glow IR LED’s. The undetectable camera will allow you to survey the area without any game knowing you’re present. All of these features come with a 7.0 daytime mega pixel and 5.0 nighttime mega pixel pictures. Packed into the ultra-small unit is the option to take photos, video, time-lapse, a combination of time-lapse and trigger photos.
With no LED glow, no noise, and no light this is a must have item in your inventory. The range on this camera is no joke, Primos advertises the range at 50 feet during the evening but it will reach out much farther than advertised during both day and night. This is so easy to use it takes seconds to setup. Pictures include moon phases, temperature, date, and time. All of this with a 1 second trigger speed to ensure the game is centered in the picture frame.
Covert Special OPS Code Black
The special OPS Code Black trail camera reminds me of something out of a James Bond movie. Talk about no trace of entering a buck’s bedroom. Once set up this work horse automatically sends pictures to a cell phone and/or email via MMS. That means you never have visit the camera again until the batteries run out. In addition, the black LEDs do not emit any visible light therefore deer are never spooked from the red glow.
The trigger speed is 1.2 seconds and can take pictures in intervals of 1 second to 60 minutes. To catch that buck chasing a doe there is a photo burst mode up to 3 images. With an SD card in place there is an overwrite option that allows pictures to overwrite the oldest photo with the newest picture after card is filled to capacity. Great if you are already having them emailed. To keep the unit hidden from everyone it covered in MossyOak Infinity.
Wildgame Innovations
Elite 8 LightsOut
This camera reminds me of an old phone instead of a trail camera. The Elite 8 LightsOut flash will reach 70 feet which is farther then most. A wide angle lens gets more game in the viewfinder with less than a 1 second trigger speed. This sleek camera body takes both photo and video with full audio capability. Additionally there is a time-lapse capability built into the camera.
There are adjustable side to fit any tree and anti-blur technology to get picture perfect photo’s. This helps when identifying bucks that pass in front of the lens. On the picture is stamped the moon phase and temperature. All of this packed into a different type of camera.
Uway NightTrakker NT50B IR Scouting Camera
The Uway NightTrakker has the true black flash built into the camera. They have accomplished this by placing 50 infrared LED’s behind a black visor. The night-time illuminates up to 40 feet away with a high quality 5.0 megapixels picture. This is a compact unit that measures a mere 6.1 x 3.4 x 2.7 inches. To avoid missing whitetails the trigger speed is rated at just over 1 second.
The pictures are stamped with the date, time, temperature, and moon phases to provide insight to big buck movement. This black flash camera can handle video from 10-60 second and will take up to 10 photos per trigger. For added protection a 4-digit password can be set up and a security box is sold separately.
Hunten Cam C22-T70IR
Storming into the market with no glow technology is the Hunten Cam. This little camera has all the features built into it with some wicked treebark camo patterns. When this camera goes off you will not know it took a picture. At night the 56 LED’s will reach beyond 70 feet. This has single picture, burst mode, and video clips built into the unit. You can simply drop down the bottom of the unit to program and review photos.
Hunten Cam advertises 1/3 second trigger speed, which is faster than most others in the market today. Hunters can use it along game trails or food plots with great success. This company is rather new, going into their fourth year in business. With the technology they have used, we will see more of these cameras in the future. I cannot wait to see what they come out with in the upcoming years.
