$15.00 Trail Cam Rental?

[McLovin]

I stopped at Gander Mountain today and bought a $100.00 Moultrie GM-80XT. I have no idea if this cam is any good. At the checkout lane the clerk offers me the extended warranty, 2 years for 15 bucks. Repair, replacement, or money back and covers damage by drops, spills and falls. Essentially I just put down a $100.00 deposit to rent a trail cam for up to 24 months. If it lasts 90 days I will be paying less than 17 cents a day. You can't even feed starving children in Africa for that!

 

[McLovin]

Well, not much. But if it lasts through November then it's well worth it.

 

[McLovin]

I look at it like this, the camera was on sale, it's likely they will give me my money back if I demand it rather than going through the work of sending it back to manufacturer. If it lasts through hunting season I got what I needed and paid the equivalent of a few coffee's from Caribou.

 

[biglakeba$$]

I have great Moultries and a junk one. I have had great Bushnells, and a couple went in the trash can. I have never had a good Cuddeback.....

 

[scott44]

It's too bad you have to pay for a warranty, things don't last like they used to. Everything is throw away now, we had a part on our dishwasher go bad and it cost just about as much for the part as buying a new dishwasher. Not a bad plan if they honor this warranty ^^^^.

 

[bat man]

I quit running noisy, visible flash cameras before the bucks shed velvet.

I believe crappy cameras scare more deer than they kill.

 

[sandbur]

I quit running noisy, visible flash cameras before the bucks shed velvet.

I believe crappy cameras scare more deer than they kill.

I have not used a trail cam in 3, 4, or more years. The only thing I miss is pictures of other critters like bear, bobcat, wolves, coyotes, and grey fox.

 

[chummer]

I have not used a trail cam in 3, 4, or more years. The only thing I miss is pictures of other critters like bear, bobcat, wolves, coyotes, and grey fox.

I normally agree with all your posts but I am dead opposite on this one. The pictures of deer in my plots is very satisfying, especially since I can go the whole season only seeing a few deer while on stand. I do love the other critters as well.

 

[SD51555]

I gotta back Chummer on this one. I get more excited for trail cam pulls and habitat work than I do the actual hunting I think. It's a dead tie at least. I've also had a great Moultrie, and one that was crap outta the box. They drug their feet getting the crap one replaced, but in the end, they made good on it. When they work, they are phenomenal.

 

[kl9]

1. They would likely give you only store credit back. 2. It might appear a little different if you happen to know the cost of production.

 

[biglakeba$$]

I would go nuts without my trail cameras. I have cams at home, at the farm, and at my parents house.

I dont have any white flash cams any more. I have a few black flash. Some make more "noise" than others.

The fact is that the deer I get on camera are mega nocturnal deer as soon as September finds the calendar. Up until that point, I get deer pics during the day easily 50% of the time. Bucks are a bit more liking the nights, but I still get pics in early stages of velvet on bucks. September hits, and its lights out for 90+% of deer pics.
Batman makes the point about the bucks up until shedding the velvet. I dont see only bucks going nocturnal. I see all deer going nocturnal in mid fall.

The cameras are not making them nocturnal. Whether its flash or noise. I have the cams out nearly year 'round.

They are nocturnal for other reasons than the cameras. Part of it is because of us..... The deer know we are after them. Not much we can do about it if we want to hunt them.
We have ZERO neighbors that bowhunt for around a mile in any direction. What is a guy supposed to do? Stop bowhunting?

Its a wicked puzzle to figure out. But cameras are not the enemy on deer. I dont believe it.

 

[dipper]

It's too bad you have to pay for a warranty, things don't last like they used to. Everything is throw away now, we had a part on our dishwasher go bad and it cost just about as much for the part as buying a new dishwasher. Not a bad plan if they honor this warranty ^^^^.

Most people don't mind getting rolled. I pay quality and it generally works. If there is an issue it is usually resolved swiftly by a top notch company. There is a crook behind every tree.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

It seems like Moultrie is making cams "specifically" for certain big box retailers now. I suppose the retailers are demanding certain margins and the way to do that is for the manufacturer to cut costs....which usually translates to a reduction in quality. That GM prefix in the GM-80XT stands for Gander Mountain. From what i have seen, those retailer specific cameras have issues...is that so they can get people to purchase the warranty services and make certain margins? I dont know, but i do know that i have two "pure" moultries and they have been work horses....my buddy has bought several GM series moultries and they have been glitchy.

 

[sandbur]

I gotta back Chummer on this one. I get more excited for trail cam pulls and habitat work than I do the actual hunting I think. It's a dead tie at least. I've also had a great Moultrie, and one that was crap outta the box. They drug their feet getting the crap one replaced, but in the end, they made good on it. When they work, they are phenomenal.

I love the habitat work, but figure I disturb the woods less by not using trail cameras and not pulling cards.

It is great to look at the deer that frequent our land, but I don't mind the anticipation of not knowing what specific antlered deer are out there. I get a pretty good idea by tracks and what I see during the year.

It is also part of my efforts to NOT emphasize antlers to a large extent with my daughters. I've been through that and want my family to enjoy the hunt for different reasons. I'm not finding fault with others, but just explaining where my interests are at this point in my hunting career. Things have changed and will probably change again!

 

[bat man]

Its a wicked puzzle to figure out. But cameras are not the enemy on deer. I dont believe it.

Cameras can hurt. I have seen trails abandoned and rerouted from noisy cams with a white or red ir flash. I have seen dominant deer always select the pile of corn with no camera on it. I have watched certain deer show on camera once with that surprised look on their face and never be photographed again.

SOME deer will not tolerate cameras, and don't know the doe's age but the older bucks seem less tolerant. SOME mature bucks don't care about cam noise, light, smell anything.

HUGE difference between $100 cameras and the high end Reconyx. Not in picture quality as many low $ cameras take better pictures, but in deer reaction.

Which leads me to a product idea I wanted to try. I have considered using a single white or red led attached to a 9 V battery w/a motion detector on trails I want for stand access to prevent some of these deer from using them. If it would emit a small click it would work even better. Anybody know an easy way to do it?

 

[Greta&Gus]

Cameras 'can' hurt but they don't 'always' do. My dad's best buck ever from 09 we had dozens of photos of with both flash and no flash. 140 inch 10 pointer. I have shot 2 bucks that we had photos of the day/week prior in that location. Both were 2 year olds, but I used the camera to help identify their movements.

On the other side I have seen some nice bucks stick their face right in the camera to check it out. I also think it might turn them slightly nocturnal at times. There is a balance.

 

[bueller]

Something to consider for those running cheaper cameras which have a detectable click, like one of mine does. Use the video mode. IF the click is still present, it will only be one click. Unlike the multi-fire still modes where it will be click, click, click, click, etc... I get videos of older bucks every year on one of my cheapo wildgame innovations cams that has a noticeable click. Many of them don't seem to even notice or give a rats ass about the camera. I only run this camera on video mode because on still mode the deer clearly react negatively to it.

 

[browndog]

Which leads me to a product idea I wanted to try. I have considered using a single white or red led attached to a 9 V battery w/a motion detector on trails I want for stand access to prevent some of these deer from using them. If it would emit a small click it would work even better. Anybody know an easy way to do it?

Good idea. I have been doing this with my Cudde Captures(white flash)for years. I put one on a big trail heading to my "shoot every deer that walks" neighbors land. I put two Captures on a metal fence post in my bean plot last year and it worked good.
When I do this, the cams would have a bunch of pics the first night and would decrease every night. By about the fourth night, the cam would have next to nothing for pics.

 

[bat man]

My neighbor had 100's of pictures of a 160 inch deer that could care less about any camera. He posed for years until he was killed on public a mile away last year. Last year he also had one picture each of a couple bucks I often get pics of with my Reconyx.

Not an always or never but its definitely a factor.

 

[McLovin]

It seems like Moultrie is making cams "specifically" for certain big box retailers now. I suppose the retailers are demanding certain margins and the way to do that is for the manufacturer to cut costs....which usually translates to a reduction in quality. That GM prefix in the GM-80XT stands for Gander Mountain. From what i have seen, those retailer specific cameras have issues...is that so they can get people to purchase the warranty services and make certain margins? I dont know, but i do know that i have two "pure" moultries and they have been work horses....my buddy has bought several GM series moultries and they have been glitchy.

Interesting...I'll update this thread once I've soaked it.