Trail Cams died

[foggy]

I have two Bushnell Trophy cameras and both were questionable to dead last fall....this spring....they are goners. Likely 4-5 years old. Will Bushnell repair them? Is it even worth it?

Seems none of them last very long. :( Big expense....but I sure like knowing whats out there. Low cost brand to buy?

 

[biglakeba$$]

Nope.
They will not repair older cameras.
They will offer to sell you replacements at a discounted rate.
However if u google the models they offer you will find online stores cheaper than their discounted rate....

I went through this over the winter. I also had 2 that are toast now.

 

[nwmn]

I just contacted Pat Howard of Covert from the other forum, seems like a great guy. He sold the 2013 Extreme black 60's at $115/each w/$10 shipping for the entire lot. Of course I bought two for myself and 4 others for some friends. Just got them in the mail today and delivered 3, and literally just got done testing one out in my living room. So far, I love it. It has a in screen viewer (which I have always said I don't need/want, but it is slick...should make setup easier so I don't come back and check and realize it was set too low :oops:), the video is pretty awesome, and pics are crisp at 12 mp. Granted all the testing is in the living room. I will roll the camera on video all day tomorrow and see what kind of activities dog is up to and report back here with results. I have 6 trophy cams, and I am assuming one or two are on the way ou tthis year, time to cycle new ones through and why not at that price!! I went with moultrie m880's as well, but these are comparable/cheaper so I can pretty much guarantee I will brag Covert up and down if the cams work out. Did I add easy as pie to deal with? You also get a free hat! :D

 

[nwmn]

Also, did you buy them from Cabelas? I have found that if I return them in their packaging, they will either let you swap off the shelf or they will give you a gift card for the value they are currently at. Not sure how long back they will accept it however? I did this last winter when one of my trophy cams was taking continuous pics, and they were going to give us a gift card for like $179.99 (what they were currently marked at) but they had one on the shelf of the same model so they swapped it out. If you didn't buy there, then it might make for a trespasser deterrent if you just put them out as mock cameras, at least there is some marginal value left in them that way?

 

[LessRice]

I have ran all Moultries and had very good luck with them, especially the M80 which I like more than the M880. I have really been wanting to give the Covert Special Ops Code Black a shot.

 

[EOB]

In our group we've had good luck with the Moultrie M80 series. For the price they are hard to beat. We also ran some Coverts and they have been good also.

 

[Snowball271]

New to camming couple years ago. Have had one Moultrie eats c batteries like crazy. One Primos truth cam 35 good camera, little big to lug around. I then found covert tried two CA4s which had a remote, and both died after year or so. I thought I would give the Covert MP6 a try which I love. Own 3 of them no issues in 2 years of running them put 8 AA batteries in the Spring (just put them out this morning) and there good for the whole year. Nighttime pics not the best but you can still make out what you need to see and daytime are very good. I think they are 99 bucks on Wingsupply. Plus like someone else said Pat is very easy to deal with, great customer service.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I have 7 really expensive Cuddeback duds as dummy deterrents. The swap out program units are junk as well.

haha! i did the same thing with my duddy-backs...and two older Leaf River units. hang on the road into the property and on the property lines.

I've been thinking about switching over to Covert...currently i am running Moultrie M-80 and M-880....been happy with them so far...but covert seems like a better deal.

 

[tooln]

I started with Moultrie M-80's. Really like them and had no problems. I had some trespasser issues and wanted a black flash. I went with a Covert Black 60. I ordered one as a trial. Really like it so I now have a total of 5 & I sold the M-80's. Video with sound is great.

 

[foggy]

Mills FF has a sale on Moultrie M880's......so I just bought a pair of those and I'm crossing my fingers that I bought the right model. $120 ea

 

[biglakeba$$]

I have M80s as well... and really like them a lot.

I threw my Bushnells in the trash... Didnt even think of hanging them on a tree and just leave them for security reasons. Whoops.

 

[LessRice]

You will be happy with the 880's the battery life is awesome and doesn't seem to miss too many pictures.

 

[foggy]

Just finished setting the M880's up. Seems very intuitive. FINALLY a good mounting strap with a METAL buckle. The plastic ones are usually broke after a few uses.

Then comes my wife whom has been the camera guru.......and she puts a 2GB chip (we had lost all our old chips along with our camera and camera bag) in the old Bushy Trailcams. Bingo....the Bushy cams seem to work now with the 2GB chip....but not with the 4GB chips. :eek:

Grrrrrr. Electronic stuff drives me crazy. So now I have no idea if the Bushy cameras will work or not. :rolleyes: Me and electronics just don't mix.

 

[biglakeba$$]

Brands of chips can matter in trail cams as well.

I use strictly Sandisk memory cards.

 

[Deer Kar]

Brands of chips can matter in trail cams as well.

I use strictly Sandisk memory cards.

Sanddisk is the gold standard every trail cam I have owned listed "Sanddisk was supported "

 

[browndog]

Just finished setting the M880's up. Seems very intuitive. FINALLY a good mounting strap with a METAL buckle. The plastic ones are usually broke after a few uses.

Then comes my wife whom has been the camera guru.......and she puts a 2GB chip (we had lost all our old chips along with our camera and camera bag) in the old Bushy Trailcams. Bingo....the Bushy cams seem to work now with the 2GB chip....but not with the 4GB chips. :eek:

Grrrrrr. Electronic stuff drives me crazy. So now I have no idea if the Bushy cameras will work or not. :rolleyes: Me and electronics just don't mix.

Yes, Moultrie finally figured out the strap situation, Browning cams have the same strap but are a little longer.

I truly belive that a lot of cam issues are related to the sd cards being used between multiple cams. I never switch cards between cams. Each camera has two cards and each card is labeled for a specific camera. For example: Reconyx 1 cards get used in Reconyx 1 cam, Moultrie 2 cards get used in Moultrie 2 cam, etc. The best thing you can do is format the card in your computer and then format the card in your camera. The way to format your card in your Moultrie 880 is to use the delete option in the menu.

 

[mikmaze]

I format my cards after each view, saving the good pics first. I had a bush cam cie on me, sent it in and pretty sure they sent me back a new one, or at least extensively refurbished. Having issues with another at the end of the season, taking thousands of pics a week no matter the sensitivity setting, and nothing on cam but scenery.

 

[nwmn]

I have heard SD cards being an issue...I too, use strictly sandisk. Sometimes you can find the class 10 8 gb at best buy for around 8.97 each...when I see that I typically buy two. Easier to buy a couple at a time over a stretch instead of 10 at once.

Had dog looking over the house like he usually does today, and the video quality is pretty awesome. Impressed as it is low light in our living room and it was pretty clear. Wayyyyy better than the trophy cam videos. I will test the covert vs trophy cam hd vs m880 in two setups, one with video and the other with 2 shot bursts.

 

[tooln]

Foggy you'll like the M-880's. I to use only sandisk cards. Each cam has 2 cards and I format them only in the cam. Never had an issue that way. Get some pics and post them for us.