A trail cam for a 10-year-old

[rebecca]

Hi everyone,
First I have to explain what I am doing here. Well, I'm a mom of a boy, who is rather keen on stalking the animals and monitoring what passes by our window
He asked me if I would be willing to get him a trail camera and now I'm in pursuit for a decent cam. It doesn't need to be professional, just affordable
And one other thing, I was looking for some websites where he could get some information and tips about trail cams, and I've found this one. I was wondering are there any others that might be useful and interesting for a boy to read.

Thanks for all your help

[Deleted]

While the higher priced cameras are nice and do have extra features, a couple of fairly reasonably priced cameras do the job you want done for a lot less. Two come to mind. The Moultrie models 80 and 880 are my choice for best for the money. Second place goes to the Bushnell Trophy cam.  Both are digital cameras, which store images on an SD card.  I have found that a 2 megabyte card is plenty big enough to store a thousand or more images.  You may wish to get a card reader that hooks up to your computer with a USB connection to download images from the SD card to your computer.  Here are a few ebay links for you to shop.  I have bought a number of items off ebay and had no problems.

www.ebay.com/sch/Sporting-Goods-/382/i.html?_pgn=2&_skc=50&rt=nc&_nkw=moultrie+m-80&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

www.ebay.com/sch/Sporting-Goods-/888/i.html?_nkw=moultrie+m-880&_frs=1

www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=moultrie+m-880&_osacat=888&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R2.TR10.TRC0.A0.H1.Xbushnell+tro&_nkw=bushnell+trophy+cam+hd&_sacat=888&_from=R40

Personally, I prefer the Moultrie cameras. To me, who is age 72, they seem easier to program, which is a big plus. The battery life depends upon how many photos the camera takes and how cold it is. Each takes 8 AA sized batteries. I use alkaline batteries, but if you have unlimited funds, lithium batteries last longer. I have had a set of batteries last six months during warmer weather, but in winter I may be changing batteries monthly. Cold slows chemical reactions.

Try to avoid cameras that do not have an infrared flash. The visible light flash is a negative thing, and people can see it and steal your cameras.  I have had this happen.  Also, the infrared flash does not scare the animals.  Both of the above cameras have infrared flash.

As to where to place a camera, some like to place them over an area with feed put out. Others place them along well-used game trails. If you wish to place it next to your window you already have a place picked out. If you have bears in the area the bear-proof metal boxes are worth the extra expense, as bears like to play with cameras and they play rough.

Hope this helps your son and you.

[davet]

I agree with Muttley about the Moultrie brand. I have had one for about 5 years and it just keeps "clicking" away. I believe (back then) I paid about $150 for it as it was one of the newer Infrared cameras at the time. Takes great pictures and still does. I just did a quick ebay (or as I tell my wife....I call it sleaze-bay) search and saw this one: Moultrie M80 with 4GB card for under $100. These camera's do work well and in my opinion, if you get your kid interested in what wildlife is doing, at least you will know where he's at and what he's doing. Well.....for the most part. Unless he tells you he's going out to the woods with "Michelle" so he and her can "set-up" the camera in a special place. Hmmmm.....maybe you better take them. You know.....trouble comes in many forms!! (Sorry Mom....I helped raise 3...been there.....done that.....got the T-Shirt!!)

Dave

[Muab Dib]

Welcome to the Forum Rebecca! Good advice given above. The Moultrie M80, as said, is a good place to start. I use Lithium batteries and they usually give me a year of service. Pricey though. I also have two cards for every cam. Swap out one with the other, view pics on the computer and store, and then format the card on the computer before you swap them again. I would also place the cam outside the window and not try to get pics through the window...but then again I've never tried that to be honest. Depending on what you're looking to get pics of "a little feed" will do wonders to "entice" critters" to within cam range. Oh...and whatever you get, read the instructions first and be familiar with all the settings...I have a tendency not to do that. Whatever you decide to get have fun!

Muab

[Dutch]

Look on eBay for good deals. Thats where I buy mine.

And I also use the Moultries like the guys above use. Decent camera for the money.

[Deleted]

Rebecca: Nice! Trail cams are a ton of fun! Swing by a Gander Mountain and see if you can find a two-pack on sale. Wild Game Innovations does this sometimes for certain stores. Why? Because why get one when two is even better and let's you cover more area!

Need at least Infra Red (IR) for nighttime, although animals can still see that "flash."

He's going to learn through trial an error too. There's a ton of advice out there... Stick em up and have fun.

[Deleted]

$80-$150 is probably a good price range to target for an IR cam... depending on your budget. Grab an extra memory card for each camera so you can leave the cam out and swap out the card. He'll learn how to recognize game trail and how to set up and where to point the thing.