Trail Cameras

Boy, oh boy. I could talk a lot about trail cameras. They’ve become a real obsession of mine as late. With 40 acres to shoot pictures on and the full variety of PNW mammals present on our land I really love our trail cameras. There’s little that gives me as much joy as getting a new species or a particularly lovely shot from one of our trail cams.

What to Choose?

So how do you choose a good trail camera? There’s a lot to balance! And I’ll be honest, there are really three things to consider when triangulating/balancing what’s important to you:

1. Functionality
2. Robustness
3. Cost

Functionality

Do you need video 24/7 sent straight to your cell phone? Do you need a really robust multishot mode that catches every whisker twitch of every single whiskered creature moving in frame? Does it need to blend in with the exact kind of tree you’re thinking of attaching it to? If so, this one’s gonna be big for you.

There are tons of options to choose from (i.e. Outside color/texture/camo, multishot mode options so your cards aren’t full of leaves blowing in the wind, high quality LCD display for reviewing shots so you can review and delete photos rather than swapping a card)

Think about what’s important to you. If you’re going to be on property every day, then changing cards might not matter as much. If you’re going to be there 1-2x a month…it’s gonna matter more that time you forget your spare. Again, this one is a big category, but prioritizing what’s important to you here first is likely going to get you to your desired cam outcome faster.

Robustness

How much does UltraHD matter from a photo standpoint. Do you need to see every follicle or is a painterly shot of those deer going to do? Do you need a hair trigger to catch your photographic prey? I know we miss out on big cat shots sometimes because they can really bolt for prey but…I still get my fair share of shots.

Think about what you’re going to use your photos for. I use mine for this blog quite frequently so I pay for a slightly higher quality photograb. I don’t pay for a super hair triggered camera and I do miss out sometimes. Those are the tradeoffs to consider. Our land has a LOT of wildlife running through it not everyone’s does. We knew this going in so we prioritized quality of photos over speed of trigger and we’ve been very happy.

Cost

It always comes down to money. I have several cameras at this point. What can I say? It’s a hobby. What’s your budget. There are decent cameras to be found at most price points. Just don’t forget you’re going to want to get some rechargeable batteries ($) and at least a 32 GB SD card to go in your camera for storage. I recommend Sandisk but only because we’ve had great luck with them.

Cost is something really personal! I’m not going to tell you the right thing to do here. I’m going to tell you to balance all these things. If you’re buying this for a gift talk to your loved one and ask them what matters to them. Regardless, they’re going to love it. Oh, and if you’re really stumped when buying, talk to my friends over at TrailCamPro.com. I had a really specific cellular use case and they were incredibly helpful in helping me figure out what I needed.

Ultimately, I chose Browning Spec Ops Elite HP5 cameras for our trails. They fit our needs. LOTS of pics fired in succession to grab as many animals as we can, great quality images, and terrific battery life. Also, the cost is decent if a little pricey. Again, everyone will be different but if you want to get into seeing what’s on your land besides through IDing scat and footprints, there’s something at every pricepoint. Happy Hunting!