Hi,
I've been making my own bait and I need a game camera so I can test it. What should I get? Should I get one with or without LED lights?
Thanks!

ive got 8 that flash when they take pics. I feel it gives you poor test results sure it proves animals are attracted to you smells! But id rather see their reactions other than a flash and gone! A scared critter will not interact the same as a confident relaxed one does! Even a still pic of them digging, rolling, or urinating is better than a close pic then nothing! MY next ones will be the infrared flash with video mode! Then I will see the whole story! instead of assumimng! But if your just trying to pattern or get proof that they are present the flash ones are fine! lol I feel I wouldn't be much of a trapper if I didn't already know that! I wouldn't dream of testing a new scent in a spot void of fresh sign.

Won't the flash scare them away? What brands are best?

yes the flash scares them away they are the kind walmart was selling for a 100 dollars each! wild life inovations. Knowing what I know now id of bought cuddy backs!They work for deer but not so much for predators.

I use a bushnell trail camera that has 24 led lights have gotting good pictures of coyote coon bobcat and lots of deer, night time pictures are ok but would like to have more led's for more light. This camera also has video I have not tried video. Take some time and check on different cameras go to cabelas or bass pro and check on reviews that people have posted on cameras.

I use the Moultrie 999i. "Invisible technology" works well to not alarm the animals. Takes photos as well as video.

Try Browning low glow or no glow. I have a couple and they work great. Trailcampro has the best deal.

AT; I use alot of trail cameras in my trapping and hunting. The information you learn about the animal's habits, interactions, movement, time tables, etc. is very interesting and valuable. The pictures will tell you alot about the critters, what they do, how, and when. Before trail cameras we just guessed at alot of things, but now with pictures and video you can actually see what is happening out there when we are not around. Warning; the cameras are addicting. They are alot of fun and you will find yourself excited to go see what is on your camera.

Trail cameras are usually in one of three types. (1) A white flash camera is just that, it flashes a bright white light with every camera shot at night. No flash in daytime. The pictures day and night are very bright and colorful. That bright flash is startling to alot of animals but eventually they seemed to get used to it and ignore it. Some animals never get used to it, never come back to the site, or will walk around the camera to avoid the flash. (2) Infrared cameras use LEDs (light emitting diodes) or similar to illuminate the picture at night. These pictures are not as brite as with a white flash, not colorful essentially just black and white, is somewhat grainy, and slightly blurred if the animal is moving etc. These pictures are usually good enough to see your subject and see what is going on. The infrared camera LEDs flash a soft red glow instead of a brite white flash. The red glow is not very noticeable, but can be seen if looking toward the camera when it snaps a picture at night. These cameras seem to be the most popular because of the absence of the brite white flash. (3) the third type of trail camera is the black flash. This camera is essentially the same as the infrared type camera but the LED flash is completely invisible making it the most stealthy of all and usually the most expensive.

When you buy a trail camera you will need batteries and a couple of SD type media cards. Put the camera about waist high 20' - 30' away from your target area, turn it on. There are settings on the camera for time/date, delay between photos, video, and other stuff. Just read the manual and play with the camera at home to get familiar with it. Put it on a tree in the backyard facing some likely active areas and then you can learn to go thru the entire process of setting it up, retrieving and changing out the media card, re-arming the camera, changing the settings etc.

Hope this helps, Dave

Trailcampro.com is a good place to buy cameras. Good folks.

If you're targeting coyotes, you should look toward the "no glow" or "blackout" LED cameras. Coyotes will notice the red glow cameras and likely spook. Some red glow cameras are brighter and more noticeable than others. My preferred cameras are Bushnell Aggressors in both low glow and no glow versions.

Loving my new Exodus trail cams...excellent service and warranty...easy setup, great pics and video. Have used 3 other brands and had nothing but issues...this company has a different take on trail cams.
Great battery life too.

Thanks,Rosscoak.I might have to try those.

^^^Right here.^^^

Everyone has they’er favorite brand of camera, but no one talks about placement ! I used a white flash camera for years after everyone of my buddies said that they spooked game. Come to find out they were putting they’er cameras about waist high ( right in the deers face) and only ever getting one pic of that deer !

I like putting my cameras up high for two reasons, number one is my ground floods! Number two is I found out by placing my cameras above flood stage that they did not spook deer ! I can’t say what the exact height is , I’m only 5’9”” a full foot shorter than USMC47 and standing on my toe smay not keep the camera safe from a flood ! So I either carrya ten gallon bucket or stand on the front rack of the four wheeler.

P.s. this is also a good deterrent for thieves,as they have to climb the tree to get the camera !

This is a good video that verifies what your talking about with height placement. They start talking about deer reaction to cameras around the 4 min mark. I’m 6’2” and place mine a little over my head to keep them out of a deers line of sight.

This video only talks about deer reaction, but it makes a little sense for other critters as well.

https://youtu.be/XVQUSR5BdIk

The LEDs on my Primos cameras glow really bright. Note the reaction-
https://vimeo.com/246834289

This Bushnell is a black LED camera. I have tons of footage like this without any unusual spookiness.
https://vimeo.com/250291677

In my experience the white flash don’t spook game much if about 5 feet high. The IR ones spook about 75/percent of th game. I have mine on burst and it is very common to have 1 good picture followed by another where the critter is reacting and the next is gone!

Animals can see the IR spectrum better than us, and I believe that is the reason for the spooks. Also, some of my cameras make a high pitched whine as they build power for the led’s and that may also trigger the flight reflex.

Bad news=. White flash get stolen like crazy, and not many are still made.

I run about 9 Moultrie cams of various models. Sent 4 brownings back as they failed to trigger reliably.

Deer seem to notice some red glow cameras more so than others. I'm thinking this may have more to do with a noise it makes rather than the red glow. The deer will be looking at my old Moultrie M-80 in almost every night picture it takes. I've never noticed one really spooking but I've had a few pictures of bucks where I could tell they didn't really like it. They rarely look at my Wildgame cameras or my Stealth Cam even though they are red glow. No glows are definitely undetectable as long as they are quiet.

If you set them side by side, do you see a notable difference in how bright they glow?
My Primos IR glow super bright red. Everything with a heart beat notices them.
I have a variety of Bushnells. Depending on model, they are vary from slightly detectable faint glow to blacked out.

I had a primos on my dear stand one year and I could hear it take every picture and I’m half deaf. It’s not the red glow !