What's decent cheap trail camera?

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KRONIIK
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby KRONIIK » Sun Jun 20, 2021 2:06 am

No kidding; four apples is a bellyfull for a thirty (?) pound critter!

I bet he didn't wait an hour before going swimming, either...


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thwack16
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby thwack16 » Sun Jun 20, 2021 2:11 am

I have more of the Wildgame Innovations Terra Extreme Trail Camera – 14 MP than I should admit, and use them all for public, private that I think they could come up stolen on, and I keep one in truck to place watching my truck in case I’m parking in a sketchy location. Have gotten them all for $30-$35.

They’ve been the best cheap camera I’ve found, and I’ve run through quite a few brands(though I haven’t bought a tasco in a handful of years).

D5E23F8E-F873-4C39-8211-A9084F7D9190.jpeg

A9DD0F79-A25C-47D4-99DC-710B4FCDABA4.jpeg


I’ve really settled in on these as my low end camera and Exodus as my high end.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Andyschulte » Sun Jun 20, 2021 2:28 am

I have a wild game innovations camera (terra 12 maybe?) that I left out all season last year. Batteries lasted from July until the end of January. It took hundreds of pictures for me.

It was well worth the 40 or 50 bucks I paid for it.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Sun Jun 20, 2021 8:54 am

peteherbst wrote:I use a few Tascos and they work well but I believe they miss a lot. You can find $35 wild game innovations that work really well, but that’s a sale price. Moultree has a refurbished list that you can get on and buy those cheap as well.

FB marketplace is a good place to look for used cams as well. If looking new only but a little nicer, Camofire.com on Tuesdays has the deals.

Good luck!

I won't buy used ones unless it's from someone I know very well. No doubt in my mind many are stolen & I don't want to promote stealing camera's. I have heard so many stories about how the Tasco's are junk & fail a lot but maybe the have worked through that & are much better these days. I bought the Wildgame Innovations Terra Extreme for a friend several years ago & he has had good luck with it.
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<DK>
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby <DK> » Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:03 am

I really enjoy the $40 wildgame cams on video mode.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:58 pm

Suspect Game Calls The Hoot. I have been field testing these for about 6 to 8 months and these have quickly become my go-to for camera bombing an area to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can. They take great day and night photos and are under a hundred bucks. I learned about these from Troy Pottinger and they are solid.

https://suspectgamecameras.com/shop/ols ... spect-hoot
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Moose » Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:51 am

I'm with the tasco crowd. Cheap and effective.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Jrdeerhuntr » Tue Jun 22, 2021 1:54 am

thwack16 wrote:I have more of the Wildgame Innovations Terra Extreme Trail Camera – 14 MP than I should admit, and use them all for public, private that I think they could come up stolen on, and I keep one in truck to place watching my truck in case I’m parking in a sketchy location. Have gotten them all for $30-$35.

They’ve been the best cheap camera I’ve found, and I’ve run through quite a few brands(though I haven’t bought a tasco in a handful of years).

D5E23F8E-F873-4C39-8211-A9084F7D9190.jpeg
A9DD0F79-A25C-47D4-99DC-710B4FCDABA4.jpeg

I’ve really settled in on these as my low end camera and Exodus as my high end.




Well I just bought 3 after reading this and Amazon has them on sale right now for $32
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:11 am

RatMe wrote:I’ve moved to the tascos recently. I’ve had one bad experience out of ten cams or so.

I used to run the older “A” series Moultries and they were work horses for me 5-6 years with some.

Regardless of the cam, I try to treat them like they are electronics. Im overboard but it has helped. When I put 3 or 4 in my pack I wrap them in shirts or stuff them in old stretched out wool socks, I use grease on all the gaskets, and I use some type of silicone caulk on the creases and permanent connections. No science behind this just what I do.

I’m interested to see how many years I can get out of a tasco. The one that failed went “pink tint”. I’ve other cams do this before and not sure how to combat it.

The real question is will tasco “go good” when you purchase that $4 damage plan. Anyone done this? Lost cause I’d assume?


Good advice
I might add also that (from my experience) sitting around not being used ....they tend to fail quicker

Also, don’t know if it’s true or not but I was told ages ago to turn them off before removing your card.


I’ve pretty much found just about any cheap camera lasts as long as the next cheap camera.

I’m cheap, so I can’t speak on the pricey ones Cause I’ve never bought one
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby RatMe » Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:04 am

I always turn them off prior to removing a card. The first cheap “wild view “ cam I had would delete all your pics if you didn’t. Tough lesson.

I don’t expect them to last forever, but a season or two is nice. If it provides the missing puzzle piece it instantly seems worth it.

A tool not a cure all.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby austin1990 » Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:29 pm

<DK> wrote:I really enjoy the $40 wildgame cams on video mode.

Same here, I actually need to add a few more for this fallhttps://youtube.com/shorts/xfrpgq7K_LI?feature=share
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby westwind » Wed Jun 23, 2021 12:30 am

The Tasco cameras do miss a lot, in my experience. A decent number of photos of tails/butts of passing deer. But for $29, it's hard to complain.

My favorite public land camera is the Wildgame Innovations Terra Extreme 14. They're about $45, usually, and a lil cheaper if you can find them on sale. The extra $15 gets you way better picture quality and functionality. https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Extreme-Wi ... YP5C&psc=1

Last, if you use spypoint's cell link (cheap way to turn a $40 cam into a cell cam), the quality of the Tasco pictures is too low. The pictures are very hard to view on the app. I would recommend avoiding the Tasco if you want to hook it up to a cell link.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Jhand » Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:12 am

Ordered a couple of the Wildgame Terra to leave on public this year, they are $32 on Amazon right now as a prime day deal.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Jun 23, 2021 7:29 am

I hung 3 tascos this spring but so far have only pulled one card. For right now, I’m not real impressed. Apparently the sensor field of view is bigger than that of the picture itself. Tons (thousands) of blowing leaf triggers but most weren’t in the pic :think:

I’m not a huge fan of not having a battery meter either. I feel like that’s going to bite me in the rear at some point.
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Re: What's decent cheap trail camera?

Unread postby Swedishbowhunter » Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:43 am

Jhand wrote:Ordered a couple of the Wildgame Terra to leave on public this year, they are $32 on Amazon right now as a prime day deal.

Thanks for the tip, I just ordered a couple, we will see. I have been running the Tascos for a while now and have been very happy with them, but the night pictures look a bit better on the WG's.


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