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I have purchased 10 such cameras after my wife did some research. We were somewhat limited as the area my ranch is in has poor cell service in general. Verizon has by far the best cell coverage. We limited ourselves to cameras compatible with Verizon. Of the 10, 8 were Snyper trail cams and 2 were Covert trail cams. These cameras were, at least initially, fascinating and fantastic. They broke up boring days with e mails of animals. I knew the time the animals were moving instantly and things of this nature. I love it. I had one that was out for less than 10 days. All of a sudden, no pictures. Well, that was strange I thought. I was out over the weekend. Sure as hell, this camera is malfunctioning. I thought no big deal. S*^t happens. I got home late last night and started checking my pictures. Guess what? I have another camera with no pictures. This one has been out less than 15 days. Now I am beginning to get a bit concerned. I failed to mention that both cameras were the Snyper cameras. My questions are twofold as follows: 1- Does anyone here have any experience with these Snyper cameras? If so, what has you experience been? 2- What other brands do you have experience with that seen to work well? Thanks! | ||
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Arizona now has a rule up for comments that will outlaw such cameras in this state. It will also ban placing any cam within 1/4 mile of a man-made water source. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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Some of the bunny hugger, hunter hating folk from CA must have moved to Arizona. NRA Life Benefactor Member, DRSS, DWWC, Whittington Center,Android Reloading Ballistics App at http://www.xplat.net/ | |||
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2 going bad out of 8 in less than 2 weeks would probably have me taking all 8 back where I bought them and hammering them for a full refund until it was in my hand. IMHO the comment by crshelton was out of line or he has no knowledge of why AZ is doing that and is on the right track with other states that are doing the same thing to disallow instantaneous transfer of a picture with time on it to a computer. They already had to pass a law to disallow using them with a gun set up by the camera that can be fired remotely when a company started advertising to shoot your animal while you watched it at home on your computer! | |||
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Yup. Plus the fact that every waterhole and drinker on the AZ Strip usually has a dozen or more cameras surrounding them. But I'm too busy for a debate about it now. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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Is this because of the impact that human presence may have on animals drinking (or trying to) there? In NM you cannot park or camp near water holes, though you can hunt them and, at least for now, use a camera. _____________________ A successful man is one who earns more money than his wife can spend. | |||
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Yes, that plus there are more and more conflicts between hunters and outfitters. And, like NM, we have had the no camping rule in existence for many decades. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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Larry: Don't know, as I've only had one. Been told quite a few of those things eat batteries like kids do candy. Check that out and see if they're dead. IF not, take 'em back for a refund. Be good to hear what you find out. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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I got both an e mail and a call form the Company. The bottom line is that new batteries cured the issue. This is quite puzzling since the power reading was at the MAX. I installed the lithium batteries as opposed to the regular batteries. These are supposed to last 9 times longer. Well, I would dispute that statistic. I have gotten few pictures all day. I fear they are all going down. | |||
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One of the issues might be is given there is a "cell phone" integral to the unit and if the cell signal is weak or intermittent, the cell phone part of the device may be consuming a lot of battery power when it is searching for a signal. Mike Legistine actu? Quid scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Seems like just about all new toys have lots of bugs. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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You are right. I looked at the status of the cameras on line. Interestingly, most still show maximum battery power with the exception of the one that stopped taking pictures. What puzzles me is why the particular camera inquestion sent dead? It is not a high volume area. I would think the cell signal there would be no worse than other places on the ranch. However, I have not checked. The good news is that the rest of my cameras sent a lot of pictures . I supposed the down time was simply a lengthy period of no movement. | |||
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Correct. I was not aware of such laws governing use of real time transmission of pictures. My son and many others have such cameras on their drones and it is cool to put on the "pilots view" headset and zoom around the farm. I shopped for such equipment as Larry has to observe illegal dumping around the county roads on our property perimeter but the systems had so many issues that I dropped the project. Too bad, as the county roads dept had asked me to observe and report on unsemly traffic and illegal dumping. They put up No-dumping signs and within days someone had dumped old clothing there. The main mystery I want to solve is to determine how so many dead goats are being washed onto my place with every heavy rain. The covotes and carrion eaters make short work of the remains, but I still have to dispose of the bones. NRA Life Benefactor Member, DRSS, DWWC, Whittington Center,Android Reloading Ballistics App at http://www.xplat.net/ | |||
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Larryshores: Thanks for the post on the transmitting trail cams. Please keep us posted on how these perform for you. I'm interested in getting a couple, but have been waiting for a review of a really dependable unit. By the way, I don't see how a statute can differentiate between a transmitting camera watching a water hole on your land and one watching your house or business. Maybe the AZ law only applies to public land? | |||
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The actual wording references using it in conjunction with hunting/taking of wildlife. When I get a few extra minutes I'll see if I can find a copy of it. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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Here is the proposal and LINK to full article : As defined in Commission Proposal R12-1-101 Definitions: Define Developed Water Source: “Developed Water Source” means any developed, placed, or man-made structure that collects or stores water with the primary purpose of providing water for wildlife or livestock. Define Live Action Trail Camera: “Live action trail camera” means an unmanned device capable of transmitting images, still photographs, video or satellite imagery, wirelessly to a remote device such as but not limited to a computer, smart phone or tablet. This does not include a trail camera that records photographic or video data for later use, provided the device is not capable of transmitting wirelessly. R12-4-303 Unlawful Devices and Ammunition: Restrict the placement of live action trail cameras: 4) A person shall not use a live-action trail camera, or images from live-action, trail camera for the purpose of taking or aiding in the take of wildlife or locating wildlife for the purpose of taking or aiding in the take of wildlife. 5) A person shall not use any trail camera, or images from a trail camera, for the purpose of taking, or aiding in the take of wildlife or locating wildlife for the purpose of taking or aiding in the take of wildlife within one-fourth mile (440 yards) of a developed water source. . "Listen more than you speak, and you will hear more stupid things than you say." | |||
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Interesting timing, Larry. I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine from Florida this morning. He has has hunting property in Illinois and was asking the exact same question about cameras. I decided to go with the Moultrie cameras last fall. I installed one of their compatible cameras (all of their good cameras are compatible now) and plugged it into a Moultrie mobile modem. Settings can be changed remotely from your desktop, iPad, or phone. Photos are stored on a cloud and can be viewed and shared with anyone. Turn alerts to email & text on/off as you please. This was right before Halloween. I am still getting photos every single day and I have NOT changed the lithium batteries yet! I have a Moultrie solar panel sitting on my desk and I haven't even set it up yet. No need so far. After set up, it has worked flawlessly. It is out near a brackish salt marsh at that, right on the banks of a river. And you know how hard corrosion can be in that environment. I admit that I did fabricate an aluminum box for it. I will update this post with links and photos once I get these rambunctious kids to sleep. UPDATE: Learn about the system here: https://www.moultriefeeders.com/moultriemobile PowerPanel: https://www.moultriefeeders.co...e-camera-power-panel I’m shocked the modem battery life says 100% and the camera is 50%. That’s after 1,900+ photos and six months without being touched. This is linked to an A-30i camera in the field now. There is a brand new M-40i and a Camera PowerPanel combination battery & solar panel sitting on my desk that I have been planning to switch out for months, but the other one hasn’t died yet, so no need. Let me know if you have any questions. SCREENSHOTS from my Moultrie Mobile account: List of Compatible Cameras:  Camera Information:  Camera Settings:  Data usage & Signal Strength:  Ability to filter images and save searches:  Oldest photos  Most recent photos:  | |||
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Interesting. I am learning that one of the potential issues is the volume of pictures that are being taken. For example, the second camera that went dead, took just over 3,300 pictures since I last changed the batteries about 2 weeks ago. I also believe that the location of the camera may have some impact due to varying quality of cell signal. I am not much of a camera person. It seems to me that, logically, I may have an issue with the settings which may also be causing some of the issues. I say this after viewing some pictures from normal trail cams over the weekend. I observed multiple pictures of a deer taking a portion of a single step. Regardless, with the level of hog activity, I am going to have a lot of pictures. I have one feeder with a regular trail cam on it. Over 7,000 pictures were taken in about 2.5 weeks. | |||
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Larry, I had similar issues at first. Like you, I’m not a very big camera person and I’m simply doing it for fun to watch some pigs in the swamp. No feeder though. However, at first I threw down a couple of sacks of corn to get things going and realized early on I was going to have a problem taking too many photos. So as you suggested, so I made some adjustments to the settings including a longer delay and lower quality image. After all, I’m not counting individual tiny tines and studying every detail of some particular buck. I found the “low” resolution images work just fine. At any rate, I will let others with much more experience than me chime in here. Especially when it comes to cameras over feeders. Good luck! | |||
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This would preclude any hunting in proximity to the camera. For example, if you see a 150 class buck on the "live action camera" on Monday and decide to hunt near that camera's location the next weekend, then you would have used the camera in "locating wildlife for the purpose of the taking or aiding in the take of wildlife". | |||
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We use the Bushnell cameras on 9 hog traps scattered out over 25,000 acres. We pay a subscription fee of $9.99 per month for each - but it saves way more than that in gasoline and labor to check them! You can check on the computer or through an app on your smartphone. The time delay can be set to reduce the amount of pictures you get. You kind of have to adjust the time delay based on the amount of activity you have. Unfortunately we get a bunch of hits each night due to raccoons, so when I get up in the morning, I figure If I have less than 70 pictures, probably no hogs. Pretty good quality pictures. It will send you an email if your batteries are low, or if the camera hasn't checked in when it is supposed to. We use rechargeable batteries - which saves money - but when they run out, they run out without much warning. Unfortunately, you have to put them where you have a good cell phone signal - which is frustrating when you have an area you KNOW has activity but you can't get coverage - and in our case, moving a trap 100 yards to get a good signal sometimes means not catching as many hogs as it would have. I'm not shilling for Bushnell - but haven't had any complaints during the past 3 years of continuous use. | |||
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I have about 15 regular Bushnell trail cams and love them. I didn’t use Bushnell on the cell based cams because they use AT&T service as I under stand it. AT&T service in that area is horrible. | |||
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Aloha Larry, I use spartan go cams they are compatible with either AT&T or Verizon. I use them for my remote hog trapping and they work fine. I have no experience with Snyper cam so cant speak on them sorry. Like you stated battery use is an issue with these cameras due to several factors. Amount of pics taken, resolution, cell service quality all contribute to battery drain. You can set the on-off feature as well to help with amount of pics etc. I set mine to start at 6 pm and stop at 8 am so im not taking pics all day. Solar panels can also be used to help alleviate the power supply issue as well. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Aloha! Hunting its not a Hobby its My Way of Life!!! | |||
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We have evolved to Busnell regular trail cams on our farm and love them. My son bought 2 of the cell phone Busnells and put them in service in February of this year. Loaded them up with lithiums, which we buy 60 at a time on Amazon. They have been flawless so far. We are building hog excluder pens around all 9 of our feeders. Then the JagerPro goes up and the hog extermination begins full speed. We carry thermal vision and suppressor equipped ARs to our stands, stay an extra 30-45 minutes after dark and whack pigs on a regular basis. My neighbor baits his traps with crawfish heads and the hogs go nuts over them-he caught 42 in a week that way. BTW, my son says the cams are compatible with Verizon and ATT. BUTCH C'est Tout Bon (It is all good) | |||
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Of all the regular trail cams I have tried, I like Bushnell the best. I have a bunch of them. Love them. To a lesser extent, I have Primos and Browning as well. I far prefer the Bushnell. I have a Bushnell cell type camera. They give the impression that it is AT&T compatible. AT&T service is absolutely horrendous in this particular area. This is the sole reason that I have not used it. Perhaps I will give it a try. What I find on cell phones is that an AT&T phone will drain the battery extremely fast in this area. | |||
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Let me add some additional comments. This has been a learning experience. The lithium batteries make a difference but not enough of a difference. I have a couple down right now. I am going to have to go with the rechargeable AA and the larger 6 volt batteries. If I don’t, I can not reasonably expect to get more than a week and a half out of my batteries in the most active locations. I spent $600 at Batteries Plus on my way home to cure this situation. | |||
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Larry ....wait till you are up here and dealing with the cold temperatures. The batteries crap out quickly and you can spend a lot of coin trying to keep things functioning. Not too bad in September but you get into November and some -30 temps and the whole camera thing loses its appeal really quick. We have had so many cameras and have been using them for a number of years and they are all a bunch of junk..for the most part.....and people have all become use to the fact that we have to have them for so many types of hunting. There are times when they are useful, but to a great degree they another item that we have been trained to use. Next will be the drones. Already a problem in many places. But oh boy, we need them don't we. Hunting.....yes hunting. Hi tech is helping to finish us off boys and girls. ______________________________________________ The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who are bereft of that gift. | |||
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BTW, my son is on Verizon and the cams work well. He takes care of all the cams. I’m on ATT which has better coverage on my farm than Verizon but he hasn’t had any problems getting pics from the woods. BUTCH C'est Tout Bon (It is all good) | |||
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Drones already banned in AZ. They are now in the process of doing the same with live-feed cameras and also using ANY camera within 1/4 mile of a man-made water source, i.e. stock tanks, drinkers, etc. The game commission considered the rule this week but tabled it and will look at it again at the June meeting. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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