Edwards/Real Counties Hunting Thread

[Patton]

Same here Ford- real nice rain came through onSaturday and we got just under1/2”. Much needed as well. And same with the acorns- some trees have piles of acorns around them and others are still holding them in their branches.

[Fordnandez]

We got a bunch on the ground and a bunch still in the trees. Like I said before I know they are good for the deer but I wish they would drop another time of year.

What are you guys running for game cams? I am about fed up with the darn things. We have spent $125+ on brownings, cuddybacks, bushnell and a few other brands that I cant quite recall at the time and they all seem to work good for about 18 months before they either 1. start eating through batteries like crazy with very little pictures 2. Take a picture every minute when nothing is in front of it (yes I made sure it wasnt in one of the settings that told it to do that and yes it is on a stable mount and yet it is not picking up grass/tree limbs) or 3. Only works 50% of the time.

I have come to the point where I am just picking up the cheapest ones I can find on sale because I have the same amount of problems with the $20 ones that I have with the $120 ones. I know WGI gets a bunch of flack (rightfully so) but one of my lease members bought 4 of them 4 years ago on sale at Wally World for $15 and 3 out of the 4 are still working every time and the batteries last the longest.

Nothing is more frustrating to me than being excited to get to the lease for the first time in a month or so to see if we have any new deer show up or to check progress of horn development only to get kicked in the coin purse when we realize only half of our cams are working.

So what cams have you had long term success with or do I just need to accept the fact that these things only last 18 months in our climate/environment.

[chicken fried]

I buy the cheapest and use them until they die. I don’t feel so bad because I didn’t pay as much. Last year I bought 2 Tascos from Walmart for $30 a piece, still going strong.

[rosco11]

We got a bunch on the ground and a bunch still in the trees. Like I said before I know they are good for the deer but I wish they would drop another time of year.



What are you guys running for game cams? I am about fed up with the darn things. We have spent $125+ on brownings, cuddybacks, bushnell and a few other brands that I cant quite recall at the time and they all seem to work good for about 18 months before they either 1. start eating through batteries like crazy with very little pictures 2. Take a picture every minute when nothing is in front of it (yes I made sure it wasnt in one of the settings that told it to do that and yes it is on a stable mount and yet it is not picking up grass/tree limbs) or 3. Only works 50% of the time.



I have come to the point where I am just picking up the cheapest ones I can find on sale because I have the same amount of problems with the $20 ones that I have with the $120 ones. I know WGI gets a bunch of flack (rightfully so) but one of my lease members bought 4 of them 4 years ago on sale at Wally World for $15 and 3 out of the 4 are still working every time and the batteries last the longest.



Nothing is more frustrating to me than being excited to get to the lease for the first time in a month or so to see if we have any new deer show up or to check progress of horn development only to get kicked in the coin purse when we realize only half of our cams are working.



So what cams have you had long term success with or do I just need to accept the fact that these things only last 18 months in our climate/environment.

I got the bushnell trophy cam hd 20mp.. it has been great so far, it replaced another bushnell i had for 2 years before corn or something broke the lens.. it's probably too close to the feeder and my spinner fires it out there pretty good

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[Txhuntr2]

I think the element hurt all of them equally. I seem to get 2-3 years out of mine tops. I prefer browning .

[ballgame]

Went to the ranch this weekend to check cameras and do some trimming along the road. Weather was great, really has the animals moving.

Saw several nice hill country bucks at the feeders despite a lot of acorns being in the ground.

Oh, we have a few aoudad. Going back next weekend end to see if we can thin them out a little. I have video of those suckers charging deer, and running them off.



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Definitely thin the aoudad herd the best you can.

I would also suggest that you anchor your feeder legs. They will begin ramming the legs and eventually top the feeder. I couldn't tell how thick your legs are but if the are less than 2" box you will have a problem. Just my experience.

[Fordnandez]

Well crud........ I didnt even think about the corn hitting the camera. I have one Browning that the motion lense cover was all cracked up and it was taking 100k pictures a day. I thought it was due to the sun and heat but I guess there is the possibility that corn beat it up.......... I might owe the good folks at Browning an apology.

[Fordnandez]

I think the element hurt all of them equally. I seem to get 2-3 years out of mine tops. I prefer browning .

I do like the Browning interface, picture quality, options and ease of use. However I get two years out of the ones that cost two times less and IMO there is not enough added value with the Browning's over the cheapo's if they are going to last the same amount of time. Also one issue that I have ran into with the Browning's is them eating through batteries. One of mine goes through 6 batteries in 3 weeks regardless of how many pictures it takes.

[TwoHighways]

Corn, or more likely, birds. You can order replacement fresnel lenses from browning, but they are priced ridiculously high along with the shipping.

[Patton]

I like the Browning Strike Forces, they take the best pics IMO for the money. I get 3 yrs or so out of them until I've never used a sun shade but I would image that would improve the lifespan pretty well. My biggest complaint is that there isn't a picture delay between 1 and 5 minutes. 2 minutes would be perfect.

[Fordnandez]

Corn, or more likely, birds. You can order replacement fresnel lenses from browning, but they are priced ridiculously high along with the shipping.

I did not know you could replace the lenses, thank you for the info. I will start there but I still have the issue with two of them going through 6 batteries in 3 weeks.

[Patton]

What kind of batteries are you running and how many pics are you getting? I run alkaline duracells and can get several months out of them, even in the heat and 500-700 pics a week.

[Fordnandez]

I have tried several different kinds good ones lithium engergizers, cheap amazon ones, cheap polariod, regular energizers, Ryovac, ect.... I have not tried Duracel but I guess at this point another 5 bucks to try it is a drop in the bucket. It is almost like the battery life is a function of time, I am guessing I have some sort of electrical issue that just sucks battery. I have had it take 1k pictures and sometimes it will take 200 but the pictures stop at 3 weeks.

I saw those replacement lens are 9 bucks from Browning, I might give those a try but I am not sure how not having the lens there over the IR light would make the battery drain and/or take a picture every minute regardless of if there is anything out there.

As I mentioned before I love the Browning's ability/functions but they are just not dependable anymore and that is very frustrating considering I paid $150 each less than 2 years ago.

[rosco11]

What kind of batteries are you running and how many pics are you getting? I run alkaline duracells and can get several months out of them, even in the heat and 500-700 pics a week.

I just started using the harbor freight AAs this summer, i got to go to the ranch for the 1st time in 2months this weekend. i had 11,500 pics and the batteries are still at full bars. Im on a 45 sec delay, no video. im very impressed so far, i'l see how they hold up

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[Birddog40]

Edwards/Real Counties Hunting Thread



Hit list buck from my lease west of Rocksprings

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