jamie,, I had the same trouble out of two of the Stealthcams I tried, it took four tries to get one to work, and it only worked for 6 months, so I took it back and got my money back. Wally world has a Moultrie digital now for 100 bucks and some people say they are ok for the price, they do have a decent trigger time, better then the Leaf River, but the pics dont look to be the best, but for generel scouting, and being on a budget, Id say it would be ok. Dont know of the battery life though, let us know how it works.