Moultrie I-40 or Bushnell Trophy Cam
 

Just a quick question for anyone who can help. I've been looking for a IR trail camera this spring and after looking through a lot of these forums I think that the I-40 or the 2009 Bushnell Trophy Camera are my choices. I was wondering what everyones opinions were. Ive seen both for around $150 New on Ebay and have read a lot of good things about both. I see people talking on here a lot about both so I'm thinking there couldn't be a better place to ask. Im not concerned with size at all, basically I just want a decent trigger spead (around 1.5 seconds if possible) and something that takes pretty good night pictures. I used a IR Stealth Camera last year and some of the night time pictures were a little blurry and some of the bucks I got pictures of I couldn't see good antler definition and also had a lot of pictures that I believe didn't trigger in time. Most of my pics on trails are about 30 feet away so Im thinking that will be my max range. Also, I don't need one with a viewer, my cameras take the same SD chip so no need for the viewer.

Another quick question, has anybody bought a refurbished cam from the manufacturer before? I saw that Moultrie has some I-40s for $119 and I think they have to be pretty decent. Not sure though.

One last one, My father is retired and lives in the suburbs of Chicago where we have a lot of deer coming to our backyard. Im looking for a hobby for him and wondering if anyone knows of any good camera with flashs for around $100 or less? Doesn't have to be anything great, just something to put by the bird/deer feeder to see the deer we have coming in. Last year we had some Monster bucks that we saw and were curious if there were any we were missing.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Here is some of the pics I got last year of some bucks I would have liked to have gotten a better look at!





This one though was pretty clear, especially after I arrowed him a week later!

While the Bushnell definately has better trigger speed, the Moultrie's picture quality is way better than the Bushnell, both day and night, IMO. I wouldn't be afraid to buy a refurb. Afterall, they offer a full warranty with those units. As far as a cam for your dad for around $100, I don't think you can beat a Stealthcam I-590. About $97.00 and the picture quality is great. So far this season my I-590 has gotten over 1500 pics. Just remember to set it over something that will make the animal linger. Hope this helps.

Blessings.....Pastorjim

I agree with PJ. about the I-40 and his stealthcam I-590 pics cant be beat for the price but I wouldnt buy a refurbished cam because they are cams that people had a problem with after they have been using it, moultrie etc. only fixes and replaces the part that is not working properly and then it is considered refurbished. (they do not touch the rest of the cam)
So when you buy a refurb it could have been used and left out in the elements for 2 weeks or it could have been used and left out in the elements for 12 months prior to the problem starting.
Even with the warrenty I would rather wait and buy a new cam when it goes on sale (they always do) then by a refurb and save a little more money. Pike

I like my I-60 Moultrie a lot...it has 6 Megapixels and takes some really nice night IR pictures and I like the Video mode also,the day-time color pictures are very nice and clear so the extra megapixels help out a lot in that area!It does have the built-in viewer but that helps a lot in deciding to pull the SD card if there are some decent pictures on it I want to see and view closer at home on the computer.My more expensive Kodak digital camera will not view the IR pictures that are on my SD cards from my trail camera's....I have to use the Daughter's cheaper Kodak camera which does though?


If your wanting a cheaper trail camera for your Father the newer Moultrie Camera's are a lot cheaper and have around 5.0 megapixels which should take some nice clear pictures!I believe they are priced at around $100.00 and $119.99 for the IR model and if You watch the sales adds you may get them a little cheaper.

I would go with the Bushnell Trophy Cam. The trigger speed is just as fast as the Cuddeback Capture is and the battery life is the best I have seen. You can get 6 months on 1 set of batteries. The day and night pictures are good as well. The video mode is my favorite part of the camera. I have heard that the moultrie cameras make noises when the shutter opens on them. Here are some pics and a video from the Bushnell trophy cam.