School me on cell cams

[ZAG]

Alright, please ignore my ignorance on this topic. I’m finally ready to convert over from 2 old bushnell cams over to cell.

I’m looking to get 6 cell cams. I understand cuddeback you can link a ton to one main cam and I believe 1 cell plan.

What if I just buy 6 bushnells, do I need a cell plan for each cam?What are the extra plan costs (I’m Verizon) 

Secondarily, what brand should I check out?

Appreciate it.

[Upstate Nerdneck]

I'm looking to switch over to cell cams, both for property security and deer watch soon, I too could use some info!  Always liked browning for sd cams.

[mowin]

Tactacam.. no issues at all with mine. Have 4 of em.

Prices vary by amount of pics per month. I get unlimited plan. $13 a month for first cam and $12 for each additional.  

Doesn't matter what provider you have, get the cams that get the best cell reception in your area.  A at&t cam will send pics to you Verizon phone. 

I've got one stealth cam fusion that works, but has issues.  I left several messages, and emails and never got a response back. There CS absolutely sucks. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by mowin

[ZAG]

2 minutes ago, mowin said:

byTactacam.. no issues at all with mine. 

Prices vary by amount of pics per month. I get unlimited plan. $13 a month for first cam and $12 for each additional.  

Doesn't matter what provider you have, get the cams that get the best cell reception in your area.  A at&t cam will send pics to you Verizon phone. 

I've got one stealth cam fusion that works, but has issues.  I left several messages, and emails and never got a response back. There CS absolutely sucks. 

Ok so for 6 unlimited cams id be $73 bucks. I assume you can fire the plan up say Aug and cancel in Dec?

[Nontypical]

I’ve been using Spartan cams for about 5 years now with no complaints. Great pics and videos. I have 8 cams, and 4 of my friends have another 16, so 24 total. Prices have come down on them over the years. About $200 now for a 4G. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy more, and I think my friends would agree with me. Service can be purchased through Spartan by the month or for longer periods. 

[mowin]

55 minutes ago, ZAG said:

Ok so for 6 unlimited cams id be $73 bucks. I assume you can fire the plan up say Aug and cancel in Dec?

Yes, I activate mine in late Aug and end late Dec. 

[ZAG]

Do they send pics to email as it’s happening or does it send them once an hr?

[mowin]

9 minutes ago, ZAG said:

Do they send pics to email as it’s happening or does it send them once an hr?

It sends via text.  Tactacam can be set up to send instant, or every 12 or 24 hrs. 

[nywaw]

I'll second Tactacam.  Been running gen 1 for a couple years now and they've been great.  Pic quality is solid for cellular.

 

[Nontypical]

One thing for sure is whatever cell cam you go with, it will open up a whole new world of information for you. Compare it to reading a 2 week old newspaper to reading the news online, as it happens. Now factor in wind and weather into the equation. It will really help in putting the pieces of the puzzle together regarding deer movement. 

[ZAG]

1 minute ago, Nontypical said:

One thing for sure is whatever cell cam you go with, it will open up a whole new world of information for you. Compare it to reading a 2 week old newspaper to reading the news online, as it happens. Now factor in wind and weather into the equation. It will really help in putting the pieces of the puzzle together regarding deer movement. 

Yeah no doubt. Way late to the party. Trying to cover almost 100 acres of timber with 2 cams I manually check is laughable really. Adding 6 to 8 will be a big time game changer.

Also ill admit sometimes hunting a stand solely based on the fact I can check a cam on the way in or out because hell i can’t go over a week without checking em.

my 2 current bushnells have been (knock on wood) fantastic. Id guess they are 6-10yrs old now. 

[Nontypical]

One of the features that I really like is the ability to share cams with others that have access to the app. I can view 16 other cams from friends. I don’t hunt these areas, but being able to see what’s happening elsewhere also helps even if it 30 miles away. I would think that other cams have an app with the same features, but I’m really not sure. 

[Gobbler Chaser]

Exactly how much reception is needed for a cell cam. My area is iffy with reception. Calls are a big maybe, no internet and texts are slow to being received? Would I be wasting my time? I do like heading out into the woods to check my cams. Not sure if I want to be hunting from my phone either, lol

[Upstate Nerdneck]

6 hours ago, mowin said:

It sends via text.  Tactacam can be set up to send instant, or every 12 or 24 hrs. 

Is that something you set on the camera, or online?  I'm assuming online.......  Be kind of silly and defeat the purpose.

[Keith Nehrke]

If you don't get decent reception on one of the two major carriers, don't waste your time. But remember that your cell cams will have a connection that is independent of your phone. So, you might be an AT&T customer, but if their service sucks in your area and Verizon's is good, you'd buy cell cams that work on the Verizon network.

I had an issue with one of my Tactacam Gen2 this year. Customer service was very responsive, but we did end up back-and-forth for a month trying different things prior to sending it back to the company for repair...and it still wasn't right. I finally had enough. I said that they either needed to replace it or tell me to go tread water. Surprise, they sent me a return number so that I can send it back for a new one. It took some doing, but they ended up standing behind their product. Overall, the cameras have decent pictures, their PIR for detecting animals isn't quite as good as stated (I've test them, and anything beyond 50 ft away is a definite maybe, 70 ft forget about it), battery life is exceptional, and while their plans generally allow for less pictures per camera, the pictures are shared, so if one camera runs out it can draft off unused pictures from the others. 

I've also run Moultrie Mobile and Spypoint. The Moultrie all have issues, though not fatal. the Vx7000 series is extremely susceptible to false triggers, the Delta images are washed out and they can simply eat batteries, I've heard good things about the new Edge but haven't tried them yet. Spypoints are great if you get lucky, but customer service may as well not exist.