Homemade Digital Trail Cameras & More

Outdoorsmen and women, have you ever wondered what's living on your "Back 40"?  You know it best,  it usually occurs as dusk is settling in and your ready to depart the stand when you hear a twig snap, ice braking, perhaps a snort on your way out or maybe it's the clashing of antlers off in the distance.  Wouldn't it be nice to have an idea of what's really out there. You tell yourself I need to get myself a trail camera.  The next time you visit your sporting goods store your overwhelmed by the variety of cameras priced from what  $50 - $400plus.  Your not sure what to get because one buddy had great success with one model and another buddy  has the same model and it has seen more action in the repair shop then the woods.  Unfortunately our family didn't have much success with commercial cameras.  My father asked if I could make my own digital trail camera and that's when the fun began.

Now you may ask what's better a commercial or homemade "Homebrew" trail camera?  Well that's really up to the user and their expectations, for example,  do you just want a rough idea of what out there or do you want to really know what's out there.  As I said above some people had good success with commercial units and other not.  My personal opinion is to build your own trail camera because you will have pictures that your buddies will drool over and the pride, excitement and accomplishment of knowing you built it yourself.  What about a warranty well you will have cyber friends available 24/7/365 to help you out no charge.

Now the cost, a homebrew trail camera will cost just under $100 to $300 or more depending on what you want.  You will spend less if you purchase your camera from eBay or a local pawn shop and build a "bare bones" camera and you will pay more if you get the camera from a retailer and/or decide to add a few accessories.  Once you start hacking the camera for trail cam use the manufacture warranty is voided.  There are risk to this hobby, however, there are also many rewards.

Now some homework, here are some great forums that are dedicated to building Homebrew trail cameras  Hags House and Real Deal Hunting Chat get yourself signed up now, you will learn a lot there by searching the archives and asking questions..   Chasing Game is also good place to view independent reviews of Commercial trail cameras.  View the Camera Mods link on the left of this page to get an Idea what you will be jumping into.  I have a couple Homebrew cameras that I will build in the near future and I plan on documenting the build step by step as my goal is to give a good/clear example of what the whole process entails.  Perhaps it will be found useful.

I created this website to share pictures and information with friends and family.  A majority of this website is related to wildlife photography filmed by using home-made aka homebrew Trail Cameras.  I use ordinary point and shoot cameras, then I modify the camera enabling the camera to be control with a sensor.  When the sensor board detects motion/heat it triggers the camera to snap a picture.  I will continue to update the site with pictures and other information I learn as I go.   Enjoy the site and pass on the information to friends and family.

If you come across any broken links or if you have any questions or comments please email me.

Good Luck,

Travis

P.S. If your wondering what to do during these cold winter months consider visiting www.uppredatorchallenge.org 

During the Summer and Fall months consider www.deertrackbowhunters.com