Homemade Deer Cameras

[VerotiK]

Has anyone taken on the task of making thier own homemade deer camera? My first deer camera was a Stealthcam 35mm. I had it for about 2 months and it sucked. I then bought a Moultrie Digital Game Spy, and while it was great at getting lots of pictures, the night pictures were horrible and had lines through them, so i decided to bite the bullet and make my own the way i wanted it. There are alot of resources for those who wish to make thier own. I found it very gratifying to put together my own, piece by piece. And in the end, it was cheaper than most of the high end digital cameras and takes great pictures. My setup is the following:

Sony DSC-P41 4.1 megapixel digital camera
Pixcontroller Universal control board
Pelican 1060 Case
Poor-mans realtree camo

My setup runs 2 AA rechargeable batteries, while the control board runs on 4 AA alkaline batteries. I have two 256mb Sony memory sticks so it only takes one trip into the woods to replace the memory stick. I set the camera to run at 400 ISO, Highest flash setting, and infinite focus. I dont miss anything with the camera, it has great sensitivity. I have pictures of everything including dogs, coons, squirrels, turkey, bear, deer and even skunks. If anyone is interested in building thier own, i'd be glad to help with anything i can, because there is nothing quite like the feeling of seeing whats there when you aren't. Here are some pictures of my setup too.

Here it is hanging on the tree:

http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p41deercam9oe.jpg


Here it is from 20 yards away:

http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=camontree0po.jpg

[VerotiK]

Here are some of the better pictures my cam has taken:

9 Does in a single picture:
http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=9deer3ne.jpg

2 does on the first snow of the year 2004
http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snowdoes0ga.jpg

A whole mess of turkeys:
http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=turk20kl.jpg

Bear:
http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bruno017fe.jpg

[SSG Johnson]

Nice pics brother what did it cost you to build that camera and how long does it take to put together.

[VerotiK]

Lets see....

The camera i got on ebay for $150. The case i got on ebay for $20. The control boardkit i got from www.pixcontroller.com for $56.00. So, for all the parts to put it together, it cost around $230. I'd say after i bought misc supplies like glue and solder, it was around $240 tops.

As far as putting it together, it took me about 4 hours. Now that i know how to do it, im pretty confident that i could get one together in less than 2 hours if everything was all laid out and ready. The hardest part is taking apart the camera and wiring in a control cable. After thats done, its just a matter of drilling some holes and lining the holes for the sensor with a plum bob. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest, i'd say for the average person it would be a 7. I've done 2 so far, and its alot easier the 2nd time around. If you do decide to do it, dont let the wiring scare you. The part inside the camera is actually the easiest part. Soldering the thin wires together on the outside for the plug is the hardest part, but its still not very hard.

The way the camera setup works is like this:

1. Motion detector on motion board detects heat & motion and triggers the PIR (passive infared sensor).
2. Camera control board sends signal to camera. By wiring into the camera, you basicly 3 wires. Power On/Off, Ground, and Shutter. On the sony, the camera control board makes a connection between the ground and the power on/off to power up the camera. The advantage of the Sony P41 is the startup time. The camera can be powered up and ready to take a picture in about 3/4 of a second, which is blazing fast compared to most digital cams.

3. Camera sends signal to take picture, but creating a connection between the ground and the shutter connection.

4. Camera powers off. Control board has built in dip switches to control delay between pictures, anywhere from 10 seconds to around an hour.

The beauty of it all is the camera will power up, take a picture, and power down in around 3 seconds, meaning you will almost always get what triggered the sensor in the picture, and since its only on for a few seconds, the battery life is awesome.

My cam will run on 2 AA nicad's for several days to weeks, depending on how much action is taking place. If im only getting 5 pictures a day, it would probably last 2 weeks. During the late winter when alot of deer are moving by my feeder, like last year, i got over 150 pictures a day.

If cost is the only thing holding you back from switching from a 35mm film camera to a digital, consider this: A 24 exposure roll of 400 film is gonna cost you are $2.00 for decent stuff. Batteries for that camera are gonna cost you $1.00 for each roll of film appx. Developing 1hr photo, which was a must for me because im impatient, was around $7.00. You are paying around $10 for each roll of film. It doesnt take long for that to add up. And if you've ever had a film game cam, you know that some, if not half, of the pictures are false triggers or missed shots. I'd say out of every 100 pictures on my homebrew setup, i have maybe 5 that have nothing in the picture.

[roofermike]

Could a less expensive camera be utilized?

This is some great stuff thanks for sharing and those are some nice pictures!!!

[SSG Johnson]

Thats really inexpensive mike compared to the digital game camera's out there. I should be building one in the next month or two Ill keep in touch to make sure i do it right.

[VerotiK]

Yes, there are a few less expensive options. You can use an Olympus D-360, which you can pick up for about $50 cheaper. There are drawbacks to it though, you can one have up to 128mb of memory, they eat batteries like crazy, and there is around 4 seconds of delay before the cam takes a picture, from motion detection to shutter.

What i like most about using the Sony P-41, and most other homebrew cam makes that have built one will agree, is that you get as good, if not better pictures than the commercial built camera's will give you. You can also use a Sony P-32 cam, it is a little cheaper and its still fast, but is only 3.2 megapixels.

[coalminer78]

It kind of funny, my dad made a homemade trail cam two years before you could buy them (wish he would of got a patent). Thanks I use film I will Surf ebay and build one like yours. Happy hunting to all.

[FishMan]

I enjoyed the pictures, good job on the camera

[Big Country01]

nice pics,but where are the bucks??

[blackwaterkatz]

Great job, VerotiK! Good pictures and information.

[jbird711]

great job on the camera thanks for sharing

[VerotiK]

Sorry, here is a buck, best one i have seen. The big ones usually dont come to my feeder.

http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=6pointdoesfawn8gr.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4498/6point8fx.jpg

[Big Country01]

o.k thanx i feel better..lol... that's not a bad looking young buck, are you gonna take this year or let him mature a year more or so?? :thumbsup:

[VerotiK]

I probably wont kill him this year. I've got a doe tag, so i should be able to get plenty of meat. The neighbors might kill him though...

[Big Country01]

yeah that would suck to feed him all yeah and practice quality management just for your neighbors take glory....and the meat....

[VerotiK]

Well, they aren't my deer or his deer really. He feeds them and puts out minerals too. This is his 13 year old sons first year. It wouldn't bother me if he killed it for his first year.

[mudcat_xpress]

Thanks for sharing that with us. That is a great camera...and nearly impossible on the tree.

[VerotiK]

I ordered my stuff for my second cam this week. It will be a little more extensive, and i'll try to make a tutorial out of it and post it on here so you guys can get a general idea of how to do one yourself. Its very rewarding.

[SSG Johnson]

Hey brother what do you think of the Moltrie digitals they have at Wallyworld. My buddie got one and it was only 100.00 I have seen pics from it and they are awsome. Just wondering what your thoughts where on this camera. Im torn between making one or buying that one.

[VerotiK]

I bought one of the last ones they had and it sucked. It was great for taking lots of pictures, but the flash was aweful and all the night pictures had really bad lines in them. I have seen pictures from this latest one they have, i think its called "Moultrie Digital 100" and they look pretty good so far. They are a decent camera, but be warned, thier customer service is really, really bad. I had the problem with my last one, and i called them, and they beat around the bush and told me mine was one of only 2 that had the lines in the night pictures. They said they were working on it, and they would call me in 2 weeks when they got word back from thier CMOS manufacturer. That was 10 months ago, and they still haven't called me back. Every cam i have seen in that model has the same problem too. They figured it would be cheaper to produce a different cam and sell it at half the price rather than fix the problem they had. Thats really my main reason for disliking them. The cam i am about to build has the following specs:

Sony 4.1 Megapixel with choice of 640x480, 1mp, 2mp, 3mp, 3.1mp, or 4mp.
Snapshot Sniper control board with onboard LCD screen for programming.
Pixcontroller Slave Flash programmable controller
Vivitar 2000 slave flash.

It should be a pretty nice setup when im done. Total cost with camera should be in the neighborhood of $300. I know that sounds like alot, but it is all top of the line stuff. Also, the good thing about building your own, is you can remove the camera and use it for other things when you dont have it in the field.

[SSG Johnson]

Thanks brother you just made up my mind for me. Im glad your around to answere the questions on these. Im sure ill have more questions for you.

[quadman]

great post on the cam for sure. Yours takes pretty good pics. I'll try to get some of my cuddeback pics on here. I have several game cameras and have to agree with you on the moultrie, you get what you pay for! So far the cuddeback is the best one I have used but there are a couple I want to give a whirl before I buy another.

[bull_head]

great scouting pics verotik it got my hunting juices going ...

i dont have a motion camera but i do have a very good digital camera
... in the next few weeks I will post some pics from one of my stands
of the deer that come by as i scout for Pa rifle season ... I hear by way
of the Grape vine thats theres some real brutes hanging out where I
have my stand placed ...


so stay tuned ....

[SSG Johnson]

Go get em bull cant wait to see the pics.

[VerotiK]

In my book, taking pics from a stand is way better than regular trail-cam pics. You might not see everything since you cant sit in the stand 24/7, but its more fun to get the deer on film yourself. Last year i video taped a doe and a real promising looking buck. Its not that good of quality because the camcorder kept trying to focus in on leaves and branches, but for a split second you can see the spread on his rack. He was a 4pt last year. I never got him on my camera at all, and i haven't seen him since, but i know he's around. Here is the link:

Streaming:
http://www.zippyvideos.com/6722990861364656/buck04/

Direct link to video:
http://www.huntingfootage.com/data/507/1523buck04.wmv

[SSG Johnson]

Excellent I wish I could see him better but there at the end it looks like he's got a nice spead on him. Good choice on letting him walk I bet he's much better this year. Boy I wonder if you will pass on him this year.....LOL

Thanks for the video Im taking my digital camera with me to the stand but I havent gotten a chance to film any yet as soon as I do i will put some up.

Thanks again for the video it was awsome. Looks alot like where I hunt.

[VerotiK]

That was taken last year the week before gun season started, i was in my climing stand, my only weapon being a camcorder. Another reason the video is bad is he came in behind me and i had to turn around and tape him in my climbing stand. I hope to get out here soon and do some taping. That day i got about 30 mins of video, that 30 second segment being my favorite. There is a 2nd part to it where he followed a doe out and stoped in some rela thick brush. I would have never gotten a shot on him, he was pretty smart for a young buck. He knew i was there the whole time. Like i said, the video isnt that great, i was pretty excited and i was shaking a little.

http://www.huntingfootage.com/data/507/1523buck041.wmv

[VerotiK]

I got my first part in today for my next camera im building. Im hoping all the parts will be in by the weekend so i can put it together. Heres a picture of the new board. I've never used this board before, but it looks and acts great so far. Cant wait to put it to use.