Browning Trail Cameras

[338BearHunter]

After a few experiments with cheap Primos trail cameras (big, D cell models), I've settled in on Browning, almost exclusively the Dark Ops variants as my not-so-dark ops versions do seem to spook game.

This was going great until Browning "improved" them with HD, dual cameras, etc. My older cameras have held up great, except when an animal gets to them (or I leave the door open), but these new ones are all crapping out early in some rather novel ways. One has awful noises on the video, another had its clock lose its mind, so now I can only tell the order of pictures, not the actual time/date.

Is anybody else seeing this? Its like the quality control on these Brownings has gone to hell. When they work, they work great, but I don't think I've bought one in the past two years that isn't already seriously defective. In contrast, I have four older models, some 5-6 years old that still work perfectly.

 

[Shangobango]

I have 2 that I bought last year that are still doing fine.

Your post is not giving me much hope for their longevity.

 

[Kaitum]

I have two Browning Strike Force Apex cameras. First time I put them out overnight I set them to record 20 second video clips on a deer carcass. Next morning I had lots of 2-3 second video clips of fox and coyote. Not a single 20 second clip though. Browning customer support told me to check batteries and make sure they were all the same brand (preferably their brand). Turns out I did have a mix of Duracell and Energizer. I switched out batteries to all the same brand and that seemed to have fixed the video clip issue. I ran mixed battery brands in all my other cameras with no issues.

 

[338BearHunter]

My problems are definitely not battery related. The one achilles heel about the Browning cameras, old and new, is the battery compartment. They tend to fail, so if you have a Browning camera that fails, keep the old battery case for possible swapping out.

I want to stick with Browning because I still like their cameras, and commonality has its benefits. I tried some other brands and so far have found nothing I like nearly as well.

 

[Sask hunter]

I have a few with no issues. Last one I got was cabelas it’s a real nice camera. Also got a Tactacam cell camera the other day

 

[Alabama]

I've used Browning cameras for close to 10 years. I was getting 5-7 years out of the old ones, but I've had the same issues as you with the ones I've bought the last 3 years. I had 1 go crazy with the time/date stamp. I have a black ops from 3 years ago that says "no card" even when one is inserted. I have 2 from last year that will say "card error", then "no card" when you swap them out with a different card. They take pictures sometimes then might go a couple days without a single pic or video. The latest ones are junk. I will be switching brands when I buy my next ones. I've not had any issues with the battery trays, it's always been the card readers that quit on me. I've used Sandisk and Browing SD cards. I still have the same issues regardless which card I use.

 

[338BearHunter]

I totally forgot about the card problems, which also plague me but unlike the other problems seem to be intermittent. I've often had to cycle the cards in the field. That usually solves the problem. The cards only seem to "fail" on an insertion. Once a card is in, it never seems to crap out until removed and reinserted.

So which brands are you considering? I have a Moultrie whose audio went to crap almost immediately, but doesn't have the good sense to simply die, so I have to keep using it. I tried a Covert, which I cannot complain because it didn't break, but I found it to be clumsy to use.

 

[Finnman]

I totally forgot about the card problems, which also plague me but unlike the other problems seem to be intermittent. I've often had to cycle the cards in the field. That usually solves the problem. The cards only seem to "fail" on an insertion. Once a card is in, it never seems to crap out until removed and reinserted.

So which brands are you considering? I have a Moultrie whose audio went to crap almost immediately, but doesn't have the good sense to simply die, so I have to keep using it. I tried a Covert, which I cannot complain because it didn't break, but I found it to be clumsy to use.

Maybe try Tactacam X or XB.

 

[338BearHunter]

I'll look at them, thanks.

Do you keep your videos or just look and delete? One of the things I didn't like about the Covert was the crappy video format, which does not lend itself to compression for storage.

 

[Alabama]

I totally forgot about the card problems, which also plague me but unlike the other problems seem to be intermittent. I've often had to cycle the cards in the field. That usually solves the problem. The cards only seem to "fail" on an insertion. Once a card is in, it never seems to crap out until removed and reinserted.

So which brands are you considering? I have a Moultrie whose audio went to crap almost immediately, but doesn't have the good sense to simply die, so I have to keep using it. I tried a Covert, which I cannot complain because it didn't break, but I found it to be clumsy to use.

My cams will work flawless for a few days then they will do nothing. I know it has to be the card reader because when I open it, it will say card error. If I leave them out long enough they will start working again.

I'm considering the Bushnell DS 4K no glow, but fortunately I have enough of the 2016 Brownings (strike force elite I think) that are still going strong. The pic quality is not quite as good as the new ones, but they work every time. I might wait until I'm down to 2-3 cams before I buy again.

 

[338BearHunter]

My cams will work flawless for a few days then they will do nothing. I know it has to be the card reader because when I open it, it will say card error. If I leave them out long enough they will start working again.

I'm considering the Bushnell DS 4K no glow, but fortunately I have enough of the 2016 Brownings (strike force elite I think) that are still going strong. The pic quality is not quite as good as the new ones, but they work every time. I might wait until I'm down to 2-3 cams before I buy again.

Thanks. I'll give the Bushnell a look, since it's a "no glow".

 

[cheeser]

I totally forgot about the card problems, which also plague me but unlike the other problems seem to be intermittent. I've often had to cycle the cards in the field. That usually solves the problem. The cards only seem to "fail" on an insertion. Once a card is in, it never seems to crap out until removed and reinserted.

So which brands are you considering? I have a Moultrie whose audio went to crap almost immediately, but doesn't have the good sense to simply die, so I have to keep using it. I tried a Covert, which I cannot complain because it didn't break, but I found it to be clumsy to use.

i have about 15 cameras of which 5 are browning dark-ops and the are wild game innovations. i cured my sd cards issues by doing the following: format all cards after viewing photos before putting them back into cameras, also i use the same sd cards in the cameras if i can. example: i use sandisk in brownings and verbatims in wild game innovation. i have no had a corrupted disk in 2 yrs now.

 

[cheeser]

i agree with the 338bearhunter that from what i have seen/heard the browning of today have degraded some. this site is the best there is for trail camera evaluations. all aspects are looked at. read the evaluations you won't be disappointed, https://www.trailcampro.com/collections/wildlife-trail-cameras i still use this site to let them do your homework. there is so much info on this site about cameras and how they work, it's make choices so easy.

 

[Mallardsx2]

We are slowly transitioning to only having Browning trail cameras. In my opinion they are the best hands-down trail cameras that you can buy for the money. We probably have 20 of them.