Digital Scouting Camera

Today's digital scouting camera technology has made it increasingly easier to view the deer on our property. The first generation of 35mm scouting cameras were a big step in remote scouting and have served us well for the last several years, but the capabilities of the new models have jumped them far ahead of their 35mm forefathers. These cameras are also called trail cameras and game cameras.

When digital scouting cameras first came out a few years ago they were both expensive and only took black and white pictures. I decided then that I would wait a couple of years and let the technology that was already out there in the digital camera market catch on with digital scouting cameras. I believe that this has now occurred.

My quest for a digital scouting camera started by looking for the best camera that I could find for the best price. I read the advertisements, browsed forums, looked at the camera displays at Cabela’s and even looked into making my own. The forums were my best source for getting the pros and cons of the respective digital scouting cameras but most of the people posting had only used one or two cameras.

In my quest for the best digital scouting camera available I learned a couple of things. The first problem that digital scouting cameras have is their appetite for batteries. I read that some cameras would only get a week or so out of a set of batteries and some needed as many as eight batteries to operate.

The other issue with digital trail cameras is the time that it takes for the camera to power up and take a picture once it detects movement. A slow power up time means that the camera will take the picture after the animal has already passed by.

Eventually I bought an EagleEye digital trail camera and was quite pleased with it and have purchased several other digital scouting cameras since.

One of the things that I noticed was how nice it was to experiment with the camera. With the digital camera you can take all kinds of test pictures and simply delete them. With the 35mm cameras you are just wasting expensive film.

You can currently buy 35mm scouting cameras that will do a good job of monitoring your deer herd, but there are significant advantages to purchasing a digital scouting camera. It costs about $10.00 per roll, including processing, for 24 pictures from my 35mm camera. Now, just set down and calculate how much it costs you each year depending on how many rolls of film you use. For example, if you use a roll of film every other week it would cost you $260.00.

As of March 17, 2006 I have taken well over 10,000 pictures, which would have added up to thousands of dollars with my 35mm camera in film and processing costs.

With a digital game camera, once you purchase the camera you will never have to pay to view your pictures. This does not mean that you cannot have pictures made or print them yourself; it means that you can print only the pictures that you want. You will never pay for the picture of the stick swaying in the breeze or 12 pictures of crows (not that there is anything wrong with crows). If you use your scouting camera much, a digital will soon become cheaper than a 35mm camera, and I guarantee if you purchase one, you will use it a lot. I do not take mine out of the woods; it doesn’t cost anything to keep it out.

It is my opinion, after using both types of scouting cameras, that digital is the way to go.

I am currently testing different digital scouting cameras and I've put together a review that can help you make an informed decision on purchasing a camera. You can go to the digital trail camera reviews here.


Leave the Digital Scouting Camera Page and take a look at some whitetail deer photographs taken with our digital trail cameras.