Are Cellular Trail Cameras Worth It

With initial investments and ongoing costs to consider, are cellular trail cameras worth it? To put it simply, yes. These trail cameras are worth it for anyone who regularly relies on them for hunting, wildlife watching and photography or home security.

For a long time, using a trail camera involved weekly or monthly treks to it to retrieve your SD card that — with any luck — was filled with clear thumbnails. As technology advanced, it became obvious that this method left plenty of room for improvement. Nevermind the time and fuel needed to check on one or more trail cameras at a time, but there is nothing worse than realizing your storage is full, the SD card wasn't working or the images are too blurry to decipher.

Today, the story is different. With technological advancements, trail cameras have evolved and become more reliable, adaptable and convenient. Hunters and outdoor enthusiasts have several new options available to them, including cellular trail cameras.

Learn more about the benefits of cellular trail cameras, including why they are a worthwhile investment and what sets them apart from similar devices.

Though both wireless and cellular trail cameras eliminate the need for regular trips to and from the camera, they are not the same. While wireless cameras rely on a steady Wi-Fi signal to transmit images to you, cellular cameras use 3G and 4G cellular networks and data plans.

When debating wireless vs. cellular trail cameras, you should know that cellular units have:

• A more reliable signal: Cellular cameras work through a data plan, which lets you receive clearer images through a mobile app on your cellphone or by logging into your account via a computer, no matter where you are. This stronger signal means more reliability when you're counting on it.
• Less wasted battery: Cellular networks are more stable than Wi-Fi, which means your camera will not waste as much battery life trying to reconnect to a weak or fluctuating signal.
• More placement options: With a cellular trail camera and data plan, you can get high-quality pictures from hard-to-reach places, allowing an inside look at new wildlife. Cellular 3G and 4G networks can typically access areas that Wi-Fi signals cannot, like dense forests, remote locations and even some mountainous regions.

Whether you're considering a cellular trail camera to monitor your favorite hunting spot, improve wildlife management or monitor your home, cellular game camera benefits are clear. These devices help you save money and time, keep you informed and are minimally disruptive to their surroundings.

When you choose a cellular game camera, you have to consider the cost of the initial purchase and the ongoing data plan — but don't let that stand in your way. When you break down the advantages, the investment can easily pay for itself before the end of the season.

Let's say you have a trail camera installed about 100 miles away from home in a forest teeming with white-tailed deer, turkey and other game. Assuming each round trip costs you about $20 in fuel with gas at $2.50 per gallon — and you need to make the trip every time you want to check or retrieve your SD card — that cost quickly adds up.

In this instance, you could be spending $250 or more a year. That's not counting the cost of checking multiple cameras in different locations or the amount of mileage and wear you put on your vehicle.

By investing in a cellular trail camera with a data plan, you'll spend far less money and won't have to take a trip to your camera unless you want to. With Moultrie Mobile, for example, you can enroll in a data plan that includes unlimited monthly photos, free cloud storage and high resolution images for a low monthly cost.

Many people utilize several trail cameras at once, especially on large pieces of property. If you have multiple cameras scattered across hundreds of acres, checking SD cards can take considerable time — something many of us just don't have a lot of. Many cellular trail cameras and data plans allow you to link multiple devices to a single account. You can easily access and view images from all your trail cameras, no matter where they are, from the comfort and convenience of your cellphone.

Many cellular data plans, including Moultrie Mobile, include cloud storage, which saves you the extra step of uploading and organizing the images on a computer.

One of the most significant cellular game camera advantages is the ability to automatically view or securely store your images as they are captured. Remember the abundant forest from the example above? Imagine making the journey to check your trail cam, anxious to see what photos it's taken, only to find the SD card ran out of storage space or was somehow corrupted.

Cellular trail cameras use cloud-based storage and automatic alerts to relay thumbnails, meaning you never again have to worry about losing all your valuable images — especially when using a cellular trail camera with an unlimited data plan.

Additional features, such as advanced image recognition from Moultrie Mobile, can also make these images more valuable by tagging and filtering them based on each photo's subject. For example, you can select to only see buck photos or turkey photos, while skipping the raccoon photos.

No matter what kind of precautions you take, it's nearly impossible to check a traditional trail camera without disturbing your surroundings in the process. Whether that means rustling and breaking branches or leaving your scent behind, the smallest changes can alert a wary buck, pushing him out of your area. One valuable cellular game camera benefit is that these devices allow you the freedom and flexibility to monitor snapshots from your feeder and view the animals in their natural state from a safe distance away.

This provides you with a more accurate portrayal of animal interaction. This information is especially useful for wildlife management or people monitoring nearby food plots.

At Moultrie, we are dedicated to providing hunters, wildlife photographers and outdoor enthusiasts with a successful experience through reliable cellular trail cameras that conveniently integrate with a mobile app on your cellphone. All of our cameras consist of durable, outdoor-safe materials with features like invisible flash, lightning-fast trigger speeds, an extensive viewing range and long-lasting battery life.

When you pair your trail camera with Moultrie Mobile, you get even more value for your investment. Our flexible cellular data plans work through AT&T and Verizon, and you can use a different network from your cellphone's service provider. Learn more about Moultrie Mobile cellular plans and shop our selection of cellular trail cameras today!