The past 20 or 30 years have brought hunters a revolution in scouting. We used to drive around looking for deer and hike the woods checking for sign, and that was it. The introduction of trail cameras changed that game pretty dramatically for those who could afford them back then, and as the use of trail cams and digital photography caught on, making them accessible and affordable for the masses, we found new ways to scout. Trail cameras got better and better, offering high-resolution images, time stamps, no-flash illumination at night, and eventually even video clips.
But for all their benefits, trail cameras had one big weakness: Accessibility. Hiking into the woods every couple of weeks to pull the photos off of your trail cameras and change the batteries was a major intrusion, especially in the middle of the season. A hunter would go to great effort to stay out of his “sanctuaries” and keep human scent away from food plots and bedding areas, only to have to traipse in to see what his digital scouting tools would reveal that week.
Not too long ago, mobile technology solved that problem, too. If you haven’t shopped for new trail cameras lately, you might be shocked at what you can accomplish these days without setting foot in the woods. Companies like SPYPOINT now offer trail cameras that will send photos and video directly to your phone or computer in near real-time, virtually eliminating the need to visit the cameras. They generally use cellular networks for transmission, which you pay for separately, and every camera manufacturer has different options regarding which cell network their equipment will work with.
Just think about the possibilities. What could be more exciting than sitting at work or tucking the kids into bed at home one night and getting a surprise photo of a big buck you’ve never seen before, in your food plot, right now?
If you’re thinking of going the mobile scouting route — and you’d be crazy not to, the way prices have come down lately — you’re going to want to buy cameras from a company that uses whatever cell network works best in your hunting area, or a company that piggybacks off of multiple networks at once. And if, like many of us, you’re running a series of cameras in different areas and maybe on different properties, flexibility is the name of the game.
SPYPOINT has your solution. With a variety of cellular cameras at different price points, you can buy a camera for every situation. Some even offer solar charging, which eliminates the need to enter the woods to change a battery.
The popular LINK-MICRO-LTE will run you less than $150 and give you everything you want and nothing you don’t: half-second trigger speed, 80-foot detection and flash range, 10-megapixel resolution and more, all in a compact package. For just a few bucks more (MSRP $199), the MICRO-S-LTE gives you a slightly faster trigger and the benefit of a solar panel/lithium battery combo for unlimited battery life. No more walking into the woods to change batteries! At the other end of the price spectrum, the LINK-S, for just under $500, gives you solar power and a blazing-fast 0.07-second trigger speed with time-lapse, multi-shot and HD video modes.
A variety of models in between let you set up the system that works for your property. Just download the SPYPOINT app to configure all of them the way you want them. The free app lets you manage your account, monitor your data usage and plans, configure the transmission settings, modify the camera settings, and, of course, view and sort your images. New artificial intelligence technology even allows the app to identify different species and animals, so you can toggle the settings to view only turkeys, bucks, does/antlerless deer, bears, hogs, moose or humans, depending on what you’d like to see.
The great part? SPYPOINT’s free transmission plan offers 100 photos per month at no cost — something every manufacturer charges for — and you can purchase plans that exceed 100 photos based on your needs. You select the cellular network and photo plan that works for each individual camera. If one of your hunting spots gets a great AT&T signal and another only works with Verizon, if you buy the right models (one model for the VZN network and one model that covers virtually every other U.S. network), the cameras in each location can run on different networks — all running through the same app on your phone, regardless of who your personal cell phone carrier is. Does one food plot get hit more often than your other spots, requiring a lot more photos? Get a bigger photo plan for just that camera and use the free 100-photo plan for your cameras in less-active spots. On any plan, once you receive the allotted number of photos transmitted per month, additional photos are stored on the camera’s SD card for you to retrieve in-person at your convenience. You can even use the free plan during the off-season and step up to a monthly paid plan for more photos during your most active scouting months. If you’re a super-user running multiple cameras and you want loads of photos, you can also The customization options are virtually endless.
OK, you’re sold on mobile scouting with cellular cameras. But you’ve got a closet full of non-cellular cameras you’ve collected over the years. You spent a lot of money on them, and they still work just fine. You can’t just throw them away now that you’re going mobile, right?
SPYPOINT has an answer for that, too. The company rocked the hunting industry this year with the introduction of the CELL-LINK, a handy little device that turns any trail camera with an SD slot into a cellular camera — yes, virtually any camera from any manufacturer. Just connect it via the camera’s SD card slot and you’re in business. The connection is specially designed not to compromise the weatherproof qualities of the camera, so no worries about rain getting through where the cables connect. All of those cameras you’ve been checking religiously for the past couple of years can now be connected to the SPYPOINT app through the CELL-LINK, allowing you to view the photos without entering the woods. Or, if you’re skeptical, try the CELL-LINK on your most difficult-to-access camera spot as you experiment with the tech.
The CELL-LINK will run you less than $60 — considerably cheaper than buying a new cellular-capable camera. Pair your older-model cameras with the CELL-LINK and mix and match them with cellular-capable models as you upgrade over the next several years, allowing you to move to mobile scouting with much less upfront cost. With all of your photos in one place, organization and sorting will be easier than ever.
For today’s hunters who are looking for every possible edge over the wariest of big bucks, the ability to monitor what’s going on in the woods without having to actually be there is a tremendous advantage — not to mention a time-saver. Mobile scouting with cellular cameras is the next evolution in scouting, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and it doesn’t require elaborate setups or complicated processes. With a complete line of products and a variety of photo plans to meet every need, all managed in one robust app, SPYPOINT has your one-stop solution to take your scouting to the next level.
