June 12th, 2008
By Arthur

As some of you know, Jeff and I have been looking for a camera that will allow us to capture some hunting footage. We had found one system, that I wrote about in a previous post, but that system was a little cumbersome. It required you to buy a bracket, that screwed into your stabilizer hole on the riser of your bow, and also required that you mount your camera on top of it. Then last week we were at the Gander Mountain Archery Event and we came across the Roscoby Riser Cam.

This particular camera has only been out since January, but I have to be honest and say that it is simply a beaut! This company is pretty ingenious with the design that they have come up with, and all of the guys from the company that we talked to were very cool.

The camera is a bow mounted unit, but unlike most systems out there, it looks and feels like a stabilizer. It isn’t much bigger than a stabilizer, and after holding a bow with the camera mounted on it, I can tell you that it doesn’t feel any different than shooting a bow with a regular stabilizer. It is honestly a slick little design and Jeff and I were very impressed with the product.

The camera is very easy to use, quiet, and pretty versatile. It operates on two AA lithium batteries that provide approximately 5 hours of use. It also uses an SD card for memory which is perfect. They advertise that for every gig of memory on the card you get approx. 50 minutes of video footage. Works for me! The camera is also very water resistant (the only reason they can’t advertise it as waterproof is because of the microphone port) so it is versatile in all conditions and the lithium batteries are designed to operate at -20 F so it can handle cold conditions as well.

The only flaw I could find with the camera is that on some of the footage the video was a little shaky. I think that just comes with the territory though. I think it also depends on the shooter. We watched a number of videos that they had available at the show, and only one of them was jumpy at all. I still think, though, that these are the best units we have seen for this purpose. Despite the footage being a little shaky, it was still huge improvement over the last camera system that we saw.

I’m pretty sure that before season starts Jeff and I will have at least one of these units. We might even have two of them. I guess only time will tell. This system is not made for DVD quality video, but for the average guy to go out bowhunting and be able to capture some of his hunts this easily, I think that this camera is more than suitable.

The price tag is a little steep at 349.99, but considering what all this camera can do, I don’t think that is too bad a price. The camera can also be used for other things as well and even has a tripod mount on it for filming other activities.

A pretty cool idea from a rowdy and fun bunch of guys. They almost had Jeff and I walking out with the camera that day. Go check out their site. I guarantee you’ll be impressed.

Author’s note: I did not receive any compensation for the this post from Roscoby. The only reason I wrote a post about it, just like other products I’ve wrote about, is because I thought it was cool!

Popularity: 23% [?]

May 01st, 2008
By Arthur

I guess I’m a little uneducated when it comes to Turkey hunting. I will readily admit that I’m still learning how to hunt these wary birds, but what I was also not to well-informed about is the shear amount of gear that you have to take along in order to kill these X-ray vision gobblers.

Heading to my hunting spot of choice the other night, I realized this fact as I was loading up and heading out. I had a pop-up blind on my back, a side pack connected to my belt, a gun in my hand, and a turkey decoy occupying the other hand. Pop-up blind, turkey call, the Thermacell, binoculars, a different kind of call, a knife, shells, gun, decoy, another different kind of call. The list goes on and on to hunt these thunderchickens. How many different calls are there? The choices are endless.

I think deer hunting is much simpler. I know that a lot of you will disagree with that, but I don’t think I carry nearly the same amount of stuff into the woods when I’m hunting whitetails as opposed to the number of items I have in my possession for one turkey hunt. I started to realize why they make those neat little turkey vests and started to think that I need to invest in one for next year. I also think it helps my argument that they don’t make a “deer vest”! See what I mean?

I’m truly going to consider a turkey vest purchase next year. Maybe it can keep me from resembling the Micheline man when I head into the woods. Talk about bulk!!!:)

Popularity: 29% [?]

February 14th, 2008
By Arthur

As I eluded to in a previous post, Jeff and I have been wanting to film some hunting and fishing adventures. Jeff wants to do it professionally, and I just want to do it for fun. Well last weekend at the Deer and Turkey Spectacular we finally agreed on something.

I have seen a bunch of different camera mounting systems out there, and all of them required you to pre-setup the shot. What I mean by that is, you would have to set the camera up to point to a general area, and then hope the deer, or whatever you were hunting, made it into that location. After making the shot you would then have to pray that there wasn’t a stray tree or anything of that nature blocking the shot. Not quite what I was looking for.

The other option of course is to have two people in one location-one filming and one hunting. This setup immediately starts the who gets to run the camera and who gets to hunt debate. That one isn’t working for me either.

Well we finally found something that we think could work for both of us. A local Michigan company, Predator Products Co, has a neat little device they call the Camcorder Bracket. This thing screws into your stabilizer hole and allows any model of camera to be mounted right on it. Awesome. Now no matter where you have to take the shot, the camera is right there with you taking the footage. A win win situation for Jeff and I. I am seriously thinking about picking one up and trying it out. They have a neat little video on their website that showcases the product as well. I did notice a little jumpiness once the shot is released, but I think that is a pretty good trade-off to have the opportunity for both of us to get some some footage and still be able to hunt at the same time.

The bracket is only $45 bucks and they even have a quick release for this priced model so that the bracket comes on and off easily without a lot of hassle. I haven’t used this device yet, but they advertise that it shouldn’t effect your accuracy at all. I do hope that is the case.

So Jeff and I are going to look into this little device for our hunting expeditions this year. It would be awesome to get some footage of some hunts this way.

Now all I need is a camera.

Author’s note: We are by no means a member of this company, nor did they pay us for this post. We ran across their product and thought it was cool. That is where the connection ends. We haven’t purchased a single thing from them yet.

Picture Source: Predatorproducts.net

Popularity: 33% [?]

October 11th, 2007
By Arthur

I spoke briefly about the new toy I got for my birthday a little over a week ago.  Well here she is in all her glory.  It’s a Moultrie Game Spy D-40 Digital Trail Cam and I can’t wait to get it set up tonight.  First location is going to be near my stand and then we will move it as needed.  I have a few other places I wouldn’t mind putting it up, but those will come later.

I borrowed a camera a few weeks back for a couple of weeks, and got some pretty cool pictures, but then as always happens when you borrow something, I had to give it back.  I started to have withdrawals and was telling my brother so he got everyone together and they pooled money to get me one.  I have been such a slacker at getting it put up.  I’ve been a little more concerned with actually hunting then setting up the camera.  Tonight though is the perfect night to get it setup on my way into my stand and I can’t wait to see what shows up on it in the next week or so.

It is by no means a Cuddeback camera, but I am more than happy with it.  It has all the necessary options on it.  It takes multiple pictures or even 10 second video clips,  has an SD card slot to hold more pictures, has a neat little laser and IR aiming function, and date stamps every picture.  If this one works out we just might have to get another one for Christmas.  I love the trail camera thing.  What an addiction.

So my little bundle of joy will get put up in its proper place tonight and I can’t wait to check it and show everyone the big buck we get on camera.  Wouldn’t it be cool if I could have trail cam pictures of the nice buck and also pictures of the buck on the ground?  A boy can dream.  As always I’ll keep ya posted.

Popularity: 49% [?]