New Covert Review

I have been so dissatisfied with my trail cams in the past. Now, to the other cams credit....I have never been one to spend a ton of money on what are supposed to be the best working models out there. I hear far to many horror stories on the forums of cams being stolen and the fact that where we do most of our hunting is in the suburbs has kept me from spending the coin on the top of the line models. I have always been impressed with the success folks have reported using Covert brand cams so when I saw a more affordable model I was ready to jump! I talked to Chip at Jefferson about the CA3.0 model and although he had never used one told me he could get them at a great price...I sold a few of my older ones and was in business so I ordered 3. Chip had them in no time and I hit the woods.

My first impression was that thing was tiny!!! I figured that would be fantastic to hide in the urban environment to protect from theft. The main reason that I was interested on this camera other than the small price tag was that it only uses 4 AA batteries!!! The cams I had been running before used anywhere from 4 to 6 D or C batteries and that puts a hurtin' on the wallet real quick!






























I was a little freaked out at first by the little ipod looking remote that it comes with. Each cam has one and it is required to set the cam up. I didn't like the idea of that at first as I have a tendency to forget or lose parts that I may need on a daily basis. However, once the cam is initially set up you don't need to use it again unless you would like to use the viewing feature (which is a tiny window, and that is not how I like to view anyway) or to check battery life. As of writing this I have had the cams for about 4 weeks and have checked them each 2 times. I still have over half the battery still remaining on the status meter.






























































I set the cams up in different type areas to see what kind of quality I would get from each environment. I put one in a yard that is very bright. This is the same yard that I missed a big buck in on the upcoming DVD so I was hoping to see that guy but no luck yet....Most of the pics from this cam were great during the day and in the evening and dark.
















































































I put another cam in a very dark poplar and scrub tree grove looking over a WYLD Mineral site. The pics from here were ok however a lot of the dusk and dawn pics were hard to see. Its like the cam didn't know wether to go infrared or not. I believe this is an typical problem with trail cams so I am not to bummed...













































The third I set up on another WYLD Mineral site. This is definitely my best WYLD site as it is getting hammered at all times of the day. The place looks like an elk wallow. (you cant see it in the pics because I have the cam sitting low on the ground as this is a heavily traveled cut through for neighborhood kids during the summer. The vegetation is thick but the spot is pretty open during the day making it a middle ground between the other two locations for my test. I got great pics of deer on the cams at all hours of the day. Unfortunately for me I don't see any of the big bucks that are in the area. Lots of doe and fawns so I guess it could be a great spot during the rut again as it was last season.





























All in all I am super pleased with my decision to get these cams and I am looking forward to seeing how far the batteries will go. I will have to report back on that. As of right now I think I may get a couple more of these if I can swing it before the season starts!!!