Wildgame Innovations Mirage 14

Last year I decided to buy a new game camera because the ones I have are wearing out.  After shopping around a little at Dicks, and with the help of a sales associate, I decided to buy the WGI Mirage 14.  In brief, I am very pleased with this camera.

Excuse my cell phone being reflected by camera

User Interface

The camera is very simple to operate, you use up, down, and enter keys to make selections.  And you see what you select on the screen.  Normally at the top of the screen the camera will show many pictures have been taken and the time, but with no SD card inserted when the above image was taken, nothing was shown.
You can set it to take pictures day and night, or just day or night.  You can select the quality of the pictures, the higher quality, the fewer pictures that can be stored on the SD card.  The tradeoff is better quality pictures allow you to pick out details of individual animals and just better viewing quality.  However, if you were just planning on leaving your camera out for weeks at a time without checking it, say in the spring and summer at a food plot, then for just scouting and deer census, lower quality/more volume of pictures might be more useful.
On top of that, you can adjust camera light exposure, how sensitive the motion sensor is, and how often it takes a pic, even set it for (soundless) video.  The customization of the camera is one of the big selling points for me.

Performance

The performance is very good in my opinion.  It is a 14 MP camera with less than a 1/2 second trigger speed with an illumination range of 75 feet, and an invisible flash (specs from WGI website).  I've already shown some pictures taken by this camera on the blog, but here's a few more just to show.

The video is bright (and sped up!), yes.  I don't know whether it's the camera's fault or my own.  Facing the camera angling down toward the ground might have caused the light to reflect back towards the camera, making it really bright.  I'll have to experiment more to find out.  However, having the capability of video is always a nice feature.

 

This owl seemed to like this perch

And this fox likes the mineral block

So, theres a little taste of the camera.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new game camera.  Right now it's about $70, but you might be able to find it cheaper.  Until next time!

My Fishing Gear: Rods and Reels

Today I hope to show you guys my fishing gear.  For this part, I'll be doing my rods and reels.  Next time, I'll hopefully show you my tackle.

Fly Rod: Crystal River Fly Rod
This name in itself may cause some people to cringe.  Yes I know it's not a top of the line Orvis, however, I had not tried fly fishing, and $25 on Amazon wasn't too much of a sacrifice.  Honestly, I think the rod is a good rod for what you pay for.  It operates well, and it feels good in my hand, and it swings well.
The reel, not so much.  The drag system was always making a deafening clicking noise when I tried to reel in line. I immediately had to modify the reel, taking out the little triangular gears in the reel to stop the horrid clicking, afterwards it had no drag.  While I had no drag, in my mind it was worth no clicking, not to mention when fly fishing your holding the line anyway.
The line is decent, it has memory, however, you can get new fly line.  You'll need to buy more flies, the rod only comes with two.
Overall, this rod combo wasn't too bad, I will probably keep the rod and just get new line and reel.

Spinning Rod: Ugly Stik GX2 Rod and Reel Combo
Some people might be thinking "Now your talking!  I hoped this guy wasn't totally out of his mind."  The Ugly Stik is quite awesome!  It casts great, feels good in the hands, and overall a great experience.
The reel that comes with it is aluminum, and the rod is graphite and fiberglass with stainless steel guides.  I haven't gotten a ton of experience with this rod, as it's new to me, however, I feel I'll have it for a long time.

Reel: Shimano IX4000R
This is another reel I put on the Ugly Stik.  The Shimano is a reels so smoothly, it's like your hardly doing anything.  Again, I have not had much experience, however, I again feel like I'll be using it for a long time.

While I know a couple of the reviews were probably not as thorough as many would wish, I will probably go more in-depth as I get to use the rods and reels more often.  If you have any questions on the rods or reels, (or any fishing question actually!), feel free to ask away!  Until next time!

Budget Trail Camera's

There are many trail camera's on the market.  Price ranges from $50-$600 or more for some Bushnell and Reconyx camera's.  The camera's I have are more on the cheap side $50-$80.  I have a Wildgame Innovations Axe 2, and a Stealth Cam.  They are both decent camera's for the price.

• The Wildgame: Has a little easier setting, as it has a screen that you select settings.  The Axe 2 takes better pictures, as far as moving deer goes, and better pictures in general.  It also has a location setting on it so you know where the picture was taken (example: you have two food plots, you could say "FOOD1" for one spot and "FOOD2" for the next one, as it gives 4 letter spaces and 4 number spaces for postion).  
• Stealth Cam: It has "quick settings" which includes video, and picture settings.   It also has a custom setting. It does not have a location setting as the one above.

I like both, but if I had to pick one, it would be the Wildgame Axe 2.  But both are good for getting into trail camera's.

Product Review: Wildgame Innovations Axe 2 Game Camera

This game camera is the same one that has taken all of the deer camera pictures on my blog.  I have had it on almost continuously for a few weeks at a time, and it still has more than half battery power left.

My Wildgame Innovations Axe 2 game camera

It's been pretty reliable.  Flash is adequate.  It does not have color night pictures, as you can see with the pictures on my blog.  You can judge for yourself if you think this camera is a good deal (under $80) or not, I think it is.

Product Review- Hurricane Bag Target

I think that the Hurricane Bag Targets are awesome.  Sure, you can't put broadheads into them, but they provide great target practice.

Durable
The bag target sustained 100's of shots from my bow, over a few seasons.  Eventually I was careless and left it outside most of the time, and if I kept it in a dryer place, it would have lasted even longer.

Nice Aiming Points
I have a target that has a deer vital area shown on one side, and "hurricane" looking aiming points on the other side.  I used the deer vital side much more than the other side, because it gave me a realistic thing to shoot at.

I Could Move It Around
All I needed to do was to pick up the strap and go!  Now, I wouldn't say that anyone could do it, depending on strength and age.

I like Hurricane Bag Targets.  I would recommend them.