Trail cameras can be expensive, and finding great deals can be hard work. However, in today’s day and age of competitive pricing, there are great deals to be found.
The key to finding great deals is to think ahead, and purchase trail cameras during the off season, when their demand is at its lowest. Typically in January and February, after hunting season is over, and trail camera manufacturers are rolling out their new lines, prices will be at their lowest. You just need to know where to look, and be prepared to pull the trigger on a good deal, because they wont last for long.
Here is a list of some of the best places I have found and utilized in search for trail camera deals.
Retail Department Stores
Retail Department Stores, especially ones that carry seasonal items, are a great place to look for trail camera deals. The importance of finding deals in these stores has everything to do with timing.
Stores that carry seasonal merchandise, such as Wal-Mart, Meijer, Costco, and even Tractor Supply, have a need to keep a flow of product going out of the door. Keeping leftover hunting equipment, storing it and trying to resell it the next year creates a lot of costs in overhead.
Once the deer hunting season comes to a close, typically around the New Year, these Department stores, need to use that shelf space for the next seasonal activity. Whether that be camping, ice fishing, or kayaking, they need the space, and the leftover hunting gear, often including trail cameras, go on clearance.
These deals can be exceptional savings if you are able to plan it correctly. This year I purchased three different cameras for a combined amount of $139. Those same three cameras only weeks earlier would have totaled over $375.
The trick that I found in assuring that you score on a great deal is to target those stores that are located closer to inner cities. Typically, people will only shop at stores that are closer to their home area, and those who live within the city limits tend to be less likely to purchase hunting equipment in general. Therefore, there will be less competition for those clearance items.
Trail Cam Pro
If you have ever searched online for trail cameras, it is extremely likely that you have ended up on the Trail Cam Pro website. It is one of the Internet’s leading stores for everything trail cameras. They sell cameras at the same price point as you would find from Cabelas or Dicks Sporting goods, but are exclusively online.
What most people do not realize is that the Trail Cam Pro website also has a used section of their online store. These cameras might come from returns, testing, or even scratch and dent merchandise, but are all guaranteed to be in good working order, and still have their manufacturer warranty to boot.
If full retail priced cameras are too expensive for your budget, this is a great option to save up to 50% off like new cameras and accessories.
Camofire
Camofire is a daily deals website, where on sale merchandise will change every day. The majority of their deals come from out of stock or discontinued merchandise from some of the leading brands in the hunting industry.
In order to score on good trail camera deals, you will likely need to check back daily, as not every day do they offer trail camera deals. I have found that the majority of their trail camera deals fall on Tuesdays. Whether that is a coincidence or a deliberate attempt to cash in on trail cam Tuesday, I am not sure, but you can find deals that are so good, its worth checking out daily.
Optics Planet
Optics Planet is an online store that covers everything from hunting, optics, and survival gear. Of course they have tons of trail cameras to choose from as well.
Simple search for trail camera in their search tab, and last I checked they offer over 300 items from all of the leading brands in the trail camera industry.
Some of their cameras you will find on sale, and others you will not. Be careful in believing their sale prices as well though. I have found on a few separate occasions, that they mark up the original price of the camera to appear as though the sale price is better than it actually is. Approach these deals carefully and do your homework, but there are plenty of solid deals to be found on this site.
Direct Manufacturer
There are a handful of trail camera manufacturers who sell solely direct to the consumer. Snyper and Exodus are the first to come to mind. Both manufacturers have random promotions throughout the year, where you can find great deals on their cameras. I purchased an Exodus camera on cyber Monday that was on sale for a whopping 33% off. You can’t beat those types of deals.
Aside from the direct to consumer companies, many of the other brand name trail camera companies often have access of prior year’s models that they sell direct from their website as clearance items. Some companies such as Browning, have a refurbished section that you can find good deals on as well.
It pays to poke around on the manufacturers websites, there are great deals to be had directly from the source.
Amazon
Amazon is not the largest retail store in the world for no reason. They constantly have bigger and better deals than you could find in any brick and mortar store in the country. Their online presence reaches millions of customers a day, and their lack of overhead, and online presence allows them to sell merchandise at a cheaper price.
The problem with Amazon though, is that you have to do some searching, and you can easily get down a rabbit hole of looking at third party drop ship companies who have one off trail cameras shipped from overseas. But once you begin to locate some of the deals, you can easily begin to bundle multiple camera deals for much cheaper than you would be able to purchase them individually.
Aside from actually buying trail cameras from Amazon, you can find the best deals on batteries and SD cards. Personally, I purchase all of these types of items solely from Amazon. For some reason, they have the market cornered on these items, and if you run multiple cameras at a time, you can save a of money purchasing through them.
Cheaper Than Dirt
Cheaper than Dirt is another online hunting apparel store that offers gear at a discounted rate. The deals on this site are definitely good deals, but they will not blow you away with massive savings. What they do have however is a large selection of trail cameras, and they have seemingly always been cheaper than full retail price. In most cases, you will be looking at roughly 10% off, which for having a full selection of cameras is a good deal in its own.
In my experience, they have fast shipping, good selection, and fair pricing. They are definitely worth the time to check out.
Midway USA
At Midway USA you can find almost everything related to shooting, hunting and the outdoors. It is yet another online store, that seemingly has great discounts. Their prices are dead on with retail stores, and their savings are exactly what they claim to be. It is not hard to find some cameras that are as cheap as 50% off.
Not every camera on this site is on sale, but they are marked accordingly. They too have quick shipping and a good selection. Just a quick search of their website will give you plenty of options to add to your trail camera arsenal.
One Final Suggestion
Don’t be afraid to buy trail cameras that are a part of the previous year’s model. I find that purchasing these cameras are much easier than the current years line, simply due to the amount of information that have flooded the internet over the course of a year. Almost all of these products have customer reviews, and have been used for months, so there isn’t any surprises of quality that you might get from brand new lines.