Legendary guide and outdoorsman, Jody Smith, falls in love with Reveal’s Pro 4.0 Solar Cellular Trail Camera. You will too.
by Scott Haugen
The text was from my good friend and full-time guide, Jody Smith. Jody runs Jody Smith Guide Service and is one of the best outdoorsmen I’ve been around. The text read: You gotta look at this trail camera shot. I was expecting a picture of a big bull elk or a mountain lion. Smith and I are trail camera fanatics, and we exchange a lot of pictures.
A few seconds later, he fired me a screenshot from one of his new cellular trail cameras. Smith is one of the best hunters I know. However, when it comes to technology, including today’s modern trail cameras, he’ll be the first to admit he sometimes struggles.
My reply to his text was: When did you learn how to Photoshop?
I knew Smith didn’t know how to use Photoshop or alter a photo in any way, and the back-and-forth texting about his lack of computer and photo editing skills was fun.
The image was of a deer feeder he’d recently set up high atop an open ridge. The black feeder was ultra-clear, the food on the ground, very detailed, and the cobalt sky and puffy white clouds were eye-popping. The camera even detected a sparrow scavenging for food. The overall image quality was impressive.
Later in the day, a couple dozen crows found the feed. Those images, too, were crystal clear and vivid. After more than 400 images of crows over the next few days, including some on cloudy, rainy days, Smith moved the camera. That was the start.
Smith relocated his new Tactacam Reveal Pro 4.0 Solar Cellular Trail Camera to a different area. He moved it into a creek bottom to monitor bear movement. He had clients coming to hunt bears, and with bruin movement concentrated in creek bottoms and trails in brushy draws, he knew where to search.
Smith told me that even in the thick cover, the camera kept a full charge and captured not only bears, but deer and elk.
Over the next seven weeks, Smith moved his new solar trail camera to multiple properties he hunts. Smith kept bragging about the camera, telling me in a phone conversation that the images are so colorful and that the cell camera just flat-out works. I was intrigued.
Smith set the Pro 4.0 Solar in a creek bottom laden with birch trees and big leaves, as well as in a Douglas fir forest with heavy shadows where only a few openings let sunlight in during the day. He also positioned the trail camera on the north-facing side of a brushy ridge, hoping to capture Roosevelt elk as they moved in and out of an old-growth rainforest where they bed each day. The point is, all were in places where the exposure to sunlight was sporadic, not the most ideal situations for a cellular trail camera with a solar panel.
At the time of this writing, Smith had logged over 1,200 images from his Pro 4.0 Solar Cellular, and the battery life remained at 100 percent.
“I’ve run a lot of trail cameras over the decades, and this one has my attention,” Smith told me.
Smith has over 75 trail cameras set in multiple places where he hunts for deer, elk, and bear this time of year. Guiding is his full-time job, and trail cameras are an important part of his business.
“Aside from the color and battery, there are three more things on this camera that have impressed me,” Smith told me. “First is how this trail cam is a workhorse in the rain. Where I have it set on the Coast Range, torrential downpours are the norm. At first, with all the working parts of this camera, including the viewing screen, rechargeable battery, pivoting solar panel, and the connection points for the cord, I wasn’t sure it would be watertight. If it can survive days and days of driving rains here, it can withstand rains anywhere.”
“I also love the viewing screen for setting up the camera,” Smith continued. ” It takes the guesswork out of positioning the camera, and in this thick cover, that can be a game of inches.”
Also on Smith’s list of Reveal Pro 4.0 Solar pros is the extension cable that comes with the camera
“A lot of the fir trees I’m setting cameras on are super thick at the base. The long cord lets me hang the camera on the shady side of a tree, pointing down a trail, and run the solar panel on the other side where it can catch sunlight. Even in areas where it barely gets any sunlight, the panel keeps the battery charged. It doesn’t even need direct sunlight, which is another great quality of this camera. The two straps are also a nice feature, allowing you to disconnect the solar panel from the camera and position them both exactly where they need to be.”
Like me, Smith runs every one of his trail cameras in video mode because a video, complete with sound, reveals much more than a still image ever will.
“Not only is the clarity of the high-definition videos good in both day and night captures on this camera, but the speed with which they come through is the best I’ve seen from any cellular trail camera,” Smith emphasizes. “This has been the case with all my Reveal trail cameras. Most of the time, it only takes a few minutes from when I request a video until I receive it. Sometimes they come through in seconds. Everywhere I’ve placed this trail camera, that feature has been consistent, and that matters when I’m trying to learn which direction animals are moving and how fast.
“A lot of times I’ll catch cow elk on camera but hear bulls bulging off screen. Sometimes a doe pops up on the thumbnail, but the video reveals a mature buck chasing her. The quicker I can get this information, the more I can learn about the animal movement and observe how they’re behaving.”
Smith has been running trail cameras for over 30 years. As their technology has advanced, they’ve become a growing part of his necessary tools.
“I run trail cameras year-round, and because there’s no cell coverage where over half of them are placed, I have to check those on foot,” Smith says. “But the more cellular trail cameras I can run, the more time it saves me by not having to check them, and that means game goes undisturbed. If this new 4.0 solar camera continues to work as it has and keeps me from having to change batteries every few months, I’ll seriously consider getting more of them.”
As for the specs of the Reveal Pro 4.0 Solar Cellular Trial Camera, I’m not going to regurgitate what you can easily find on their website. This testimony comes from a full-time guide I’ve known for over 25 years. If Smith doesn’t like a piece of gear, he’ll quit using it. Because he’s dedicated his efforts to seeing how this specific trail camera has performed in a range of settings and conditions, and because he’s seriously considering investing in more, you have all you need to know about the overall worth and performance of Tactacam’s Reveal Pro 4.0 Solar Cellular Trail Camera.
Note: Signed copies of Scott Haugen’s new book, Elk Hunting The West: The Experience, are available at scotthaugen.com
