Deer Hunting Tips and Gear Reviews Kill Bigger Bucks!! Currently updating July 2022
Originally reviewed in 2014
Best Trail Cameras From Wildgame Innovations
- WGI Terra Extreme – Full Review-HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
- WGI Wraith
- WGI Micro Cam
The Wildgame Innovations Trail Pad is also a very useful trail camera accessory for viewing SD cards in the field. Much easier than using your phone.
The 2022 Wildgame Innovations trail camera reviews are definitely improving. WGI tends to saturate the market with tons of models to choose from. For example, my local Dicks Sporting Goods, Cabelas and Bass Pro carries six different models. Unfortunately, most of the models are not consistently worth the money because of eating batteries or reliability issues.
For a little higher price, we might suggest looking at a camera from Covert, Moultrie or Bushnell.
WGI is producing a couple of good options for deer hunters in 2022. The price of the Terra Extreme and Micro are super competitive, and the trail cameras field tested rather well. Jump to the bottom of this article for a review summary and the links to the full reviews.
Wildgame Innovations Trail Cameras are marketed by an interesting company. The Busbice family has a flare for the dramatic. The company started in around 2002 by produced deer attracting feed and minerals.
Eventually Wildgame Innovations started purchasing other brands. This was their way of leveraging the Wildgame name and recognition. Just because they make a good deer attractant doesn’t mean they can “make” a good trail camera.
Nothing is Standard
The first thing I noticed with the Wildgame cameras is the lack of standardization. All the cases are much different from model to model. The latches are different. The sizes are different. The camos are different.
Not Very User Friendly
Many of the models are not very user friendly. Set UP tends to be cumbersome and quite difficult. The Terra Extreme is one exception and offers a very user friendly interface and setup.
What About Picture Quality?
Picture quality of the WGI game cams that we are recommending is very good. You will still get an occasional blurry picture of a running deer but most of the day and nighttime pictures are high quality.
Recommended:
- WGI Terra Extreme -TOP PICK
- WGI Wraith
- WGI Micro Cam
Are Wildgame Innovations Trail Cameras Good?
Yes – Some of the Wildgame Innovations trail cameras are very good.
Please DO NOT buy in the store without doing proper research and reading through the reviews on WGI trail cameras.
I have searched and searched through dozens of Wildgame Innovations trail camera reviews and have determined the Terra Extreme, Wraith and Micro Cam are currently the only three models to consider in 2022.
Price is really the only reason to choose this brand. If money is really tight you can give them a try. But BEWARE, these game cameras can go through batteries and the life tends to be much shorter than competitors.
The Wildgame site currently list 17 different models for sale. These 17 cams range in price from $69 to $199 with many being the same price. This is another red flag for me. I mean seriously, how many different options, features, models do we really need. In contrast, Covert and Moultrie and Bushnell do not have 17 if you combine all three companies. Read the DeerPros.com trail camera reviews to see our recommendations for better game cams.
Here are the current Wildgame Innovations Trail Cameras available
- Wraith
- Terra Extreme
- Spark
- Mirage
- Kicker
- Switch
- Micro Cam
Wildgame Innovations Trail Camera Reviews
Not Wildgames best camera
I’ve been a long time Wildgame user. Usually their cameras are good with an affordable price tag for those on a budget. I bought this camera on sale from Cabela’s last year. From the beginning it took very good daytime pics and grainy nighttime ones. Less than a year later, it still takes good daytime pics but after dark you can’t see anything. I believe the IR Emitters aren’t working anymore. I sent a email to Wildgame today, hoping to get a response.
Don’t waste your money
Worked well with fairly good pictures for a year. Then LCD display failed. Then camera stopped working altogether
Conclusion
Our research and field testing have proven the WGI Terra Extreme to be the best Wildgame Innovations trail camera currently available. The Terra Extreme produces terrific results in day and nighttime photos. The Terra Extreme has been very reliable and has been efficient in battery consumption. For less than $50 The WGI Terra Extreme can be a great addition to your trail camera arsenal.
We welcome your feedback and hope you will share your personal experience with the Wildgame trail cameras.
I hate to agree but I have had bad luck with WGI trail cameras.
They are cheap and you can buy them at Wal-Mart, Dicks Sporting Goods…etc
But you get what you pay for.
would like to know why can’t I find any body to work on the cameras I have. It is pretty bad that they don’t last no long then they do. No matter how much you pay for them. You don’t get to use them but a few months out of the year.The model of my 3 camera are the N4E
What a piece of garbage…. Brand new out of the box 2 of them wont even work…. I will never trust this product again
the red 4 or red 6 was pretty good. so I bought a few more. that was a mistake. occasionally one will last but most have been lemons. I switched to Bushnell Trophy Cams
Marty
ROLL TIDE!
Tried them 2 years in a row. Had purchased 5. Not a one them last an entire season. Took 20-30 good pics then batteries went dead. Best thing they did was making a good target for 17 hmr. A jeenry rigged Polaroid would do a better job.
Major waste of money do not buy there just will not last the season. They should be ashamed or there junk sales. Run away from these cameras.Or just throw your money our your car window
thanks tom
I bought a trail cam from WGI. I have not had luck with picture quality. Then on top of that I go to set my two cameras out this year. Just bought them a year and month ago. They wouldn’t turn on. I got new batteries still nothing. Called customer service and they said i can only return if its under a year and if i had proof of purchase. I will never buy from them again. Along with alot if friends. Spend your money wisely. Thanks
I’M USING WILDGAME INNOVATIONS, ALSO USING MOULTRIE AND PRIMOS. YOU GET LEMONS WITH ALL OF THEM, ONCE IN A WHILE. FOR A NO FRILLS CAMERA, IT’S SMALL, 1 SECOND TRIGGER SPEED, GREAT BATTERY LIFE, GREAT IMAGES AND PRICED FAIR… WILDGAME INNOVATIONS IS A FINE CAMERA IN MY BOOK.
You must be with Wildgame. Their camera pic usually are blurred unless you get a deer to fall asleep in front of the camera. 2 of 10 pics are viewable.
Hilarious! :)
Good cameras. No problems with the three models I have. I will never waste my money on moultrie cameras again have had two and neither one made it more than two weeks and quit working.
u can have them I”ll stick with Moultrie. mine last 1yr and they won”t fix even though I offered to pay.
I don’t really know what to think. I have one Blade 4X that I paid $39 for on clearance and its still working fine a year later. Another quit after a year. Last month I bought another on sale, it quit after a month. At least I’d filled out the warranty card (they require it to be returned w/in 14 days but must be flexible because they could not find mine and let me send in proof. Just bought another at Academy yesterday (on sale $49) and so we’ll see. It seems like a dice roll, but if I can get a year’s use I’ll be OK. It does cost $10 shipping to get it back to the seller for a replacement, so factor that in. I’ve had trouble with the higher priced Bushnell’s too.My ratings aren’t of the one I just bought, but of the brand in general. I did test the camera and at least it works out of the box.
I bought 7 wgi cameras in a 12 month period in one season from sept til Feb every last one of them failed and there is no customer service so you get what you pay for
I bought 4 WGI Blade 5x cams before last season. The controls are not really user friendly, but once I has them set up they worked great. The only issue I had with any of the 4 is that one got stolen. Range isn’t great, but my green spots are small, so that isn’t an issue for me.
Bought 3 WGI Blade 6x this year, because I misplaced the 5’s. I would buy again.
I have problems with short battery life. I’m going to reduce my flextime setting and try again. One package said the batteries will last a year and I get a week if I’m lucky. I have 6 of the cameras because I like the feature to take a picture every minute.
Also, why don’t the produce time lapse movies that fit a standard like AVI or MOV. Having a proprietary movie format (FLX) makes it very difficult to share the movies.
WILDGAME INNOVATION CAMERAS are nothing more than a block of plastic crap. Bought Three and all three leak in water. Non-existent warranty support, save you money or better yet if you want to give away money just mail it to them and save yourself the headache of trying to use their product.
I have not had any problems with any of my WGI cameras. Battery life is good, even when a clan of coons decide to raid my feeders and create a 1000 pictures. My camera range to my feeders is only 25 feet so I catch most movements and flash range seems to work well. But, even with higher mp cameras, I think night pictures could be better.
Very very lucky
Wildgame Innovations markets a terrible product, and I keep falling for the price point. Never again. If they make it, I’m going to assume it’s crap and move on.
I wish I were more electrically inclined, I’d do a homebrew cam.
Wildgame Innovations markets a terrible product, and I keep falling for the price point. Never again. The ONLY good thing I can say about them is battery life for me is pretty good. Heard to use battery if it won’t take a pic….If they make it, I’m going to assume it’s crap and move on.
I wish I were more electrically inclined, I’d do a homebrew cam.
I have many WGI cams. I love them. All are still in operation and produce good pics and videos and the price is super and so is the battery life. I cant find a negative about them.
Couldn’t agree more ,had mine for many years now and have perfect pictures, many could very well be framed and hung on the wall. Quality is great with No leaks of rain or snow. The only thing I could say neg. about them are that the less expensive ones I own have a shorter battery life. WGI is more than well worth the money.
I love mine. No complaints.
My N8ECA Wildgame camera takes great pictures of me walking away from it after setting it up and walking up to it to come retrieve it. Other than that I haven’t seen anything else on it even though my separate motion detector focused on the same spot as the camera is ringing off the wall all nite. I suspect the camera is not working right or I don’t understand the operating instructions well enough to interpret exactly what they mean. Pretty frustrated with this product.
That is exactly what mine does. My hunting buddy has a bushnell, he hung his camera next to mine. His took over 100 pictures. Wildgame Innovations took 8. Me setting it up and taking it down. Wildgame doesn’t stand behind their product. I suspect their parts are made in China.
A lot of negative comments about WGI cameras. I bought 7 over the past 3 yrs and all are still working. I just changed the batteries on my original cam this year. Sensitivity is good. Pics are triggered from about 70-80 feet away, but the best picture quality is at about 65 ft or less. Was even good enough to convict a pair of 2 legged trouble makers.
My WGI Buck Commander (8MP) works OK. One annoying feature is the big company logo is on every picture. It blocks part of the scene. It should be programmable to turn off or at least made much smaller.
This is a no win issue. I’ve tried a lot of different cameras and I’ve found that cheeper the better.
You may get one that last every now and then but there all junk in my book. I use WGI because of price I’m not taking family portraits I’m just trying to judge size of my bucks and where they tend to move the most.
I bought three Wgi. I am having vandalism, I needed a dependable camera. All three died in a short period of time,but not before the warranty ended.
I have to agree with the budget minded hunters. No matter which brand you pick, they all have issues. I asked an employee at Cabela’s which game camera was the best. That employee looked at me and said that every single camera has good batches and bad batches of cameras. He also told me that most of them are made in China and are not predictable. He said he recommended the Cabela’s branded cameras because Cabela’s will generally back their brand more than the others. He was an older gentleman that worked at Cabela’s for a long time so I took most of his advice. I just don’t worry about the brand anymore. The best cameras are the ones that work for you and save you money. That seems to change from time to time but Wildgame Innovations game cameras have done OK. Moultrie is a overpriced brand in general. Bushnell is a OK brand as well. No matter what you get, get it for the lowest price.
Loved it last year, this year can’t get it to stay on, takes 3 or 4 pictures, enters sleep mode and doesn’t come back on. Tried New batteries, reformatted card. Not impressed with this camera.
Did you find a solution to the sleep mode not waking up…..
I have the crush camera 8 model and I get about 3 months battery life in pic mode. Only thing I dislike is the motion pictures has a lot of motion blur.
PLEASE BRING BACK THE MOULTRIE BLACK GAME-SPY M80!!! COME ON MOULTRIE. ALL YOUR CAMERAS NOW STINK! WGI ARE HORRIBLE TO SAY THE LEAST. I KNOW THEIR RETURNS HAVE TO BE 80%
I’ve only bought one WGI and I love it never dies its lasted till august and is still running great pictures are prime and videos are OK only wish it had a mic
I have had elk and moose come up and rub on it which then moves it a bit but still is in prime condition I do think that there are good and bad batches as said before.
I have 6 of the wildlife cameras…Won’t buy any more of their junk…I have a Moultrie camera that is older than the wildlife innovations cameras and it still works fine…
I manage a hunting club and have 28 game cam’s on 500 acres. Ive bought 18 WGI cam’s from nano to blade. Bottom line is no customer service. After getting a return number from them, I waited a week before sending them the bad cam’s. No communications they voided my number because I wasn’t quick enough to mail them. Second time this has happened. Solution DONT BUY THIS JUNK
I have bought and used most branded trail cams for over 12 years, and find these WGI cameras to be the most worthless POS to send your money to the Chinese for…if you manage to set the totally used UNFRIENDLY camera up in less than an hour, it will fail outright or fail to impress you in less time..period. Don’t waste your time or money as its obvious to me anyone who likes this crap either works for WGI or has no experience with a good camera.
JUNK——-My camera didn’t work out of the box. I contacted Wild Game Innovations. They wouldn’t replace it because I didn’t have the receipt. Save your money, buy a Moultrie. The price is about the same and their customer service was great. I had a problem and the they exhcanged it with no questions asked.
I have a WGI trail camera 2x that is 8 years old and I rewired it for a 6 volt battery and it continues to take pictures and be productive the newer ones I have no problems with as well I would give them a 3-4 star rating. A Cuddeback is the best camera that’s my pinionn.
I think all stores that carry the Wildgame Innovations Cams should take them off they shelves, box them up, and shipped them back. Why carry an product that cause so many problem to the your customers the Consumer, When they get upset with the stores when Wildgame poor customer service wont take care of the buyer and the store returning or upgrades. Boycott them and keep any and everyone from buying product that backed my big company and false advertisements. I have the Wildgame Innovations. After a few shot. it ould turn itself off with new batteries 99%. that really sucks.
Hilarious! Go hunting instead of staring at cameras
These camera suck, I bought BRAND new R4A and it stopped working second picture, opened it and found water inside the waterproof case, let it dry out it turned on great, programed fine, took 6 pictures and batteries died. Replaced batteries (Duracel each time) and before 48 hrs was up batteries were dead again, it took 6 pictures of me placing it and stopped. It done this 7 times now this camera flat out sucks, called the company and they said take it back to store, store said it’s WLI issue but replaced it with another of the same for a repeat adventure with even less pictures this time, again the new camera won’t take more than 4 pictures and dies. What a waste of time, NEVER by WLI products or any other company they make cameras for such as the crappy Remington which is the same camera but in a black case!
I have had my camera for about 2 years. It took great pictures for awhile, but now it stopped working and Wildgame Innovations offers no help, no repair, no discounted replacement. I was told by their “customer service” rep that they will replace for free during the 1 year warranty, but after that they offer no repairs at all. Basically, I was told by the company to just throw my 2-year old camera away. Ouch.
Hilarious those who say blurry photos! I own 4 cameras all wgi, they are clear, user friendly, do what I need them Todo, and that’s let me know if a stand has activity….those of you with a computer hanging on a tree, put out 100 cameras, need to get up in a tree and hunt
I have a WGI model T5i20DE, manufactured May 2014. Worked fine for a couple years, but last time I checked it, the red PIR light was on and wouldn’t turn off unless I removed the batteries. Pushed the power button to wake it up; nothing happened. Pushed it and held it for a few seconds to turn everything off; nothing happened. Replaced the batteries, pressed the power button, red PIR light comes on and stays on, but LED screen is blank. Tried a different memory card; same result.
Anybody had this problem with the PIR light staying on, and blank LED screen?