I Don’t Miss Film
Stealth Cam MC-2GV
I ran across an old Stealth Cam MC-2GV camera tonight. It had made its way into a box that holds the hunting and fishing gear that I seldom use. This box holds many things that I will probably never use again, but I just can't seem to part with. That 35MM Stealth Cam MC-2GV was my first game camera. I thought back to the love/hate relationship I had with that camera, and it made me realize that I really don't miss film one bit.
My first game camera. I do remember how excited I was to get that camera. I was hunting a leased piece of property a little over an hour away. It was pre-season, and I drove down with a buddy to hang it that day I remember struggling with the film to get it loaded. It just didn't want to catch and feed. I chalked that up to being a newbie, and worked with it until I was confident I had it set and ready to go. After a 10 minute hike to a ridge I'd been eager to bow hunt, I dumped a 50 lb bag of corn and strapped the camera to an oak tree. I flipped it on and hiked out.
Over the course of the next week, I resisted the temptation to to the farm after work, just to pull the film. I drove down on the weekend with a fresh roll of film. I found the camera in the same spot I had left it, and the LCD picture counter told me I had a full roll of film.
When I opened the camera, I was surprised to see that the film had not been advancing, and it hadn't re-wound either. I could kiss that roll of film goodbye! So a week's worth of scouting, and a what should have been a roll full of pictures were gone.
So I tried again. With a fresh pile of corn on the ground and a loaded camera, I headed home. The following weekend I drove to the farm again, and was met with success. After doing a little old-fashioned scouting, I headed to the 1 hour photo. I can remember picking up the pictures, and looking at them in my truck in the parking lot. Strike Two... Disappointment again. I got a whole roll of two different groups of does. It was at this point, that I learned the importance of setting a delay between pictures, especially for a camera pointed at a corn pile.
After that, I had much success. I cycled that camera around the farm throughout the season, and got a lot of great pictures, and good scouting done. I took a nice 8 pointer that year, and was convinced that my new game camera had helped to put me on that deer. I've been hooked every since.
I can't say I always continued to be successful with that MC2-GV though. I did have a couple of additional film mishaps that year. A couple of seasons later, I graduated to my first digital game camera. It was a Moultrie, and it had an appetite for batteries. I started off the season setting it and my MC2-GV in different locations on the farm. That was the last season I ran that Stealth Cam. I think I pulled it down the first time I went to pull the film.
The economics won out. I couldn't see the purpose in purchasing film, paying for development, and still ending up with a handful of bad pictures on each roll of film. Bad pictures that I was having to pay to develop. I own quite a few digital game cameras now, and I can't ever imagine going back to film. So I put the MC2-GV back in the box of 'things that I'll never use again, but just can't part with.' Although I can't get rid of it, I sure don't miss it.
Tags: 35mm game camera, film game camera
