Are Your Trail Cam and Your Computer Compatible?

January 26th, 2016 by Michael Biondo

web-0154-1024x576Did you know that Mac computers are NOT compatible with most trail cams? Today we had to go out and reformat all of our trail cams’ SD cards because of it.

If you view your SD cards on a Mac and then reinstall it into your trail cam, chances are your SD card has been corrupted with files automatically installed by Mac as soon as your SD card was installed into it.

While out in the field, we brought two computers, one Mac and the other Windows and tested this out. We found that it happened every time no matter what we tried.

Until trail cam manufactures write new software that will allow you to view your trail cam photos and video on Mac system, the end result is you have to check your pictures on a “Windows Based” computer system or chances are your SD card will be corrupted!

How do you know if your SD card is corrupted? It depends on the trail cam although here are some common indicators:

  • During daylight hours your trail cam is taking black and white night time photos
  • Your trail cam is set to video mode and you’re not seeing any pictures on your SD card, even though you know deer have been in front of your cam
  • Some cams make a clicking noise

So – what is the solution?

Based on our experience and numerous conversations with the technical staff at some of the major trail cam manufacturers, it seems as if  the only remedy is to place your SD card into a Windows based computer after you saved all the pictures and/or video that were on your SD card.

Then you must delete every file, picture, video and any other misc file/folder that you see on your card. The key is that you need to make your card blank like the day you bought it. You don’t have to do this manually, reformatting the SD card will do this in seconds. Follow the instructions for reformatting that came with your device.

We at Horny’s Big Buck Blend hope this helps you to keep your trail cams in the field and in good working order. Happy Hunting Friends!


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