Late last summer I bought a trail cam to keep an eye on what was happening around camp. I wanted to capture the life that moves quietly through the background when no one is paying attention.

After looking around a bit, I picked up a Garde Pro – E8 Pro. I didn’t know much about the company at the time, but the reviews were solid and the features seemed good for the price.

The camera records 4K video with sound and takes 64-megapixel photos, which gives plenty of detail if you want to zoom in later. It connects via WiFi and uses dual antennas that are supposed to give it a decent connection range — about 165 feet according to the specs. The built-in 7800mAh battery also meant I wouldn’t be swapping batteries constantly.

On paper it looked like a good fit for what I wanted to do.

My First Attempts

I first set the camera up while camping in Hoosier National Forest. I was parked near a small pond and was convinced deer had to be coming down there to drink.

So I pointed the camera at what looked like a game trail and waited.

Three days later I checked the footage.

No deer.

No raccoons.

No fox.

Just branches swinging in the wind.

However, I did notice something interesting — small paw prints on the fender of my trailer. Apparently something had been visiting camp while I slept. So I moved the camera closer to see if I could catch the little ring-tailed bandit responsible.

Turns out the only wildlife I caught was myself getting up to pee in the middle of the night.

Not exactly National Geographic.

An Off-Label Use

Since I wasn’t having much luck with animals yet, I decided to experiment a little.

I strapped the camera to the back of the trailer and used it as a rear-facing dashcam while towing.

My Jeep has front and rear dash cams, but when I’m towing the trailer the rear camera is basically useless.

The trail cam actually worked surprisingly well for this. It recorded everything behind me and would have documented anything strange happening on the road.

So it became part of my regular pack-up routine.

Finally… Wildlife

It wasn’t until October in Michigan, near Sawkaw Lake, that things finally got interesting.

I set the camera low in a hollow near the lake where it looked like animals might pass through on the way to the water.

And honestly, I owe the location choice to Nana.

She decided that fresh deer droppings were a snack.

That discovery pointed me to the trail.

Let’s just say it took several teeth brushings before I was comfortable accepting dog kisses again.

The first night the camera caught a decent sized buck.

The next night there was a small doe.

Then a raccoon wandered by and practically posed for the camera.
After weeks of empty footage, it was exciting. Each morning I’d grab a cup of coffee and walk out to check the camera. It became something I looked forward to.

While I was in the Upper Peninsula I captured several deer, raccoons, and even a fox.

At that point the camera had already paid for itself in entertainment alone.

A Few Observations

The E8 Pro doesn’t use AI to determine whether motion is an animal or a branch blowing in the wind, so you do end up with some extra clips to review.

It advertises a 0.1-second trigger speed, which is probably accurate in controlled testing. In the real world I noticed that sometimes at night the camera would start recording just as the animal was already leaving the frame.

More than once I ended up with a clip that began with the back half of a deer walking away followed by several minutes of empty woods.

That said, during the day the trigger response seemed noticeably quicker.

Some of that may also be related to my settings — trail cams have a lot of configuration options.

The Incident

Fast forward to Quartzsite, Arizona.

One evening I noticed small things scurrying around camp after dark. Nothing big — just small desert critters.

Around here people often call anything small and furry a “desert rat.”

These little guys have a reputation for chewing wires in engine bays.

So I set the camera low near the Jeep to see if anything was getting curious about my wiring.

The next morning I checked the footage and caught a picture of what looked like a deer mouse.

Cool.

I packed up camp, climbed into the Jeep, and drove off.

A few seconds later I heard a crunch.

Yep.

The trail cam was still under the Jeep.

Surprisingly… It Still Worked

Amazingly, the electronics were still functioning.

The back half of the case had broken and the battery tray was loose, but the camera itself still powered on.

Unfortunately the housing was compromised, which meant it was no longer dust- or weather-proof. In other words, not very useful as an actual trail cam anymore.

So I reached out to Garde Pro support.

Not to ask for a replacement — this was clearly my fault — but to see if they sold replacement cases or maybe had a damaged return unit I could buy cheaply just to salvage the housing.

Their response honestly surprised me.

Instead of offering parts, they offered to send me a brand new camera at no charge.

This camera was destroyed entirely due to my own carelessness and absolutely should not have been covered under warranty. Yet they stepped up anyway.

They explained that the E8 Pro was currently out of stock, so instead they’re sending an E8 standard model, along with a solar charging kit and SD card.

The only real difference between the E8 and E8 Pro is that the standard model uses AA batteries instead of an internal lithium battery. With the solar kit, that difference is basically irrelevant.

So in the end I’ll actually come out ahead on trail cams.

That kind of customer service is rare these days.

What’s Next

Once the new camera arrives, I plan to set it up back out in the desert to see what kind of wildlife — or outlaws — might wander through camp.

I’ve already found a mule deer antler and even a coyote skull out there, so there’s definitely activity in the area.

I’m also planning to experiment with different antennas to test the camera’s range. Antenna gain (measured in dBi) can be a little confusing, and I’ve been learning that bigger isn’t always better when it comes to signal.

If those experiments turn out interesting, I may write another post about that.

For now I can say this:
The Garde Pro E8 series has worked well for me in the field, and the level of customer service I experienced is something you don’t see very often anymore.

And next time I pack up camp, I’ll be doing a trail cam check before putting the Jeep in gear.