The 2017 Bushnell Aggressor No Glow continues the Bushnell Aggressor tradition of fantastic detection, fast trigger speeds and dependable results.

Trigger speeds and recovery times have seen a marked improvement from last year, particularly for video; now triggering in under a second for the first time on a Bushnell. Photo triggers and recovery are among the fastest available, and the detection circuit continues to be amongst the best available on any camera trap.

Video and photo quality, as you’d expect, continues to be great with 1080p video, although the frame rate at night is a little lower at 18fps.

The build quality and overall design of the Aggressor range hasn’t changed much on last year, but there are a few tweaks and improvements – especially easier, back-lit buttons and a colour screen on this no-glow version.

It is straight-forward to use, and new additions such as dynamic video make the camera very versatile and the settings are highly customisable.

All the 2017 Aggressors have switched this year to a 12V power system (the reason night footage is so improved), and this means night time videos are limited to 15 seconds per clip with LED Control set to ‘High’. Turning this setting to ‘Low’ or ‘Medium’ means you can get 60 second clips at night. The camera will record up to 2 minutes during the day.

Also taking into consideration the price of the camera, we feel this Bushnell Aggressor continues to be an excellent choice for nearly every purpose. There are just a few things we think could be a little better – therefore we give it 8 out of 10.

Read more of our review below…

The video quality, together with the detection circuit, has long been the draw of the Aggressors. Video quality at night has seen a big improvement this year with the switch to a 12V system for greater clarity. It is a shame however that the frame rate has dipped to 18fps – not terrible, but it’s nice to have smoother footage. Daytime videos are crisp and the colour is wonderful, especially when the sun is out.

Sound has also improved on the cameras, with birdsong, water flowing etc picked up nicely. It is not quite as good as the Browning Recon Force Advantage and Spec Ops Advantage, but not too far off.

The exposure control at night is still good, with adjustments being made after a few seconds. If this happens frequently, you also have the option of turning the LEDs down in the settings (also unlocking longer night videos).

It also has ‘Dynamic Video’ – with this turned on, the camera will continue recording up to 2 mins in the day and 15 seconds at night (again, longer if you turn down the LED Control) if activity remains. This can be quite useful – for example, if you turn on Dynamic video on and a badger stops to have a big scratch in front of the camera, it will continue record until the badger is gone or the maximum video length is reached. And if the badger just runs past, then you just get a shorter video, with no ‘blank space’ – therefore not wasting any batteries or SD card space. Note however that with the lowest interval setting, all videos will be locked to 10 seconds.

Photo quality is very similar to last years Aggressors. Day photos are ok, and generally better if you actually turn down the resolution due to the amount of interpolation added at higher resolutions – this can make photos appear a bit grainy.

Day photos are have pretty good colour and are clear. Blur on moving animals both day and night is fairly common, unless the animal is moving quite slowly. This isn’t consistent however – sometimes it can freeze flying birds perfectly, and other times a walking fox will have a bit of motion blur.

We’ve also noticed that the first image on ‘Hybrid’ mode (photos then video) can be underexposed.

Most users of the Bushnell Aggressors are using video however, or are after the great detection and trigger speeds – so this may not be too big a concern for most.

Photo examples coming soon – we are currently gathering images

The detection circuit on the Bushnell Aggressor cameras has long been a major strength – no other camera is as sensitive or can detect to such distances (around 80ft for a human-sized animal) reliably. And if it’s too sensitive, you can easily turn this down using a setting on the camera.

The improved trigger speeds for videos are certainly very welcome too – previously it was sometimes the case that you’d just catch the tail end of a fox running by, or a badger bumbling through. The faster video triggers help make this a less common occurrence.

Photo triggers, as with all camera traps, are faster, and a good bit so on the Aggressor No-Glow at often under 0.2 seconds. This makes this camera, together with the other 2017 Aggressors, some of the fastest currently available. These speeds coupled with the best detection circuit around make it a formidable unit.

Recovery times are much improved, especially for photos. Videos now recover in under 2 seconds which is great – but it could be a little better.

The Bushnell Aggressor cameras are known for their sturdiness. You can tell they are well built and strong units.

The look of the camera – somewhat akin to a grenade/stormtrooper – is a little unnecessary, but does serve to break up the outline of the camera trap.

Battery life is good from 8x AA Lithiums – generally, you can expect around 8 months battery life for photos (taking around 60 pictures every 24 hours) and about 2-3 months for video (taking around 20 videos every 24 hours). This will obviously vary depending on how active and how each video is, and if there are more night shots than day. Bushnell did update the firmware on this camera around 3 months after release to make the power use more efficient, so we’ll update this if we notice any change.

The Bushnell Aggressor No Glow is covered by a 2 year manufacturer’s warranty in the UK when bought through NatureSpy.

 
Bushnell cameras have long been amongst the easiest to use, and this year’s Aggressors are no different. The change to bigger, back-lit buttons also makes things a lot easier.

This version has a colour screen, so when the camera is opened up you can see what the camera is seeing and also view videos and photos taken so far. The current view isn’t that useful as the camera door has to be swung open whilst you look at the screen.

The camera trap has quite a lot of settings, but most of these you won’t need to worry about too much initially. Most users just want to go straight for video – changing the resolution to the full 1080p and setting video lengths. Interval is always an important setting to play with too, and it’s all straight-forward to change on the onboard menu.

We tend to notice that Bushnell camera’s field of view is always a little higher than you think it may be – therefore we generally always angle the camera down, just a touch – it can make a big difference.

Overall a very straight-forward camera trap to use, but if you do require any help or have any questions you can just get in touch with us.