How much does a guy have to spend to get something functional? I’m looking at a pair of Stealth Cam for $200. They have a SD card for taking stills as well as video. Our lake place is right up against Superior National Forest. We are outside at night quite a bit. We get a lot of movement in the woods at night which I’m sure is mostly deer but we have a good population of bear and wolves and I’d like to know if either of those are in the vicinity. And skunks. Like to get the daughters dog in the house if there’s a skunk sniffing around.

Or I may get the first ever clear snapshot of Bigfoot!! Anyway is $200 a waste of money and I’m buying junk?

With night vision you really do get what you pay for. At the $200 price point it is very likely your getting junk. If you look around and do your homework I think you can find a decent entry level monocular in the $800-$1000 range.
Good luck!

Thanks that’s kind of what I thought. I’m not willing to drop that much $ for something that’s a want and not a need. Thanks for you’re input!

At that price, I would test your smartphone/tablet cameras for IR sensitivity, and if one of them picks it up well enough, buy an IR flashlight.