Trail camera thieves

[Aurbanhunter]

I'm sure this topic has been addressed on here. I am looking to upgrade my trail cam arsenal this year but have had a lot of camera stolen in the past and am hesitant to do so. Know people put them in security boxes but people pry them open and still take them. I know wardens dont want to get involved since they look at those cameras as abandoned property but people stealing $100-$200 dollar cameras is just wrong!

How many cameras on average do you donate to thieves each season?

 

[Flyfisher9]

I've lost 2 cams in the last year. Started using a climbing stick to get them 8-10ft up and that seems to have really helped

 

[Aurbanhunter]

Great idea!

 

[corncob]

I’ve never had one stolen, but I can tell you I get a lot less people finding mine (and sticking their face it in) if I put it at about 10-12ft. I don’t think most folks don’t look above 10ft often when they are walking around.

Climbing stick or a wild edge step or two works well for that.


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[LostArra]

Higher placement and try to find a spot where you don't trim branches.
I walk through an area with a lot of big cedars where another hunter has placed trail cameras. He has to trim a lot of branches to attach his camera to a cedar and it sure makes them easy to spot. I'm surprised the deer haven't vandalized them.

 

[SoDaky]

Good tips,especially with $$ cell cams. Go high but also consider putting a ‘cheap’ non cell cam somewhere aimed at the cell cam. Then pursue and prosecute any and all trespassers/thieves.

 

[Oregon_Ryan]

Another point to conider with the cell cams- if it emits a signal, it can be detected and found, and the tools to do that are cheap. A cheap, non-cell camera requires someone finding it with their eyes and the sign that you leave behind.

A cell cam is like a giant flashlight in the woods

 

[Pgohil]

Another point to conider with the cell cams- if it emits a signal, it can be detected and found, and the tools to do that are cheap. A cheap, non-cell camera requires someone finding it with their eyes and the sign that you leave behind.

A cell cam is like a giant flashlight in the woods

Can you expand on that a little bit please? How are they detected?

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[bvs12]

I have been thinking of climbing up to mount my game cam also. Do you guys have to angle it downward to still get good pictures.

 

[corncob]

Depends on how high you put it, and what the opening looks like. If I can put it further back and capture the trail, I will. Sometimes it’s a challenge if you’re dealing with the 30yd clearing to get the right angle.


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[Flyfisher9]

This ones about 10-12 feet up and still manages to get a good section of clearing. I think sensor range is around 80 feet or so.

 

[22lr]

Ive had guys come up, take my card out, look at the pics and put the card back... (hey, not my style, but long as they put it back im cool). I even had one guy leave me a note saying thats what he did, and a thanks for the pics, haha.

 

[Lapaiki39]

For many years our cameras were left alone. Over the course of the last year we've lost 3 cameras and 2 in the last few months. Now I'm thinking of ways to keep our cameras safe, The lock boxes work great. The problem is a person with a mask can steal any camera if he has the tools to do so. So making them inaccessible is the best option. Our camera are on private land but its difficult for the police to ID the thieves even if they are on camera.

 

[accountantsanonymous]

Are most of these going missing on public land? I want to put some out here in Colorado, but a little weary on them disappearing. Is there a high rate of theft in remote public areas? I'll be placing them a few miles off trails, so I can't imagine there are a bunch of people near where my cams would be, but maybe I'm wrong.

Any cases of people getting cameras stolen in super remote areas? (I understand the definition of remote can be subjective)

 

[Lapaiki39]

Our cameras are on private land and marked on the inside and outside with our IDs. So the thives know exactly who the camera belongs to. There are homes near our location. I guess we will have to invest in climbing sticks. and make those cameras harder to find. I'm thinking of putting a broken camera in the area where the cameras were stolen with a note inside. The note would say "smile you are on candid camera" or It could could say "this camera has a tracking device". Also a good idea to password protect even though it's a pain to do so.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

I'll have 1-2 cameras stolen each year. I'll have another 2-3 destroyed by bears and other animals.

I run Python cables on all of my cameras but it is crazy that folks cruise the mountains with bolt cutters.

In some locations, our cameras can be considered abandoned property.

 

[Ross]

Over 15 yrs have had two stolen cables were cut all on national forest land one was only a mile off the road so easy to access other was a good hump up a mountain so was surprised my other 15 have been good so far and most require a good climb or on out of the way ridges most don’t travel..lock them and blend them in is all you can do the closer to civilization they are with frequent visitors the greater the likelihood of a cam stealer coming by...the sad world we live in

 

[Rokwiia]

I've toyed with putting trailcams up on a tree but the investment in a climbing stick(s) plus safety gear and straps has me wondering about the cost benefit.

I camouflage my cameras and they are all put in areas that are way off the beaten path, miles from any road, and in areas that are difficult to move about. Here is one trailcam still at home, sitting on a chainsaw bear, that will get put back by week's end. If I wasn't interested in night videos, I could camo over the IR emitters as well and make it very difficult to see.

 

[Oregon_Ryan]

Can you expand on that a little bit please? How are they detected?

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Sure; So a camera with wifi or cellular connectivity will be constantly sending and receiving signal to the cell tower or wifi node that it is connected to. That back and forth allows it to stay connected, keep its clock time synchronized, and generally allow it to function as designed. Because it is emitting signal, that can be detected. You can probably make a wifi or cellular detecting antenna for maybe $15 in parts from amazon or ebay.

In a neighborhood, a simple detection antenna would just get overwhelmed with "noise" from everyone's cell phone, lap top, home wifi hubs, etc. so triangulating in on a particular device would be difficult. In an environment with a lot less noise, like a woodlot, field, national forest, the signal will stand out. That's what I meant by the "flashlight in the woods" analogy.

Non-connected cameras would probably still emit a small, low power EM signal, but you probably wouldn't be able to detect that with out really spending some money on something sensitive enough to detect it. Non-connected cameras that are stolen, were probably just "stumble upons". If you have connected cameras disappearing, and your concealment and placing is "good", it might be someone with a little more sophistication.

I say might be, because we all tend to put game cameras in the "likely locations", which are identifiable enough to anyone else familiar with hunting. If one is stealing cameras, they probably have the time to invest in a hard look around too.

 

[rockwind1]

myself and a couple other guys had quite a few stolen the last 2 years. the thief finally messed up and left a pic or 2 of himself. anyway,, he got recognized by another local....cause the thief was a old time local from a well known local family who had hunted the area for years (like 50+ years). the warden was called (not by me),,,,and the warden did nothing. not sure why. he did call a few of us who had our cams stolen or vandelized and took our statements. my cam was in a stealth box,, so he, well, i am not going to say what he did cause could be on these forum there are lurkers finding new ideas. i do think that sometimes out west, on public lands, the motive is not stealing per se but a lot of people who have been hunting in an area come to think of it as "their own" and as it gets harder and harder to get a tag and they see all the "city folk" out in there area putting up cams,, they get pissed and want to pursuade these interlopers to leave. obviously, a lot of formerly good spots, secret spots, only known to someone who had to hike or horseback his way there many years ago,,,have been found and the oldtimers get sad as they watch the beer belly city hunter dude blaze a new sxs track into it with the stereo blasting on his 40K sxs,,, throw up one of his $200 cams of which he has hundreds cause price is no object for city beer belly dude,,,and then he proceeds to put cams like absolutely on every waterhole,,,,then,, if he gets something good,,, tells his best city buddy in confidence,, who tells his best city buddy,, and then next year,,, there are 20 sxs's blazing new trails and next year there are 20 cams decorating the trees or fenceposts around the waterholes

then let's not forget the guides, who sadly have a reputation around here for wiping cards or stealing cams and blocking roads and spooking deer on purpose during someone else's stalk,,, cause they have to get paid to find the extra big one for their super rich client. god forbid that a DYI guy who finally got a tag after 5-8 years find an extra good buck should be allowed to actually hunt the buck,,, not when the 10 different guide services all have 10 different rich out of state dudes who want that same buck.

what is the general consensus on this forum about guides in general,,, good for sport or not? and cams? good for the sport or not? and sxs's, good for the sport or not? just wondering what others think.