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I've known and publicly stated for years the "witching" hour for BF approaching campsites and home sites is two to three AM. There is a logical reason for that, and a very good tactic for BF campers to take advantage of that fact to heighten researchers' chance of seeing one. The first one I - and five others - ever heard a BF screaming, roaring and yelling continuously for about 30 seconds without a break performed that unbelievable feat at 2:15 AM. (He was about a 1/4 mile from us but could see the light from our campfire.) The first one that walked into my solo campsite and examined my pot and pans - within three feet pg my head - did that at 2 AM. I made a short recording of one who approached my solo campsite and vocalized at 1:45 AM. (I did not hear him because it was 23 degrees, I was out of gas for my heater and was covered from head to foot with everything I could find.) Had one shake the heck out of a camper in which two of us were sleeping about a year or so ago. My partner was snoring like a freight train; and snoring is the key. If they can't hear people snoring, they won't come close, That's pretty well confirmed by the hundreds of other hunters and campers I've interviewed in 12 states over the past fifty or so years. The one exception seems to be - from personal observations - during nights of heavy rains.

Lots of people report problems with trail cams and bears. I have only had one issue with 15 cams over 4 seasons. Mostly, however, I mount my cameras fairly high pointing into a sidehill which keeps the smell above the critters and a little above easy reach despite being on level to take good pictures. (Oh, and I almost always point them north since that is most away from the sun for the biggest part of the day.) The pictures I've seen of cameras with bear problems are at bear nose height. The one I have had issues with is fairly low, couple feet up. I'm not sure what I will find when I return to that camera. I didn't realize it'd been messed with when I retrieved the last card, nor what the culprit was. The pictures show a mother bear (blonde phase black bear) with 2 cubs. 1 cub disappears, then the view is hair, ears, etc, and the camera winds up pointing into the bushes for a while. On the 2nd visit, it somewhat re-corrected the camera. My hope is, since I had another few weeks of pictures before the batteries ran out, that those bears moved on and I'll have good pictures for the rest of the season ... up 'til snow. The most visible thing with any camera seems to be the strap attaching it to the tree. Horizontal lines are not natural. I have masked them a few ways. Little black upholstry tacks are your friend. Bland colored rubber bands, too. Can use local material like leaves and twigs covering the strap and held in place with twigs. I also bought a roll of camouflage burlap which I cut strips off of. Make the edges irregular so you're not just replacing one straight line with another. A totally separate method is to use large wood screws spaced matching the width of the bracket on the camera and hang the camera on wire thus removing the nylon strap completely. Some of that burlap around the back half of the camera, which is often solid color rather than camo like the front, can help hide the camera, too. I have not used bear boxes / lock boxes. Its an interesting idea. One thing about it, you could paint those in whatever camo best suits your area without having to worry about getting the paint on the flash, lens, etc. Definitely worth considering. Here is one I was sort of lazy with. And this is what it is watching. As soon as I'm able (July?) I'll add a plotwatcher to this area. It's incredible. MIB

One forum member, who shall remain unnamed, has a series of Plotwatcher images that we think is a BF. It was taken at twilight and is dark and not definitive. The first image is out over 100 yards and looks to me it was taken at the moment of recognition of the camera. From that point on the subject moved tree to tree, sometimes being imaged, peeking around trees at the camera. If it were a human, it likely would have got to and messed with or stolen the camera. Because it did not, and with the peeking behavior, I think it very likely was a BF. The Plotwatcher is a passive non emitting camera that just takes pictures at a set interval. No flash or IR sensors involved. So the camera was likely recognize by it's shape. If the camera was recognized, and started the peeking behavior, it was because the subject, saw it hanging on the tree. Since then the Forum member camouflages game cameras shape with burlap and vegetation as handy to break up the boxy shape, and mounts them high in threes, well above human head level. In my way of thinking, it is unlikely that BF looks up much. All prey and potential dangers are on the ground. Add the fact that it has sunken eyes, somewhat of brow ridge, and a head low on the shoulders, I think its field of view upward is probably very limited. So yes I think you need to camouflage the camera and mount it high. At least break up the profile which is basically a box and not a shape common in nature.