Trail Cam gone - new strategy

[wiiawiwb]

About this time last year, I put out a trail cam and checked it every month or so. As Fall began, I decided to relocate it to another area nearby. Well, it's gone. It could have been a black bear that got it but most likely a hunter stole it.  I'm going to change my strategy this year when I put the trail cam(s) out.

 

I'm thinking of using two rather than one and placing them facing each other at an angle (similar to Gigantor's drawing below). If one camera becomes missing again, hopefully the second one will reveal the source of the intrusion. Both trail cams will be no glow (as was the one stolen) so the IR light will not give away it's location. This strategy puts all the eggs in one basket. If there is little traffic on this particular game trail, I will get little results. Another option would be the second trail cam in separate location on a different game trail.

 

https://bigfootforums.com/topic/59904-trail-cam/?page=3

 

Does anyone have an opinion on a better strategy for positioning the two trail cams?

 

[Huntster]

1 hour ago, wiiawiwb said:

...........I'm thinking of using two rather than one and placing them facing each other at an angle (similar to Gigantor's drawing below). If one camera becomes missing again, hopefully the second one will reveal the source of the intrusion.........

 

The scum will steal them both. Even if they miss camera #2, you will have a nice pic of getting ripped off, because the police don't give a ****. 

 

Mine are in steel boxes and cabled to the tree. They will destroy it before getting the pleasure of enjoying my property. And if they fail to destroy it and get their pic taken, I can assure you that I won't call the police, and they will get a visit if I can use the pic to identify them.

[wiiawiwb]

Unless it is camouflaged, I worry the thief might consider the lockbox a challenge. My trail cam has a security code so the only good news is the thief will never get to use it.  I considered getting it high up in a tree but I have to hike in a decent distance to the location so ladders are out of the question. I'm not going to get a tree climber's spikes as it would be too dangerous for someone inexperienced with them.

 

I would like to get it high enough (8') so that a black bear would be forced to climb to get it. That might be just enough trouble to keep it from doing so. There must be a way to rig two paracord loops each with a prusik knot to enable me to get 3'-4' off the ground.

[hiflier]

I rigged a thick paracord with eight 3/8" x 6" long aluminum tubes making eight trapeze-shaped foot holds. I haven't used it yet but it's lightweight (I/2 lb.) and rolls into a nice small bundle. I was going to post pics a while back but the thing is so simple to make I didn't bother. I gave it to my son and grandson to have some fun with thinking I'd eventually make a second one but haven't done so yet. It was good enough to get a trail cam up 12 or more feet. Should probably get busy and make another one and put it into the "Low Tech Gear" thread.

[Huntster]

1 hour ago, wiiawiwb said:

.........I worry the thief might consider the lockbox a challenge.........

 

That's very possible, as well as the thief just destroying it like a vandal, which is more likely. Think of a road sign shot full of holes.

 

I have gotten pics of human faces up close, including one of a guy who pulled his shirt up over his nose. I suspect he took a good look at the setup and realized he couldn't make off with it without tools, specifically bolt cutters or a hacksaw. 

 

Scum. 

[MIB]

I'm fairly active on a couple of hunting boards, one international, one primarily local to OR/WA.    Other members have had cameras stolen.    One of them had several cameras together, on private land where he had permission, one camera was stolen, and other cameras caught pictures of unidentified trespassers.    The guy posted their pictures on the forum's trail cam thread.   I believe he also put them on facebook.   Police were interested, just didn't have any leads as to the identity of the trespassers / thieves.   I don't think he said that they were the thieves, just that they were people who were there at the time of the theft and might have seen something the police would find useful.   

 

My cameras are in very remote locations so I've been surprised by the number of people I've gotten .. maybe 1-2 per year.    Only one person responded to the camera in ways that made it certain he saw it, the others walked by oblivious to their presence.   Tells me I'm less alone out there than I thought, though.   The one person who did see the camera walked up and flipped it off ... both "birds" and a goofy grin.   He didn't mess with it or steal it.  Could have.    I moved it anyway. 

[Huntster]

15 hours ago, MIB said:

......Police were interested, just didn't have any leads as to the identity of the trespassers / thieves........

 

Law enforcement is essentially useless. The percentage of property crimes “solved” (conviction) is less than 12%, and of that virtually none of the property was recovered, and the criminals served little time for thrir crime. Property criminals are in an endless revolving door. Gotta’ make room for violent criminals, who are also in a revolving door.  The percentage of murders solved is only 60%, so you have a literal 40% chance of getting away with murder.

 

The only time I call police is to establish my own legitimacy. Otherwise, it’s a complete waste of time.

[Catmandoo]

21 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

My trail cam has a security code so the only good news is the thief will never get to use it.

 

If you purchased the trail cam from a certified vendor and registered the cam with the factory, there is a chance that it might show up. Rarely a thief tries to use the serial number to get the factory to 'unlock' a camera.

I have had one camera messed with. The effort to steal the camera stopped when they pulled back the camo and found the Python brand cable style lock.

[BigTreeWalker]

I have had an SD card stolen out of one of my cams. The cam itself had a python cable so they couldn't get it. But it was a Plotwatcher and they can be opened even when cabled to a tree. 

 

All this just brings me to the realization though as to how easy it is to spot trailcams. Seems like in most cases everything or everyone can easily spot them. 

 

One trick I have used is to build a hanger that the camera fits into. It has a hook on it and I use an extendable paint pole with a tube on the end to place the cams 12 to 16 feet up in a tree on a limb. The camera is angled correctly to be triggered from the ground about 30 to 40 feet in front of the tree. Gets it out of the line of sight and makes it more inaccessible. The paint pole makes a useful walking stick when retracted. I'll have to add some pictures as I have the time. 

[NCBFr]

A stratgey I have thought of but not yet implemented is to put my first camera behind the tree opposite the direction I expect the target to be moving.  Then place a second camera further down the path but just slightly out of LOS facing the direction of the expected target.  This way if the target sees the IR from the second camera and retreats back up the trail you get a shoot of it both from the rear and front with the first camera.  If I am concerned about human poaching of my camera, I would put a third camera up a tree pointing down at the first camera.  Most people do not look up above eye level and/or are not comfortable climbing 10 feet up a tree.

 

My other plan was to use a reverse slope strategy and place two cameras shooting up a sloop towards the target's expected path.  I would place the camera's a precise measured distance from each other so that I could accurately gauge the size of the target if I am lucky enough to get a  simultaneous shot from both of the cameras.

 

 

 

 

[Catmandoo]

On 4/28/2019 at 6:31 AM, NCBFr said:

the direction I expect the target to be moving.

 

On 4/28/2019 at 6:31 AM, NCBFr said:

towards the target's expected path.

 

The expected path technique. It is not easy. If you do not have measuring devices, then walk around intermediate your cameras. Before and after image comparisons are helpful. If the cameras are different makes, different lenses and fields of view, your body size will help to scale your targets size.

[BigTreeWalker]

I keep the pictures with animals, say deer or elk, in various locations in the field of view. Comparisons can be done with these as well. 

[wiiawiwb]

Does anyone have experience using climbing sticks to get up a tree?  The location of where I'll put my two trail cams requires I backpack in.  That eliminates bringing a ladder in a vehicle.  Usually the climbing sticks are in 4' lengths. I'd only nee to get 6' off the ground to get the trail cam 12' up in the tree.

[BigTreeWalker]

The method I mentioned earlier was the best method I could come up with and not carry a bunch of extra gear into the woods. (Making a hanger and using an extendable pole.) 

Consider that the less disturbance you create in any area is better. And climbing trees with climbing sticks or a ladder would be a considerable disturbance. Not to mention carrying them in and out. 

Those screw in foot and hand holds would be an idea and a lot less to carry. A half dozen or less would easily get you 6' off the ground and still give you something to hang on to while attaching the cam. But then again, some disturbance screwing them in and out. 

[SWWASAS]

I have a ladder that is used by climbers that is steel cables with aluminum rungs.    It rolls up into a roll that can be carried in a pack.      But you have to secure the top to something that will hold your weight.     That takes some sort of pole to get it hooked on a branch so  I think the extension pole is the best route to go without the ladder and not risk breaking a leg if the branch you attach the ladder to breaks.        Let the thief risk his neck climbing the tree.    Some dude with a broken leg would be good BF bait right in front of your camera.  

 

Did you see that some 3 year old kid was out in the woods for 60 hours in Kentucky and turned up 1/2 mile from his house alive.   I wonder if he has a story about a big monkey man helping him.  

Edited May 18, 2019 by SWWASAS