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Hiding your trail cams

8K views 34 replies 18 participants last post by  turkeygirl 
#1 ·
What do you do to keep your trail camera hid or do you worry about it? After reading the thread on why trail cameras spook deer I have been thinking about this more and I am going to move my cameras higher in the trees to start with. Has anyone built a box to set them in and left the box year around and just put the camera into it when they wanted? I have seen some of the awesome camo jobs done with liquid nails and I really like that. Has anyone got any tips, photos or advice?
 
#7 ·
This is tough. No matter if you are on private or public your cam can get taken. Stay off the beaten path. Be carefully checking cams in the snow. The better you can camo your build the better off you are. Nothing is bullet proof. I know people that are so paranoid that the cam sitting the closet. Believe it or not it can get stolen there just as easy. I had one stolen last year 10 feet in the tree that was a IR cam. That was the local Pa game warden. The cam was facing a funnel going into a food plot. Nothing infront of the camera. Iwas trying to watch this area and see whole stole the camera that was there the year before.
 
#8 ·
first and foremost you need to lock your camera to the tree. Most thieves dont carry wire cutters with them, however if they want it bad enough they will come back.
 
#12 ·
I keep mine off the beat in path. I point them away from typical approach from human perspective. I also make sure people dont see me with them and I camouflage them pretty well. I have lost a couple for a short time because I forgot were I put them then couldn't find it.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
Deer get used to them pretty quickly. I have pics from a month back of a doe sniffing the camera (first deployment since winter). I'm sure it smells like me, and that's part of the plan. :)

After two hunting seasons using them on my land (the previous hunters didn't use them at all), the deer just about smile and keep doing their thing.
 
#17 ·
I put mine out yesterday and went back today to add another mineral to have a mixture. Went ahead and changed my card to see if I had it angled right. I had two different bucks hit it in less than 12 hours and neither one spooked. Mine is on a post I made on the edge of field about 20 yards from the woods. The part that seemed to spook them last year was the blue display. I took black tape and covered that and haven't had any problems. I also bought a cheaper wildgame camera so if it does get stolen I wont be as upset as if it was a reconyx or something.
 
#18 ·
Liquid nails, etc is good for home brew cams or cameras out of warranty , also good on lock boxes. but.... IMO unless you chop a hole in the tree to fit the camera in there it still looks like a square box on the tree. So .. I take it to the next level. Using camo material or lately I have started using natural vines if any vines are in the area I'm setting up in. Check these out . You would have to walk very close and look directly into the camera to see it. Also this is a very remote location so I used 18 ga wire to mount cam to the tree. Other places I use lag bolts and python locks if I am anywhere I think anyone will stumble on.

Side View , 10 ft. away


Front View , 10 ft. away
 
#21 ·
Thanks, I wear gloves to keep scent down when I cut the vines. I use the same wire to bundle them on one end and tie it to the tree. I had this camera out from October through March . I got photos of over 20 different bucks , 3 shooters and no telling how many doe. Not one deer noticed the camera .
 
#22 ·
No I never got my cams back. They are very dirty in how they do this. Remember when they took the cam they left no note or anything as to who took them. I asked them and they denyed they took them. In my first hearing one of those cams that was cut off with a hatchet was in the evidence box. I would have never thought they would do something like this. Man was I stupid.
 
#30 ·
that really sucks, did they give you a reason for taking them? How did your hearings turn out if you dont mind? Ive been wondering cause a friend of mine has had 2 taken off a state forest. This was during the off season and we intentionally left them late on a sunday evening and returned for them early the following saturday morning so they wouldnt be there during the weekend. We feel sure they were taken by the state foresters but they deny knowledge of them when we asked them about them. At another spot thats on natl forest property we asked a warden there about putting up cams and he said he wasnt sure because they may be a "fire hazard", I just hide them good and hope for the best now.
 
#23 ·
I stink mine up in the off season intentionally (I wipe sweaty hands on trees as I work). I want the deer to get used to smelling me in their home, and then if they bust me in season it's less of an issue.

This is starting to pay off. Last fall I had a doe and three fawns get right on the spot I was leaning against a tree, and they only took off after I moved to reach my bow, but even then they weren't sure what they were uneasy about - I had 3 of them staring at me for over 2 minutes at 30' and the fawn behind me ended up leading the exodus.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still huge on scent control in season - I had another doe almost run into me while hunting on the ground in a state park I'd never been to before. It just helps when they aren't spooked by winding you, if it does happen.

Eventually, I hope to elicit the pavlov's dogs response to my scent: have them come running to me. :D This is because over time they should start associating me with the chainsaw and dinner bell of fresh cut trees.
 
#24 ·
This might be off topic but does anyone use cover scent like racoon wizz on the cam tree?
 
#25 ·
Hi Gage, I do the very thing that you mentioned leaving the steel lock boxes on the trees year round. They are 3-D camoed and fastened by heat treated, steel lag screws, once they are positioned where I want them I can remove the cameras to change cards or batteries without disturbing the positioning. The animals get very used to the look and smell and I get thousands of pictures every month.
 
#31 ·
See if you can spot my cam in this picture:


I get a heavy gauge chain from Lowes or Home Depot, heavy duty Masterlocks and lock my cams to the trees....I keep them off fields if possible, off trails, and avoid anything too wide out in the open....I also use some of nature's materials to help camo them.
 
#33 ·
Show me..


QUOTE=turkeygirl;1063950616]See if you can spot my cam in this picture:


I get a heavy gauge chain from Lowes or Home Depot, heavy duty Masterlocks and lock my cams to the trees....I keep them off fields if possible, off trails, and avoid anything too wide out in the open....I also use some of nature's materials to help camo them.[/QUOTE]
 
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