any tips to prevent game camera theft?

[pointysticks]

i'm thinking of buying a couple of the cuddeback ambush cameras.

i am not fortunate to live near elk-land..and will resort to some good intel from some friends to find elk. i'm very new to this elk hunting thing. i'm learning. i KNOW unit 36 very well in NM..but that aint gonna happen anytime soon..again.

so keep trying new areas, exploring. having fun.

i think it would be beneficial to keep a couple of cameras with me. if we see sign in a promising area, leave a camera behind to collect some data. come back, if we capture some good images. that way we can cover some more areas more thoroughly...my friend has had two cameras stolen from our public hog hunting spot.

i love looking at the pics we get. this is my sit spot for public land hogs. there is a hole in the fence the pigs use..and this. i think this camera was stolen after this trip.

[cnelk]

I tape my cameras up with camo tape.
I don't use the straps
I drill 2 holes in the back cover and I screw it to the tree with some heavy screws
I hide the screwdriver nearby so i don't have to carry it

Some guys look for the black straps that go around the tree to steal the cams.

[Swede]

There are a number of things you can do to minimize the risk of theft.
!. disguise the camera. Cnelk's 100 mph tape trick might help.
2. if you are at a well know place, then place the camera back along a trail that leads to the destination. I know you compromise in the amount of pictures you get, but at least you hold onto your camera.
3. set your camera up at places that are well away from roads and trails.
4. use a heavy duty chain and lock.
5, use the cheapest camera that will meet your needs. If you are just needing to determine what is in the area do you need a beautiful photo of an animal?

The truth is that if someone finds your camera and wants it, you need to start thinking about buying a replacement. Don't set your camera up at any place where one has been stolen, unless you feel like playing Santa Claus for some rotten thief.

[idahoghost]

When I place mine, I always use a few tree steps to get them up at least ten feet off the ground. Very few people ever see them or can reach them. With that being said I always use a cable lock as well.

[CrazyElkHunter]

I make plastic coated cables and run them thru the housing where the straps go on the back and lock them to the tree. I use adjustable angle brackets from Primos and pop rivet them to the camera rather than screws. I also camo tape all areas of the camera that need it. Some are already camo from factory. Once I mount it on the tree, I cut branches and cover cable, lock,bracket, sides and top of camera. Everything but the lens area. They would have to destroy the camera to get it off the tree if they found it. A few years ago, I was packing my tree stand to hunt a wallow one afternoon and a hunter was sitting on the ground, 5 feet from my camera and never knew it was there. When I told him I had a camera on the wallow, he said no way. When I pointed at the tree next to him, he still could not see it. When I proved it, he was very surprised, and said he would move on and good luck. Very sportsman like. I shot the 6x5 I had pictures of from the previous evening 2 hours later.

[LckyTylr]

You know what would be really neat, ever seen the blue die that fire alarm pull stations shoot out when activated? My high school had a rash of idiots in my class that thought it was funny to pull false alarms . . . then my school stepped up and bought these new pull stations. they squirted blue die ALLLLLLL over the culprits. That only happened twice after that.

I would figure out a way to make them deploy when someone tampers with the camera and swap out the blue die for bear spray.

[RockChucker30]

You can make 3d camo with liquid nails and then custom paint it. On my home brew cams I use a pipe through the housing so I can mount them with a python cable lock.

[wawhitey]

i use the python cable lock too, and lock boxes. dont lag to tree tho. of course i just started using cams like a year ago so maybe ive just been lucky. also i do think theyre less likely to be noticed if theyre 10ft or so up as somebody said. but i think if you lock it up and keep it off the beaten path your odds of keeping it are pretty good. when people see a camera from a skid road and see that its just on with a velcro strap, well, lot of assholes out there.

[BobcatJerry]

I'll cable them on if it is in a bad area, but one thing I do do to all of my cameras, and I don't know if it really helps, but I put my last name all over it with a paint pen, and I will even scratch my name in it so all can see. If they do steal it, they will have a hard time selling it, using it in front of others, and may recognize that the camera isn't theirs. I even do this to my tree stands. It is very obvious that it carries an ID with it and has someones name on it. Doesn't hurt.