Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Public ground and trail cameras

bowtech150

bowtech150

Backstrap Assassin
Just talking with a buddy last night and we were wondering what luck people have had with cameras on public ground. How many people have gotten them stolen. What have you done to protect your cameras from thieves?
 
I use cam-lock boxes on all my cameras with python cable locks. I am now also pitting the cameras 10ft or higher in the tree and angle them down. My cameras are not on public ground but some of it is treated like public but have had luck with no one taking them. Also I put different camo on them to help them to be harder to spot.

With the way the heat is right now I don't think many people are walking around public timber much right now.
 
on mine i use liquid nail and glue on artficial vegetation from a craft store. also use a python lock. none stolen yet.
 
I had 2 cameras stolen off public ground. There was atv tracks right off the private ground right to my cameras. The private ground is well knowen ground in southern Iowa, and a lot of people know who these people are. Besides the jerk move on there part I have had other cameras up with no problems.
 
jjclausen said:
I had 2 cameras stolen off public ground. There was atv tracks right off the private ground right to my cameras. The private ground is well knowen ground in southern Iowa, and a lot of people know who these people are. Besides the jerk move on there part I have had other cameras up with no problems.
Click to expand...

Where they locked up? I keep my cams locked up tight on public and no problems yet. I did have a treestand stolen that was locked up on public ground. The die hard crooks will always get it no matter what you do.
 
I have had quite a few cameras on public ground before. It seems like most times, even if you think your in a place you wouldn't expect to see anyone else, you still wind up getting someones picture. Just hope they are nice enough to leave it.

About 10 years ago i had a Trailmaster setup that used a 35mm camera and a separate box for the board. The camera was sitting in an open air box that had a solenoid on top to depress the shutter. I showed up to check the camera on public land and noticed it wasn't sitting in there the same way i left it. After i had developed the film it had pictures of 3 or 4 teenagers walk past it with guns during squirrel season. They then took the camera out, took pictures of themselves (smiling the whole time) and put the camera back in it's place. It was really funny looking at the pictures but i consider myself lucky they didn't steal it or worse yet , shoot it.
 
wow yeah that was pretty lucky I have looked into the cam lock boxes and python cables. Was wondering how strong those cables were. Been having troubles got some ground next to public ground and had some stray walkers. Stolen tree stand and just recently all the corn we had in our foodplot got cut down.
 
I will let you know here shortly when I go check cams. I put one of my cheaper cams right next to public land but still on the private ground we have permission to be on. My buddy says I am putting too much trust in people, and sadly I probably am. But I really get sick when I think about it sitting out there now. I guess I would like to think that fellow sportsmen would respect others and what they are trying to do, but there will always be those greedy people in the world.

Here is a thought passing through my mind: If this cam gets taken right on the boundry its pry by another hunter scouting or checking own cams right? So do they steal it to take the camera and use it as there own, OR do they want to see what is on the camera and the camera itself is just an added benefit?
 
I have had one camera stolen on private ground that gets treated like public..I seem to end up losing more camera cards than anything, or they get switched out in my camera. That ticks me off more than anything.. And otherwise, I have never locked up any cameras, and still dont... I guess I trust fellow hunters, but realize I shouldnt at the same time...
 
bowtech150 said:
I have looked into the cam lock boxes and python cables. Was wondering how strong those cables were.
Click to expand...

The cables are strong. If they carry bolt cutters or a hacksaw im sure they will be able to cut it.

They are more to keep the honest people honest. That's why I to put them higher out of the line of sight.
 
Cooter said:
The cables are strong. If they carry bolt cutters or a hacksaw im sure they will be able to cut it.

They are more to keep the honest people honest. That's why I to put them higher out of the line of sight.
Click to expand...

Cooter what are you using to angle the cameras down? I've been trying to come up woth a eT that I can set the camera higher on public land without using screws.
 
I made up my own brackets. I don't hang my on public so I use screws but it wouldn't be hard to weld some loops on them for straps. There is a thread on here somewhere.
 
For the angled down shots, I just take a short Bow Hanger, drill a hole in the bottom, and run a bolt through it into the camera. put it up in a tree and you can adjust the down angle by moving the hanger.. Easy $10 camera mount.
 
Whatever you decide to do just remember that the best thing you can do is put them where you would expect no one to go, and camoflage them the best you can.
 
I have lost 3 in WI on public. THEY ARE NOW ILLEGAL IN WI from what I'm hearing. WI has a lot more traffic though bowhunter wise. Now I don't run mine on public only on private. The public I do hunt I know it has MONSTER buck potential on any given year
 
It only takes two shots with a large caliber handgun to break the large 5/8 python cable lock. How do i know? Coon-hunters did that to get one of my camera's last year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom