If you’re going to be using a trail camera for scouting and even home security purposes, the last thing you want to happen is to have it stolen. Good quality trail cameras don’t come cheap, but even if they do come cheap, you still don’t want other people to steal them. To keep your trail camera secure, here are a few tips on how to keep trail camera from being stolen.
How to Keep Trail Camera from Being Stolen
So you’ve bought your trail camera, you’ve read the instruction manual, and you’re about to set it up in a good spot where a lot of deer pass through. But how do you keep your trail camera from being taken by petty thieves and other hunters who are too cheap to buy their own? Well, this section can give you a few good tips to prevent that from happening.
1. Set them up high
A good strategy to keep your trail camera out of the line of sight is to set them up higher than you normally would and angling the camera downwards so that you still get your pictures. When the camera is out of plain sight, there is less chance of a passerby seeing it and possibly taking interest in it.
Moreover, even if a person passing by sees your trail camera and takes interest, there is a chance that he won’t be a good enough climber to reach your camera and take it. Still, some people may do the effort of climbing up a tree to steal a camera, but setting it up higher than normal would put most people off.
2. Use a lock box
There are a lot of commercially-available safety boxes or lock boxes that come in handy when you want to prevent theft and weathering. Most companies that make trail cameras also make lock boxes that are compatible with their devices. So before purchasing a trail camera, you may want to look into their lock boxes and order it along with the camera.
Lock boxes take more time to install and you have to put in a padlock on there, but the peace of mind that comes with using a secure lock box is worth it. Moreover, you can protect your valuable trail camera from any bears that may scratch or bite at it.
3. Camouflage it
Making a trail camera blend with its surroundings is also a good strategy to hide it from plain sight of thieves and vandalizers. You have a lot of options when it comes to camouflaging your trail camera. Firstly, you can choose to buy a trail camera that already comes in a camo-print design, or you can paint a design of your own.
Secondly, you can use branches, leaves, vines, etc. to conceal your trail camera from plain view. This will make it blend it further with the surroundings and lessen chances of theft. Moreover, it won’t spook deer since they will see it as a natural part of their surroundings.
4. Use hiding spots
Another good way of hiding your trail camera aside from camouflaging it is to use smart hiding spots. When you are in the woods, scope out for a hollow tree or dead stump to hide your trail camera in.
On the other hand, if you are using your trail camera for security purposes, thieves are less likely to look at a birdhouse or hanging flower pot for a security camera. Use your creativity to find good hiding spots for your trail cameras. You can even use fake rocks if you’d like!
5. Use extra precaution
Say you’ve already purchased a lock box for your trail camera and had it installed successfully. Persistent thieves may still be able to get to it. You can discourage potential thieves from stealing your trail camera by adding extra locks on it, such as a cable lock or chain that will be extra hard to cut or destroy.
Moreover, you can also purchase no-cut padlocks or no-cut chains that are specially made to be virtually unbreakable. They are more expensive, though, but they will provide extra security for your trail camera.
6. Report thieves
If you do catch a thief with your trail camera, you should report it immediately to the authorities. However, let’s hope that your camera captured a clear image of what they look like so you can have better chances of getting your trail camera back.
Conclusion
Keeping your trail camera secure is a preliminary step to a theft-free experience. Those trail cameras don’t come cheap, so you should take the extra steps to keep them as theft-proof as possible. Hopefully, this article on how to keep trail camera from being stolen helped you on that.
