Trail Cameras For More Than Wildlife
Kevin Felts 08.17.17
One of my colleges posted an article saying it was time to put out the trail cameras for deer – Deer Hunters: It’s Time for Trail Cams. Trail cameras provide another service besides taking pictures of wildlife, and that is taking pictures of trespassers.
It never fails, when hunters head back into the woods to check on their feeders and stands, some of them will be vandalized. Several years back, one of my fiberglass stands took several blast from a shotgun. From the hole size, it looked like around #4 shot.
Then there are the:
- Stolen feeders
- Knocked over stands
- Stolen solar panels
- Smashed feeders
- Doors and windows tore off stands
- Stolen batteries
Anything that someone can do to a piece of property has happened to feeders and stands.
Since the crimes are committed in areas off the beaten path, rarely are there any witnesses. However, sometimes there is a witness, and that is the trail camera. Attached to a tree, sometimes behind a bush, the trail camera takes pictures of anything that crosses its path.
Putting a trail camera in the woods is a gamble. Thieves will steal them just like everything else. To help prevent the trail camera from being stolen, there are cables that go around the tree and a place for a padlock.
If a camera will be placed in an area prone to theft, consider a cheap one.
- APEMAN Trail Camera – $59.99
- Wildgame Innovations 8MP k8i37d – $49.99
- Wildgame Terra 8 Trail Camera Black – $49.99
- Primos Bullet Proof 2 8MP Trail Camera – $49.41
It may not be your property that is vandalized, it might be your hunting buddies. So, having a trail camera does more than keep an eye on your stuff, it helps keep an eye out for anyone that is not supposed to be on the property.
Several years ago one of my cameras took a picture of a guy with a shotgun standing next to my feeder. I had never seen the guy before, nor he was not a member of the hunting lease. I suspect he walked over from the adjoining lease. He did not harm anything, which was great.
