How many times you have heard of missing cases of trail cameras? Many times probably from your close ones. It is a fact that trail cameras are very much susceptible to getting stolen or damaged. That being said, we will talk about How to hide trail camera from humans with essential tips and tricks.
Trail cameras also known as game cameras are intended for wildlife photography or capturing hunting images. These cameras are also used as security cameras for the property or backyard. Whatever the use may be, trail cameras are kept remotely to capture images and videos. That’s why, trail cameras may be subjected to missing or taken away by the thief.
Trail cameras are not that expensive items. Some cellular cameras come with 100 to 200 dollars. Being worth so, there is no guarantee that it will not be stolen. Hence you need to take special care to avoid such mishaps with your favorite trail camera.
Hence in this article, we will discuss essential tips to hide trail camera from humans.
Ways to Hide Trail camera from trespasser
Wildlife lovers employ trail cameras for amazing snapshots and videos of animals wandering freely in the middle of a forest. Who wants to discover that the trail camera is missing? Trail cameras are not worth thousands of dollars.
Even with a low price tag, there is a chance of getting it stolen. That’s why, people want to find ways to hide trail camera from trespassers.
As trail cameras are located remotely in the jungle or backyard of the farmhouse, there is no person to monitor them 24/7. We will mention essential tips below for hiding a trail camera to avoid the possibility of theft of such a device by a trespasser.
8 Essential Tips for Hiding a Trail Camera
If you wanna save your trail camera, you can go through the below essential tips for hiding a trail camera. These are practices followed by many wildlife and hunting photographer to protect the trail camera from possible theft cases.
Locate your camera out of the Passway(Hiding a trail camera in plain sight)
You need to watch for two aspects when placing your camera. Firstly, If you place your camera near to human passway, it is very easy to get noticed by people. And not all people have the same mentality. So you need to avoid crowded places for putting your trail camera. Also, don’t leave any free pathway or footprint to reach your camera.
Secondly, you need to place your camera safe distance from animals. As you don’t wanna let your camera be stolen, you don’t want to find it damaged by animals either. If the place is crowded with animals, chances are that it will be hit by the horn of the animals.
Trail cameras have a detection range of about 65 to 80 feet. So you can keep a safe distance of 25 to 35 feet from your target objects or animals.
Place the camera high from the ground
This is another essential tip to save your game cameras. Maybe you want to keep the camera close to the ground for some stunning snapshots. However, that increases the probability of getting damaged by humans or wild animals. The point is, if the camera is not touchable without any ladder, chances are less for any theft.
The best way to save your camera is, put it 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Trees are abundant in the jungle or remote areas. So you can fix it with the trunk or branches of the tree maintaining the elevation. You can use a foldable ladder to access the height necessary for placement. Special screwed hooks are also available to fix with the trunk for reaching the elevation.
Choose a small trail or game camera
A small or tiny camera has a lesser chance to get noticed by the stranger and so lesser prone to theft or vandalism. So you should select a game camera that is tiny and compact, yet serve your purpose of amazing wildlife photography.
With the advent of technology, trail cameras come out to be very compact with eye-catching resolution and quality. You can hide these cameras easily with less camouflage on them. For choosing small game cameras, you can go through the best trail camera for under $50.
Camouflage your camera with a natural look
Trail cameras generally come with camouflage design and color so that they cannot be noticed easily by strangers or animals. The motion sensor tracks the movement of wildlife and takes snapshots.
The main reason to camouflage your camera is to hide it and avoid the possibility of getting noticed. You can camouflage with natural leaves and bucks of trees, but these will eventually dry out and be washed away. So it’s better to use plastic leaves or boxes for further camouflaging of the camera.
However, you need to ensure that the path of the camera sensor is free from any obstacles during hiding activities. Otherwise, your mail objective for photography will be hampered.
Put a Tag on your trail camera
Many people want to keep it secret but this will help you to find and claim your camera once it is lost or stolen. Writing your name and contact number by engraving might be enough to carry your identity with the camera.
If you have your tag on the camera, you can complain to the police and ask for assistance to track it easily. The cellular trail camera has a better chance of tracking than a non-cellular trail camera as this uses a mobile network for connection with mobile phones. Spypoint and tactacam are good brands for cellular trail cameras.
Use No-Glow trail cameras for night watch
No flash is required to take daytime snapshots on the trail camera. However, for taking night images of animals, flash is required for illumination. Flashes give the chance to locate the camera easily by strangers. Also harsh light from the flash can spook the animals while taking shots.
Nowadays, trail cameras are designed with no glow IR technology for capturing night images. So trail cameras are not detectable by humans while capturing black-and-white night images of animals. also, animals are not scared while they are roaming there freely while taking images.
Hiding trail camera in birdhouse
This is one of the old techniques for hiding a trail camera. You can use both natural birdnest or manmade nests whatever is available. Using a nest is a very effective way to disguise your trail camera from humans as well as other animals.
While putting the trail camera in the nest, you need to check that there is no obstruction along the camera sensor to get a clear view of the animals.
Use a hard mounting box to fix the Trail Camera
Although it might seem an expensive solution, surely an effective solution to protect your trail camera if seen by a trespasser. The mounting box also saves the camera from being thrown away by a rainy storm or gusty wind.
A hard and sturdy mounting box is very much difficult to break with normal tools. Since it is more likely that the stranger is not equipped with special tools, they will leave it even if they find it.
A lot of options are available for mounting boxes and protection locks from many manufacturers. Using a Python cable lock is a good option to secure your trail camera.
Things to consider when Placing the trail camera
When purchasing a trail camera, important points from hiding aspect of the camera are-
- The camera needs to be compact in size.
- The camera should have a nice camouflage design(varies in different trail cameras)
- The camera should have no-glow IR for illumination.
- The camera is available with a hard mounting box with a lock option.
It is suggested to check the below points when putting your trail camera on the spot.
- Keep a safe distance from animals or humans.
- Hide the camera with extra camouflage stuff.
- Put your name and identity tag to report any lost case.
- Use a mounting box with a locking option. Python cable lock is preferred.
FAQ on Hiding trail cameras
There are some common queries regarding hiding trails or game cameras. we have considered some questions with answers for assisting our visitors to disguise and protect the trail camera.
How do you hide a trail camera from people?
You need to look for two aspects. Firstly, Find ways not to get your camera discovered by unknown persons or intruders. Secondly, Protect the camera from stealing even if it is discovered by them. You can hide a trail camera by taking the below measures-
- Choose a small trail or game camera.
- Locate the camera away from the crowded place or passage.
- Place it high above the ground where people cannot reach it normally.
- Camouflage the camera with artificial leaves and bucks.
- Hide the camera inside a bird’s nest in disguise.
- Use a camera with no glow IR lighting.
- Put the camera inside a sturdy mounting box and protection lock
Can humans see trail camera flash?
Humans can see the normal flashlight of the camera. However, most trail cameras today use no-glow Infrared illumination for capturing night images. These wavelengths are invisible to the human eye and hence not detectable.
How far can a trail camera take pictures?
Trail cameras are used for Wildlife monitoring, Hunting, and Hiking activities. You can get impressive imagery of wildlife and track their activities in the forest. Generally, trail cameras can take pictures at a distance range of 65 to 80 feet. However, some expensive trail cameras can make it up to 110 feet.
Last Thought
So, guys, we have discussed 8 tips for hiding a trail camera from humans. Using these tips, you may protect your trail camera from being discovered by intruders. However, no one can give guarantees for hiding your camera. You need to visit the area yourself to check the surrounding area and to find out the best options from available resources.
Also, you need to focus on ways to make it harder for the thieves to steal the camera. Using a sturdy mounting box and protection lock gives further protection from your camera being taken away.
You can share your experience of hiding a trail camera if any. Stay with us for more tips and tricks with trail cameras.
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