Trail Cam Security Box

[BassBlaster]

So I bought a new trail cam last week. I hate thieves and want to protect my investment so I decided to build a security box for it. I couldnt find one available for my model in the stores or online. Here is what I came up with. It is 3/16" plate steel welded solid then hinged to the back plate. It will then be closed with a bolt to hold it closed tight then locked shut with a padlock. Its gonna take a couple ratchet straps to support this thing it is quite heavy. The box itself then gets locked around the tree with a 3/8" cable then padlocked. This may be overkill but its all the scrap I could find laying around the shop at work. I tell ya, I think its gonna take some type of explosives for some one to steal my cam!! I'm sure someone who wanted it bad enough could get it but they are definately gonna have to work for it!! I cut out some camo stencils that a fellow Tinboats member hooked me up with and shot a little camo pattern on it so it would look cool.

Here is the result....

 

[Brine]

That looks stout. Nice job.

My buddy made something similar after someone stole his from his back yard :roll:

I told him just to buy another one and set it up high in a tree pointing down on the new one so he would know who was trying to steal it. He didn't want to spring for the extra one.

 

[BassBlaster]

This will be in my backyard as well, actually about 150 yards from the house. I live on 14 acres and see does every day but have yet to see any bucks. I know there are some out there so the cam will tell all. We have a railroad track that runs at the back of the property and then a subdivision across the tracks. Some of the kids from the subdivision cross our property. i doubt they will ever see this cam but I just wanna be safe with my equipment. I considered putting it up high where no one could reach it but the instructions said to hang it about chest high.

 

[Brine]

Yep you're right on with the chest height. I was saying to buy a second one to use to catch the thief.

He lives in a subdivision, and the big boys only come out at night.

 

[Jovush]

A few ideas from ArcheryTalk's DIY forum

https://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1249763

 

[sum-kina]

heck of an idea!! never thought of that....

 

[BassBlaster]

Thanks guys. I got her hung up today over a corn pile mixed with apple flavered Feeder Fire pellets. Hope I get some action.

 

[basshunter25]

Nice security box. Since I had one stolen from me I now bring a lone wolf hang on step with me so I can get the cam about ten feet off the ground. I angle it down and as long as you clear the brush it takes good pics and the sun doesn't foul up pics. I also use a summit hawk treestand that have the strap recievers to hang the stand so I can throw the stand up quick and take it with me when done or I hunt from my climber. Its a shame I have to try and outsmart deer and @$$holes. :x

 

[sum-kina]

no doubt bout that! pisses me off that theres idiots out there that have the balls to do crap like that!!

and if i was ever able catch them red handed.......wow at the consequences they would have to pay.... [-X

 

[BassBlaster]

I couldnt resist going out to check my cam today because I saw deer in the field last night. I had 26 pics. 3 were night shots of some does and the other 23 were all daytime shots of the sun glaring. My cam faces kinda West / South West so I figured I would get a few glared shots in the evening but the pics at 9 this morning when the sun was behind the cam look just as bad, some are completely whited out. Any suggestion besides move the cam? This is really the only location to mount it. I searched the net for similar problems and found a company that makes a Trail Cam Visor, suppose to keep shots clear in rain, dew, snow, sun glare, etc. I went out to the garage and fabbed one up. Will install it tomorrow. I dont feel very confident it will solve the problem since I still had the problem in all the shots all day long. Anyone think this will work? Have other suggestions? Thanks.

Here is the day time shots, they all look like this, this is actually one of the better ones...

Here is my home made visor...

 

[Quackrstackr]

Yikes.

That is some serious whiteout.

I don't run any cameras because I just know some a-hole would steal them around here. Locks only keep honest people honest. If I had a notion to and thieving tendencies, I have a set of bolt cutters that would make about 2 seconds of work out of pretty much any locking device out there made for outdoor equipment. That thought is what keeps me from buying cameras and leaving expensive stands in the woods. When I do leave a hang on and climbing stick, I lock them up but I know I'm just adding about 5 seconds to some thief's removal of my hard earned equipment.

 

[BassBlaster]

My only advantage is that I live on the property this cam is on. I can go back and check it everyday if I like. I dont think your average thief is walkin around with bolt cutters in hand, I could be wrong. I feel like someone would have to find this and then come back for it. Chances are they are coming back after dark and I will allready have thier pic on the puter for whatever thats worth. Probably nothing but its what i keep telling myself cause I really dont want someone to steal my stuff!!

 

[Quackrstackr]

haha.. I hear you.

I've seen them take stuff that I would have never thought that they would take, though. Usually if they can't steal it, they will just destroy it. :x

You have a leg up living there. You will probably be fine.

 

[BassBlaster]

Yeah I read another post somewhere and a guy was using a similar box to protect his cam. They couldnt get the cam out so they destroyed his cam through the opening. I dont really have any ideas to remedy that though.

 

[BassBlaster]

Here is my little visor installed. I hope this does the trick.

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

thats a nice'n to be home-ade, you need to be mass producing them things on ebay :wink:

i never had a problem untill some a-holes started stealing cameras and stands were i hunt (gamelands righ behind my parents house) so i quit putting mine out.

if seasons slow i may have to put it up in the open and try and "bait" some of those sorry sob's

 

[BassBlaster]

Thanks loggerhead. I dont really have the equipment to mass produce them. The steel was scrap from work and I had to cut it with a cut off wheel in my grinder which is a PITA. My welder is a little cheapo Harbor Freight model flux core. I do love metel working and welding just dont have alot of knowledge and proper tools to do it.

So the visor did squat. Got my pics today and all the day pics look exactly the same, complete white out. I'm getting ready to email the manufacturer and if they dont have a solution its going back to the store.

 

[BassBlaster]

I got with the manufacturer who told me the cam was defective so I took it back. Hung the new cam and got the exact same reult the next day, complete whiteout pics. Over the weekend I did a little experimenting with it and finally figured it out. My cam has a sensor that determines if it needs to flash or not. No where in the manual or online does it mention this sensor or the flash. The sales rep failed to mention anything about it either. I thought my cam only flashed infrared. I had the sensor blocked inside the security box. I had to open the hole a little to expose the sensor to light and now I'm getting beautiful daytime pics!!

 

[brmurray]

yeah my dad leases his farm and me and the guy who leases the rights are great friends. We have had cables cut by folks on cameras and ladderstands. So we bought one of those transmitting trail cameras and sure enough it disappeared to....but not before we could give some pics to the sheriff!! :LOL2:

 

[dyeguy1212]

I've found out the hard way that wild game cams are trash. I got one of those two packs for 80 and they both take half-black pictures at night. I returned them and got a new pack, and they do the same thing.

I've read others have the same problem. Wildgame's customer service is lacking, so I'm stuck with two faulty pieces of crap. Luckily its just the bottom half, so if I mount them knee height I can catch the deer's head most of the time... :roll: