Trail Camera... How High can I set them?

[John3]

I've always worried about buying a camera because of thieves. I will buy a camera if I can hang them high enough that a thief will need a ladder or gaffs to steal it.

Is this high mounting possible?


John III

[bofish-IL]

Some guys hang them real high in trees with homemade wedge type things screwed to the back of the case to get the right angle for the shot. They claim if the camera is the flash type hanging them high will prevent the flash from spooking the deer also. I would think by doing so you would narrow the field or range of the PIR that detects motion to a smaller area. Especially if you just have it on a trail with nothing as bait to hold the deer for the shot.

[rascal]

I usually set mine several yards from the area I expect deer to be photographed so I suspect you can set them high enough to discourage theives.  As mentioned earlier though I think it will limit the area you can cover since it wont have nearly as large a trigger area.  There are also enclosures you can purchase that are designed to make the cameras more difficult to steal.

I wouldnt mind having more cameras now that Ive had my single unit out most of last season, I also suspected that it would get stolen since I cant monitor the property.

[George D. Stout]

Put a note on the camera that it is being remotely monitored and any theft attempt will show who is the bad guy.

[John3]

George if only that would work.. These thieves even on my private ground are brave. Brave but lazy!  If I can mount a camera high I will buy one. I have a really nice buck that I need to pattern this summer.  I think a camera will help me.

JDS III

[rascal]

I know a lot of people are using cameras these days to try to pattern deer, I can say my own experience hasnt led me to believe that I could reliably pattern a single deer on my lease.  I had my camera (just one) in several different locations on my property over the season, it was out over 100 days and I only saw some deer one time on the camera.  Some deer I personally saw I never got film of, others I saw several times but with no reliable pattern.  In other words I never sat in a particular stand at a particular time based on my trail camera.  It was great to see the deer that were wandering about on the lease but I hunted like I always hunt.  

I dont say this to discourage you from using a trail camera but to caution you that you may not get the results you are hoping for and if you get in the habit of intruding on the deers area to check your camera you might even get the opposite results.  I only checked my camera about once a week at the very most.

[Jim Jackson]

John,

I've had good luck mounting them at various heights, from ankle height angling up, to 10 ft up angling down.  Just play with the settings to get the best coverage.  A lot will depend on how quick the trigger is.  My old stealth cam needed a few seconds to fire and height was a disadvantage.  I got a bushnell tropy cam for christmas and its fast trigger time is adaptable to all kinds of mounting situations.  If your willing to bring a ladder or gaffs with you, I think you can make it work.  One of the lock boxes and a python lock help a fellow to sleep well at night also.

[acadian archer]

rascal is right on. I know a guy who "patterned" himself right out of a nice buck because of too many visits to his cameras.

[bofish-IL]

I will add that I have used trail cameras for 5 years and have thousands of photos. All mine are the homemade type with the white flash. One thing I have noticed, I will get several daytime photos of the older big bucks, but after a couple times of night time photos with the flash the big boys will not be on camera unless you move the camera again. They don't leave the area because I have seen them but will bypass that one area. Some will not agree but this has happened every time I get photos of big ones at night.

[lilbobby]

I hung a Cuddy IR this year about 14' to catch a trespasser, it worked!