How do you hide/disguise your trail camera?

[pd]

The recent thread about trail cam theft (no, I have never/would never steal somebody else's trail camera, on either private or public land) has got me worried.  I have just purchased my first trail camera, and I have been making plans about where to put it.  If you have any photographs of your trail camera, in its actual location (e.g. on a tree), would you post it here?

In particular, I would like to see how others have hid or disguised their trail cameras.  Like others on this site, I have never seen a trail camera out in the field, so I just don't know how elaborate you all are in setting up your system.

Do you use a security box?  Camo tape?  Moss or twigs?

Thanks in advance.

[Kola16]

I couldn't tell you, because someone would steal it if I told everyone what I did

[uplandhunter870]

i dont own any or run trail cams but heres my two cents if its valid:

personally id get a lock box, its easier to decorate than the cam it self and wont hurt the resale if you were to ever sell it. i think we can take a page out of the military snipers camo book here, use what you can from the immediate area moss, twigs, or bark from a fallen tree of the same species youre hanging your cam on and try to duplicate what the cams hanging on. the best camo'ed box wont do squat if you camo it with pondo bark in an area where there arent any pondos.

thats just my two cents for what theyre worth

happy trail camming haha

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

I have painted mine with flat colors in a camo pattern, but nothing sticks out more than the BLACK STRAP around the tree. I try to cover that strap with moss 360* and preferrably on Maples or a tree that has moss already.

[BowForElk]

  I got a lock box shot some flat black brown and green on it then put some moss on it with epoxy and lag bolted it to a tree with 5" lags then blended it with the moss on the tree a little bit. looks pretty good but I think the best thing to do is put your camera where no one goes..

[Heredoggydoggy]

I got a lock box shot some flat black brown and green on it then put some moss on it with epoxy and lag bolted it to a tree with 5" lags then blended it with the moss on the tree a little bit. looks pretty good but I think the best thing to do is put your camera where no one goes..

   That's almost exactly what I did--less the moss.  BowForElk's last statement is the key...put the camera where the dirtbags never go!

[jaymark6655]

mini gillie suits   

[jackmaster]

i do the same  camo it up with the surroundings, but if someone finds it it wont be to hard to steal, i wire the S out if it but a pair of bolt cutters or some good wire cutters and its theirs, i just hope that if someone is gonna steal it that i get lucky enough to catch them, they will be a few digits short than what they started the day with...

[Heredoggydoggy]

my biggest fear is that once it snows, my tracks will be easy to follow to the camera.  That's when I'll take the camera home.

[ICEMAN]

I have never tried one... but if I did I would;

Camo the unit up pretty good.
Place a decal on it, advising they have already been filmed nearby.
Use shadows to my advantage, IE attach  crossed sticks and debris over and around the device.
Hang it at a lower or higher elevation than what is to be expected.

[bradslam]

First, buy a good lock box for it.  I use one from  CAMLOCKBOX.com.  They make more secure units then the ones available from the camera companies.  I have a Bushnell Trophy Cam and the lock box that Bushnell puts out is horrible.  I use a Masterlock Python cable lock in conjunction with the lock box.  CAMLOCKBOX sells them together as a set.  Finally, put it in a location that is unlikely to see other human traffic.  Other than the times I have had the camera set up to watch my truck at a trailhead, I have only got one photo of a person and that was when I had it set up in the woods next to my house.  I will sometimes use some ferns or branches to help disguise it.  Just be careful they are not hanging where they can blow around in front of the motion sensor, otherwise you'll get lots of photos of nothing.

[grundy53]

Hide in plain sight. The only one I've tried to hide is the only one I've had stolen...

[bobcat]

I don't do much to hide mine. But what I do is put them in obscure places, off any main trails, and just spots where people are unlikely to walk. Which is why I've been using apples for bait. With the bait I'm able to put them just off the trails where otherwise animals wouldn't necessarily be on a regular basis. I had one this year set up without any bait and it was on a buck rub, but on private land where as far as I know, nobody else hunts. In two years of trail cameras out there I haven't yet gotten a picture of a person. And none of my cameras out there are locked up.

[wapiti hunter2]

Camo paint. Three colors.

[pd]

Thank you to all for the many comments.

UplandHunter’s point that security boxes can be decorated (whereas cameras cannot) is valid.  I suppose that you have a choice of painting a camouflage pattern on the lock box, or attaching moss & sticks with glue/tape.

Lcl66Tinner raises a really interesting point: The black strap around the back of the tree really is a dead give away.  I will look for a couple shades of tape (dark green, brown) at the outdoor store.

BowForElk makes maybe the best point of all—place the camera where nobody will see it!

HereDoggyDoggy also raises a point that I have never considered—checking your camera in the snow can be dangerous, if somebody follows your tracks to the camera.  This is a problem for me, because I wanted to put the camera out all year (December to August), to chart movements in animals throughout the season.  I appreciate this advice, and I will be extra careful during the winter.

BradSlam, thank you for the input on CamLockBox.  I also have a Bushnell, but not the original security box.  I will look at CamLock instead.  I am happy that you posted this (saved me some money).

BobCat, that is interesting.  Instead of putting the camera over a game trail, you purposely located the camera deep inside the woods, away from a trail??  I guess that this makes a lot of sense.  If you are using apples, it wouldn’t matter where you put the camera, because the deer/elk (coyotes, raccoons….) will smell the fruit, and find their way to your station.  Nice idea!

WapitiHunter2, yours is the only camera that I have seen on location.  Thank you for posting this picture.  You really made an effort painting that box with 3 different colors.  From my eye (not an expert), I think that your setup is very well hidden.  Nicely done.