Trail camera thiefs

[eastfork]

Has anyone went out in the woods with the intent to catch a thief?  If so, have you been successful?  You can PM me if you want. Also, if you catch a thief, do you take care of it yourself? What are the odds that they ever get persecuted.

I have a plan up sleeve, just curious on people's thoughts

[Dan-o]

There is a great thread on here from a couple years ago.   

Guy actually walked up on the thieves and caught them.   He prosecuted them and won. 

Definitely look it up.   Its a great read.

Its easy for a lot of internet tough guys to tell you to pummel the theif you catch.......   you never lose a simulated fight over the internet. 

My advice:    handle it legally.   Prosecute to the full extent.  Make them regret their ways. 

Good luck. 

[Jingles]

Speaking from experience unless you have pictures of the thief actually taking the camera it could be said all your evidence, even if you can identify that the "suspected" thief was the only person in the area from the time you put the camera up until you found it missing, is circumstantial.
Still believe a good thing would be exploding dye packs,fluorescent green or purple would be my preference. Then let the thief have to admit how he got covered with permanent dye in court when he filed injury charges against you. ""I was attempting to steal a trail camera when I opened it and the dye pack exploded""

[MtnMuley]

There's a big difference between persecuted and prosecuted.

[HooknoseHunter]

Are these cameras on your own property? Because that changes things. I have 90% of my cameras on my own property and I usually only put the old crappy ones on public land just in case someone decides they need them more than me. I’m not sure what the rules are on public land but I’d imagine the thief could argue you had abandoned a camera on public land and it’s kind of a “finders keepers” type situation.

[jrebel]

1.  I am not willing to go to prison for a $100 camera, so solving it on my own it out of the question.  If you give them a good beat down....they will report you and you will be in worse trouble than a thief stealing a camera. 

2.  I would rather spend my time finding an area that doesn't have other people to steal a camera, as opposed to trying to catch a bum.  Move on and move your cameras to more remote places. 

3.  Even if they get prosecuted....it will result in a slap on the hand. 

4.  If I did have a plan, I would not post on the internet.....now there it is premeditated ("I have a plan up sleeve" if I use your exact words) and if it goes the wrong way....you go to prison for even longer. 

If I actually caught someone in the act, I would call 911 and report the act.  I would attempt to document with a cell camera / video.  I wouldn't engage unless I absolutely had to for the simple reason that I may loose or someone may get very hurt / killed over a camera.  Kind of puts things in perspective.....you may be the one on the losing end of the fight.  Most people in the woods have guns so absolutely nothing good can come of this scenario. 

I absolutely hate thieves and feel your pain.  If you really want to catch them....hide cameras that are on both video and photo and catch them in the act.  Turn it over the the local authorities and make them famous on the world wide web. 

Just my two cents.   

[fishngamereaper]

Causing injury however minor to protect low value personal property on public land could get you in jail and possibly sued....

Remember, trail cam theft's are very low misd crimes, and these days the offender will not even see jail. Let alone a judge....ever.

[eastfork]

Causing injury however minor to protect low value personal property on public land could get you in jail and possibly sued....

Remember, trail cam theft's are very low misd crimes, and these days the offender will not even see jail. Let alone a judge....ever.

Totally agree! I have no plans of such, my plan up my sleeve was a plan on how to catch them!  Not even sure it worth wasting the energy to catch them. But what sucks is that they will do it again,  and again and again until when...that what bothers me. If nothing is done then we will just keep encouraging them to steal at will...kinda like shopping at target in California now. Grab what you want and walk out. Social embarrassment may be the only punishment they get. But most probably won't even care of that.   

[jrebel]

Causing injury however minor to protect low value personal property on public land could get you in jail and possibly sued....

Remember, trail cam theft's are very low misd crimes, and these days the offender will not even see jail. Let alone a judge....ever.

Totally agree! I have no plans of such, my plan up my sleeve was a plan on how to catch them!  Not even sure it worth wasting the energy to catch them. But what sucks is that they will do it again,  and again and again until when...that what bothers me. If nothing is done then we will just keep encouraging them to steal at will...kinda like shopping at target in California now. Grab what you want and walk out. Social embarrassment may be the only punishment they get. But most probably won't even care of that.

These guys get caught all the time and they just don't care.  Look at the statistics for repeat DUI offender, petty theft, assault and battery, etc, etc, etc, ...... thugs / bums don't care about getting caught.  On the rare case you catch a good person making a bad decision....you may make a change, most likely not the case though. 

Move on and know your cameras are in a place that thugs are.  I personally wouldn't want to hunt that area knowing those people frequent it. 

Again...private property changes certain aspects of what we are talking about. 

[Piscatory_5]

Use cellular cams so you get you photos even if camera is down and disable the camera once you know it's been taken. It will be useless to them. Or get locking cables and bear proof case for each.

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[pianoman9701]

Post two cams. One that’s obvious and one that’s harder to see. If this happened on a trail, put one up at the trailhead to see if you can get a vehicle pic. They won’t be looking for cams next to the road. You might lose three cams or you might get lucky and get him in the act. Don’t confront anyone in the woods, ever. Observe and report. If your evidence is good enough, you may have both civil and criminal avenues to explore. Depending on where this is taking place, the sheriff might be willing to get involved with the right evidence…or just go somewhere else. Sorry about your stuff.

[pianoman9701]

Use cellular cams so you get you photos even if camera is down and disable the camera once you know it's been taken. It will be useless to them. Or get locking cables and bear proof case for each.

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Good ideas.

[Jingles]

Use cellular cams so you get you photos even if camera is down and disable the camera once you know it's been taken. It will be useless to them. Or get locking cables and bear proof case for each.

Sent from my SM-N981U1 using Tapatalk

Lock boxes not a guarantee as had a friends camera that was bolted to a tree stolen as it appeared they either brought in a Sawzall or a hack saw and cut the bolts anchoring the lockbox to the tree

[eastfork]

Causing injury however minor to protect low value personal property on public land could get you in jail and possibly sued....

Remember, trail cam theft's are very low misd crimes, and these days the offender will not even see jail. Let alone a judge....ever.

Totally agree! I have no plans of such, my plan up my sleeve was a plan on how to catch them!  Not even sure it worth wasting the energy to catch them. But what sucks is that they will do it again,  and again and again until when...that what bothers me. If nothing is done then we will just keep encouraging them to steal at will...kinda like shopping at target in California now. Grab what you want and walk out. Social embarrassment may be the only punishment they get. But most probably won't even care of that.

These guys get caught all the time and they just don't care.  Look at the statistics for repeat DUI offender, petty theft, assault and battery, etc, etc, etc, ...... thugs / bums don't care about getting caught.  On the rare case you catch a good person making a bad decision....you may make a change, most likely not the case though. 

Move on and know your cameras are in a place that thugs are.  I personally wouldn't want to hunt that area knowing those people frequent it. 

Again...private property changes certain aspects of what we are talking about.

Pretty much summoned up exactly how I feel. Still pisses me off cause even by moving on its like they won. Which really hanks me.

[Jingles]

Causing injury however minor to protect low value personal property on public land could get you in jail and possibly sued....

Remember, trail cam theft's are very low misd crimes, and these days the offender will not even see jail. Let alone a judge....ever.

Maybe if you are buying the 49.95 cameras it could be low value but when the camera cost 200.00 to 300.00 dollars IMO that is not low value. Alternate is to let the carrion eaters have a good meal.