I got a pm the other day asking about securing and concealing my cameras so I thought I would share how I anchor my trail cameras in beaver country. Often times I can not find suitable trees to attach my camera when setting up in swamps or creeks due to the large volume of smaller willow or alder trees and usually the best ones are smack dab in the middle of an opening being worked by beavers.
Just wrapping a cable around a large willow will not save a camera from a beaver chewing down the tree and dumping it in the water or actually taking it away.
I have been using these Berkshire Earth Anchor disposable trap stakes to provide a solid anchor in the ground to secure my cameras cable. That way if a beaver happens to take down the tree it will not make your camera part of it’s dam. I also wrap my camera’s cable around another tree if possible so if it chews down one the camera is still supported. You can find the trap stakes online for $15-$20 a dozen and you can pay more for longer lengths of cable.
Here is a pic of the anchor with a piece of rebar and it inserted into the ground.
If you look close at the pic below you can see my camo’d cable wrapped around the willow in the background. It is also wrapped around the base of the cut willow holding the camera and looped into the Berkshire anchor. This area typically has a lot of deer traffic, but the only good tree to place the camera would have it facing the sun so I had to improvise and place it in the small willows. Also take a look at the two pictures and notice the difference a little mud, dirt or moss can do to eliminate the eye catching, bright white stubs.
The case, cable and lock were camouflaged with duct tape to help keep them hidden from the two-legged thieves. Below are a couple pictures of the before and after.
While I am talking about camera camo, I will mention that the Remington brand of camo tape sucks when it comes to keeping its color. The color faded on this camera after a few days in the sun last summer. While it may work in some areas, it was not what I expected. You can see the faded tape on the left camera and the original tape running across both cameras.
So for now all my cameras will be getting the duct tape camo.
