Looking for a trail camera good for catching photos of two-legged interlopers. Must blend in well, be silent, and have to flash or glow. Any suggestions of a product and installation tips & tricks? Obviously if the subject were to spot the camera, they would attempt to take it down and any incriminating evidence along with it.
Trail Cam Invisible to Two-Legged Critters
- Thread starter bigfutz
- Start date
- Replies 31
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Mount it high enough to need a stool or ladder to get it. Might have to angle it. I don't use trail cameras on our property because 100% of them have walked off. Luckily I didn't put any of those up. But the ladder trick I have really considered.
I've posted cameras on public gamelands before. Some cameras have a visible red flash, others do not; the ones that do will attract attention--I had a photo of a guy with a headlamp staring right at my camera and I know it's because he saw the flash. Some of them are made so that a security cable goes around the front so it can't be opened (other hunters have been known to remove the cards when they don't want you to know what they know). I've also mounted them higher on the tree but when I do, it seems that there's always something that keeps tripping the sensor and I get thousands of pics of nothing. My camera can usually do about 2,000 photos before the lithium batteries die, and they are kind of expensive, maybe $15 for a set of eight. I do have these cable locks and they work great:
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-...20517&sr=8-5&keywords=trail+camera+lock+cable
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-...20517&sr=8-5&keywords=trail+camera+lock+cable
My neighbor has trail cams that send you pics as they are taken to your phone. They are WAY expensive but I think if you had them on your property where you could respond in real time they might be beneficial...
I've always liked the idea of a camera on a camera. Like a cheap, sacrificial camera almost in plain view with another trained on it. The second one should be hidden as good as possible, even if that means placing it up high and angled down.
Yeah, any IR (infared) flash cam will work for you. Play with it in your yard. Make sure you cover any red lights that tell you the camera "just went off" with electrical tape. easy peasy. Those Moultries are good ones. Just remember you have to get them close enough to see a face or tag number. Most tags are easy to read.
A freind of a freind had one set up at his cabin on the road. He had all of his appliances stolen. This was last year. the camera caught a few pics of the truck and you could tell it had a odd dent in the tailgate. It was one of the older Fords with the weird "extra cab". Not too common. He posted it all over Spacebook. He sent me a few pics and I actually saw the truck, follow them long enough to get a tag number and not scare them, and they were arrested a county over shortly thereafter.
They work.
A freind of a freind had one set up at his cabin on the road. He had all of his appliances stolen. This was last year. the camera caught a few pics of the truck and you could tell it had a odd dent in the tailgate. It was one of the older Fords with the weird "extra cab". Not too common. He posted it all over Spacebook. He sent me a few pics and I actually saw the truck, follow them long enough to get a tag number and not scare them, and they were arrested a county over shortly thereafter.
They work.
I have nothing constructive to offer, but damn I HATE a thief. It's ridiculous we have to do this to protect our property and possessions. End rant.
Looked at the umpteen hundred cams they have at Cabela's and no matter how cryptic they get with the camo and shape of the flash holes, I don't see how a person couldn't spot it right away. And putting brush or whatever natural camo on it would surely disrupt the motion detection and/or picture. Seems like somone would make one with a itty bitty camera/flash (like in a phone) and put the box elsewhere (like on the back of the tree).
Ehh, not entirely true, a lot of the old ones and I assume some of the newer ones have glow when the IR diodes flash, dim, and really nothing projected so you have to be very close or looking at it, but it's there, cheap diodes I guess. I don't think any have made human audible noise in a long time.
Elevation is your friend, people don't look up unless they taught themselves to or something catches their attention.
Is this for an actual trail or something else?
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ncengravers
Guest
Most game cameras with any IR visible can be picked up with a simple Samsung phone.
Next time you are I the woods at night, just turn your phone camera on without a light and you will see a glowing dot even at 20-30ft away.
I didn't believe this until I tested it with my neighbors phone against my home security cameras. Sure enough you could spot them clear as day.
Next time you are I the woods at night, just turn your phone camera on without a light and you will see a glowing dot even at 20-30ft away.
I didn't believe this until I tested it with my neighbors phone against my home security cameras. Sure enough you could spot them clear as day.
Ikarus1
Avtomat Krishna-kov
Moultrie makes a mobile modem that is $99, plus a $50 camera. Not that expensive, esp if you mount them up high where you'll get plenty of face shots of an idiot if he tries to climb up to it. Right to your phone.
When you mount them high up they are more affected by the tree's movement, causing the view to shift slightly and the number of pixels changed triggers the pic. That's my theory anyway.
Digital camera sensors are generally sensitive well into IR and a little into UV. Most cameras have filters in front of the sensor to filter out the IR. I am a little surprised that the Samsung filter maybe isn't very good.
If they pick up a security cam they will pick up IR illuminators for night vision sights as well.
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Ikarus1
Avtomat Krishna-kov
Aim them down and don't mount them under low hanging branches. Also, better cameras have less false positives. My stealth cams do much better than my cheaper mountrie cams in this regard.
I also gave up using tree straps, and bought these cheap on Wally clearance. they let you mount a camera off the tree a bit and aim them up down and side to side.
https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Mount-Trail-Camera-Olive/dp/B01MS6DNVL
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Same with video camcorders, IR tv remotes glow when you point at the camera and press the buttons.
I'm amazed at how big they still are. Seems like the tech is there to make them smaller and less obtrusive. Cams that cost hundreds of dollars shouldn't be the size of a cinder block...
I've left mine in the woods for 8+ years & have caught multiple people scouting/wandering in the woods behind our home. It's in a steel case made for it & I mounted it with 2 3/8" x 2.5" lag bolts. I shim the top/bottom to get the angle I want. No one has tampered with it. I'm still only 80% sure who these buggers are, it's a screen shot of a boy dancing.
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Ikarus1
Avtomat Krishna-kov
That picture makes me want to fence my place with concertina wire and have a 24/7 patrol of roaming packs of rottweilers. I hate people.
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ncengravers
Guest
That's exactly how we found that out. I bought some surefire IR flashlights when gander mountian was going out of business.
Understood, I've one Rottie & can't afford to fence off the acreage. After a year of cameras being visible & moved about, and a 250 yard hunting/rifle range strip through the woods. I only see young kids playing in the woods 1-2 times/year.
A buddy of mine had this problem he placed a hidden camera above the ground camera the hidden one took a picture and texted it to a GW on duty that night he had no further issues with someone taking his cameras.
fishgutzy
Senior Member
You test an IR remote control battery by pointing it at any digital camera. Ha!
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Now ya gettn it!!!