Low life Camera thiefs

[AZ420]

I’ve put trail cams out for many years and have been lucky not to have any stolen. When I put them on water I understand that there’s a better chance it might not be there when I return. Knowing it is fairly risky to put a cam in a well traveled area, is there any law against someone for stealing a cam?

[hoghntr]

Ive put trail cams out for many years and have been lucky not to have any stolen. When I put them on water I understand that theres a better chance it might not be there when I return. Knowing it is fairly risky to put a cam in a well traveled area, is there any law against someone for stealing a cam?

I know who you could ask but he has been M.I.A. for while.

[SirRoyal]

Sorry, Gentleman not all of us are keyboard operators! Lol. Been in the field every week looking for the scumbags! But all I'm finding is some real nice bulls!😁👊.

Oh by the way after 72 hours your trail camera is consider abandon property right?

So If Im there with in that 72 hours and catch you guess what its Felony Theft. So bring it on scumbags. Im looking forward to your conviction!

[hoghntr]

Sorry, Gentleman not all of us are keyboard operators! Lol. Been in the field every week looking for the scumbags! But all I'm finding is some real nice bulls!😁👊.

Oh by the way after 72 hours your trail camera is consider abandon property right?

So If Im there with in that 72 hours and catch you guess what its Felony Theft. So bring it on scumbags. Im looking forward to your conviction!

I was refering to the known cam thief that has been mia for while.

[1uofacat]

wow, what a read...

 

like others here, was hoping to see pics of those caught in the act, but perhaps later.

 

I've not had any cameras stolen, but have locked some of them, and others were not easy to get to or far off the "beaten path", so perhaps that's part of why I've been "lucky." I have had a treestand stolen however.

 

As far as the 72 hour thing, where did that thing come from? What law is that? So, if someone parks a trailer in the woods, goes back into town for 3 days, we can take that too because it's considered "abandoned"? I'd like to hear that logic explained to a judge!

 

 

Looking forward to some pics of the guilty ones!

[1uofacat]

BTW, was wondering if you lost the camera that took this pic...?

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/80019-the-trail-cam-celebration/?do=findComment&comment=797295

[knothead]

Before cameras and portable blinds became popular many people would hang tree stands on water tanks and leave them up for long periods. Lots of people complained that they had theirs stolen. 20 years or so ago I talked to a cattle rancher I ran into on a summer scouting trip. He told me he would find many tree stands out in the middle of water holes when they would dry up or get really low. He figured people cut them down and would throw them out there. He was kinda pissed about the hole deal because he thought his cattle would injure a leg or something when drinking. I don't see near the number of tree stands on tanks as I used to.

[1uofacat]

Before cameras and portable blinds became popular many people would hang tree stands on water tanks and leave them up for long periods. Lots of people complained that they had theirs stolen. 20 years or so ago I talked to a cattle rancher I ran into on a summer scouting trip. He told me he would find many tree stands out in the middle of water holes when they would dry up or get really low. He figured people cut them down and would throw them out there. He was kinda pissed about the hole deal because he thought his cattle would injure a leg or something when drinking. I don't see near the number of tree stands on tanks as I used to.

Tree stands are a lot of work. It takes some specific gear to set one up safely, can take hours to set one up depending on the area, and you need to find the right tree. Once you set one up it's generally there for the hunt given the amount of work to set it up in the first place. The best manufactured treestands aren't cheap either, so that's why I make my own. It's easy to just order ground blinds which takes only a couple minutes to set up, and you can move them wherever you want to at a moments notice. The last two elk I've taken were from treestands including a P&Y bull in my avatar from about 12 yards who never knew I was there (bulls were not talking much as it was a "hot" September that year).

 

While portable blinds can be the "lazy man's" way of hunting, they have advantages such as the ability to move around in them w/out the fear of being seen, having two people in them relatively comfortably such as taking your wife or kids hunting and getting them real close to animals, not having to climb a tree in the dark, not worrying about falling out of a treestand, being able to take a nap if you want, some protection from the elements, and of course ease of use/setup/take-down etc. It's certainly a whole lot cheaper for my treestands as mine only cost me about $25 of steel to fabricate one (I am a welder too), whereas the most effective portable blinds cost several hundred dollars each (great material, construction, etc.). My family and I have several of the original Double-Bull blinds before they sold out to Primos, which are the best I've personally seen. There's other good portable blinds, but none I have seen that I like more then the original Double Bull Blinds.

 

I think the rancher you mentioned was a very isolated case that probably happened once, and IMO he over-reacted. For all we know, he cut the treestand down, or made the whole thing up because he's had bad encounters with hunters. I've never seen treestands just taken down and tossed aside, nor have I ever heard of that before your post. What's (probably) more true to life is other hunters taking treestands that they feel are "abandoned" to use themselves elsewhere. 10 years ago in 5BN I found a treestand which was still fastened to a tree that had died, split, and fallen over destroying the treestand. The strap anchoring it was dry-rotted indicating it was there for many years. I was in that exact area the previous 2 years hunting elk and never noticed the treestand before convinced I walked right by/under that tree many times. That year an elk was taken by our group within 30 yards of where that treestand was too,,, it was by a "very good" trail no doubt.

 

I have several treestands, and actually have had one set up for years on a good trail, but it's relatively hidden so I doubt anyone, other than those of us who use it, know its even there. We put up our treestands a week before season, then and take them down at the end, or right after the end of the season (w/in a week or so). Note that we generally don't put up treestands adjacent to tanks as it's too easy for someone else to "screw it up" for us, whether it inadvertently done or on purpose. We place treestands on trails and use them based on current use, which seems to change a lot during season with pressure. That's why we usually have several set up, not just one or two.

 

Oh, and most importantly, we use cameras to identify current use, what time of day, and what animals are using the trails. We typically put out cameras a month or more before season and "hide them" as best we can so unless a hunter is looking for cameras they won't be seen. That said, we've never had a camera stolen. We also use lock boxes on most of them, so that at least makes us feel safer about camera thieves anyway.

[ThomC]

If G&F had any balls they would ban cameras 1/4 mile from water.

[MT_Sourdough]

If G&F had any balls they would ban cameras 1/4 mile from water.

Thankfully, G&F used their brains as opposed to balls in determining to leave it alone for now. They asked leading authorities in the hunting world if cameras are in conflict with philosophy of fair chase. The answer was a unanimous "No."

I still have yet to go anywhere that has any or more than one camera. I am not saying that there are not places where they are in excess, but it is obviously more limited than many of you care to acknowledge.

Personally, I'd like to see more areas shut down to ATV's and enforced with severe penalty. I have not heard of hunters losing access and opportunities because of cam use, while abuses by ATV users is the number one reason why hunting areas are being lost.

Sie la vi

[SirRoyal]

BTW, was wondering if you lost the camera that took this pic...?

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/80019-the-trail-cam-celebration/?do=findComment&comment=797295

No Sir! By the way thats last years bull! No updates yet on Thief. Except so far he has not hit again. But we are watching and waiting for him.

[Cam bandit]

youll never catch us .

[SirRoyal]

youll never catch us .

Your a funny man!

[wildwoody]

youll never catch us .

What a fricken dirt bag, that's a dick thing to say

[huntlines]

Cam bandit,

 

Funny thing is, you have not tried again. Sure is weird, since this thread started my cameras have not been messed with. I didn't want to think someone on this forum would be a thief but sure has gone quiet around my cameras........