Game Camera Stolen...need advice

huntone · Post by **huntone** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:07 pm

I'm sorry to hear that. What you could do is to find an old game camera or something that looks like one and hang it in plain sight. Get another game camera and hide it high in a tree 9 or 10 feet or some place hard to find. Point the hidden camera at the decoy camera and put the hidden camera on video mode or to take stills as fast as it can. Good luck and I am sorry it happened.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:08 pm

number 2 actually worked for a camp up here, i don't know if they actually did have other cameras there or not, but they posted in the paper that they had captured the theft on another camera and if it wasn't returned the pics would be handed over to the police, the next wekk they had another add in the paper thanking the person who returned it

. what have you got to loose

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:09 pm

by the way sorry to hear of your loss

Hi5 · Post by **Hi5** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:11 pm

Don't advertise. Don't bluff.

Set up some other cameras so that you have a hidden camera recording what is happening to a bait camera.

After you have the evidence, go to the police. That won't prove that the scumbag also stole your first camera, but it would give grounds for the police to get a warrant and search the guy's house, etc. At least it could give him some grief, if that's any consolation for you.

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:28 pm

thats one reason I dont like solar and battery stuff like that.. its to much in one spot which catches the eye of passerbys! Normaly people wont even notice trail cameras, but start adding batteries and solar panels and they stand out.

as said above, dont bluff. If I had someone's pic then it would straight to the police. They know that also and will know you are bluffing. You could put cameras around, but what theif will return to the exact tree he stole a camera from? If anything, he will aviod that whole area. Chances are, its someone you know. They were probably going to setup a camera and saw this one so they just ripped it off and left. 9 times out of 10, most theives are people you know(from what I see in law enforcement).

Its always good to put your mark on a camera somewhere that only you are aware of. That way if it turns up, you can prove its yours.

it suks, but its not much you can do.. just like someone stealing a treestand:(

SPITFIRE · Post by **SPITFIRE** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:07 pm

Boy, If that don't frost your ba**s. Not much you can do now. It's probably gone for good. Even if you made it theft proor , short of cutting the tree down, they would destroy it anyway just because they couldn't steal it. It's a shame what this world is coming to. Sorry they got your camera. I had 5 tree stands stolen on my own land, by snowmobilers a few years back. I sure hope you do catch them....

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:59 pm

I know you are angry. I know you would like to confront the guilty person. But my best advice is to just forget about it and move on.

It is not worth the agony of trying to identify the guilty party. Life is just to short. I learned a long time ago that hunting equipment left alone in the deer woods seems to always find a way to walk out of those woods.

Try and turn it into a positive. Make it a challenge. Not only are you trying to capture wildlife on your camera, you are also trying to keep all those potential thieves from seeing it. Concealing your camera in many areas is just as important as camera location. And never assume private land is safe. Trespassing is looked upon as a very minor infraction by the unscrupulous outdoorsman.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:13 pm

Mike P wrote:I know you are angry. I know you would like to confront the guilty person. But my best advice is to just forget about it and move on. It is not worth the agony of trying to identify the guilty party. Life is just to short.

I must agree with Mike here. You have no reasonable chance of definitely proving who took your camera, and dwelling on it and trying to is going to eat you up inside until you move on to more profitable pursuits. No prison has bars stronger than one built out of the desire for revenge ... no need to incarcerate yourself therein.

A book I love says: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good."

The world is full of evil, and you've been touched by it. Use that as incentive to be the very best person you can be. Don't let what the thief did get the best of you ... even for one moment. Mike's right. It isn't worth it. Instead, you get the best of them ... by refusing to sulk over their wrong, and doing enough good to offset it.

As a matter of fact, instead of fretting about who did that to you and how you can get back at them, I'd challenge you to go out soon and do some undeserved favor for someone ... without them knowing ... without anyone knowing ... an anonymous good deed. See if you don't feel better.

You can make a difference in the world .... and the world needs it!

Beyond that, you can rest assured that the thief did not get by with it, even if you don't catch them. No one gets by with anything. There really is justice, in the end.

Maybe they'll turn around before it catches up to them.

TPM · Post by **TPM** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:41 pm

Gettin' ready for Sunday morning Grizz?

Doe Master · Post by **Doe Master** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:10 pm

As much as you are upset it is not worth the aggravation .
I have had tree stands stolen . I once had a stand cable locked to the tree . The perpetrators used three shots from a shotgun to take out the cable . I was so consumed with finding it I left my bow back at the truck and went for a walk . I ended up walking up on one of the biggest bucks of my life ,to within 25 yards . I watched him for probably 5 minutes .
Moral of the story is if I had not been so consumed with the loss I would have been hunting from one of the other stands he would have to walked by .

lscha · Post by **lscha** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:43 pm

I'm so sorry for you because I know how you feel. That hurts right in your chest. Mike and Grizz are right though: no one really 'gets away' with stuff like that. Even if they don't connect the punishment with the deed, it will come. You should relax and don't waste your energy believing that you have to be the one to administer it. It does take energy to be angry.

Now, I'd still hang another and set a trap camera too. It would be almost as fun as getting a deer on film.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:56 pm

TPM wrote:Gettin' ready for Sunday morning Grizz?

Nope. Already ready for Daddy's Day!

Cutter · Post by **Cutter** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:57 pm

Sorry to hear about your cam xbow. Maybe the low lifes will get what they deserve

Cutter

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:28 pm

TPM wrote:Gettin' ready for Sunday morning Grizz?