Danielle is killing me!

[DuckHunt]

Well, not me literally, but my trail cameras. A few years ago bears started messing with my trail cameras. I'd get an occasional picture of one, then my camera would be repointed at the ground or sky. I didn't get much broken hardware, just repositioning to useless angles. I harvested one bear with a gun not long after, and the issue seemed to go away for a few years.

Over the past year it has started back up. I've got photos of a very big bear, but now I know he isn't culprit. My son Daniel has never been a fan of getting his picture taken. He goes out of his way to turn his head or otherwise mess up any photo of him. So in his honor, I named this bear Daniel. He found that amusing. Here is a photo from 24 September of "Daniel's" trip through my hunting area. Three of five cameras were touched, with two of them being removed from the tree.

If you look closely at the camera on the right, you can see evidence of the last time it had to be glued back together from a "Daniel" encounter

To avoid putting down too much human scent when checking the cameras, I decided to transition them all to cellular. First I put a new WGI cellular trail camera up at the top position on the mountain to avoid having to climb up there as much. Then I purchased three Spypoint Cell-Links for the three other cameras that would support a 12V external battery. I had visions of powering the Cell-Link and cameras off of the same battery so I wouldn't have to visit any of them for an entire season. Well, "Daniel" had a different idea.

Here is a snapshot of the Spypoint app on my phone. As you can see, the Cell-Links are only a week into their first month and none of the cameras have taken their first 100 photos yet. Actually, I had them take 12-20 testing at home before I deployed them so their total in the woods is even less.


As I headed to my stand for yesterday's successful hunt, I surveyed the cameras expecting carnage because two had stopped reporting. Carnage is what I found.

Two of the three Cell-Links were bare of external attachments. Antennas were chewed up or broken off. The tether cables were broken or chewed in multiple pieces. Both attached cameras were removed from the trees. One survived because the mount broke first. The other will be in need of some glue work. One was missing the memory card, which I can only assume was consumed.

The broken camera that still had a memory card provided evidence. It's not a "Daniel" terrorizing my cameras, but a "Danielle" as evidenced by the cub in the background.

Taunting me...


I've invested in 12v batteries and cases, but I'll need some new cameras now before I deploy any. I'm considering a couple more with built in cellular, but I'll have to get creative in mounting to help avoid the camera killer. Since she has cubs, she's off limits as far as settling the score. We haven't actually seen her in person, but we have seen her cubs so she has been close by.

I'm sure you guys up north have to deal with this all of the time. I wasn't planning on making an expensive investment in metal camera cases, but eventually that's going to start making a lot of sense.

Suggestions? Are there any repellents that will make a camera undesirable that won't have a similar impact on deer?

BTW, the last photo taken my new cellular camera at the top of the mountain was of a bear. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll see another pic eventually.

[janesy]

I won't use the cell links or the extension antenna around bears. I have bear boxes but I find the bite off the antenna. I find it's the young ones mostly.

That last two I set out, I went our of my way to make sure they were not covered in any scents at all. I actually used latex gloves to install them away from bear baits.
And they haven't bothered with them. Sniff, but no budging.

Altho I don't do it, I'd suggest mounting them high and pointing downward. Then the bear has to be real curious. But ya, wires are never going to work

[Normous]

Protective Camera cages and higher mounting as Jansey suggested will help. Search YouTube University for a DIY less expensive steel bear proof camera box using a small electrical box from the hardware store them camo it.

[Boo]

I had to change my baiting tactics because I get bears every month. They destroyed a cam and a corn feeder. Next year I'm going to relocate the feeder pole and put wire it up to a cattle fence energizer. They need to take a dirt nap.

[Hillcountry]

I’ve been lucky…lots of bears over the years but basically just one that sniffed and tickled one camera…one huge bear just sits and scratches himself while looking into the camera…what a clown!

[Sitkaspruce]

Camera Boxes lag bolted to a tree with a lock will work, but up here, elk and bears slobber all over the screen in the box, so last year I started putting them up the tree 8-10' and use a section of my tree climbing steps to access the camera. I then pile brush and stuff under the tree to keep the odd bear away.

Here is an example

https://youtu.be/SqTve7G7E5U

Cheers

SS

[ihunt]

Just build a small box with sharp nails sticking out that will stop them from poking around.

[Hillcountry]

Just build a small box with sharp nails sticking out that will stop them from poking around.

Or piss them off more!

[DuckHunt]

Well I finally saw "Danielle" today. We bumped into each other in the very dark walk in to my stand before daylight. I could hear "animals" up in a thicket that I walk past. I could hear the movement on the rocky terrain and crunching as they ate. I got up into my stand and not five minute later, I heard steps close coming my way. I could tell it was more than one animal. Before I could get my thermal detector out I could see it was a nice bear because it was only about 10 steps from my stand. She walked following my footsteps right to the base of my tree. After a quick sniff, she walked right on by with three cubs in tow and camped out under some oaks feeding about 40 yards away. At first I thought she only had two cubs, but I eventually noticed that she has three.

Once it got light enough, I was able to see them all at once.


After watching her and her three minions for more than half an hour, I'm fairly certain a trail camera doesn't stand a chance around this bunch. It's like a mom with three 3-year-olds walking through a store. They were all over everything. Nothing within 50 yards of them goes untouched as they walk through the woods. It was like kids on a sugar high.

Before I departed for the day I took some of the suggestions provided and relocated one of my cameras to more than 8 feet up, and placed one new cellular camera at least that high. I've already received deer photos from them today. Time will tell if hanging them high is enough by itself. Because these bears appeared to be just as comfortable going vertical as horizontal in their environment.

She's a nice sized bear. If she didn't have cubs and came by alone, I'd likely send an arrow her way. But now that I know how big she is, I'll look more closely to verify that any I see aren't her. The boar that I have on camera is decidedly larger and the only one I'm interested in.

[frisky]

Being that close to a large animal in the dark, would realy bother me. Good luck!

[DuckHunt]

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? (Proverbs 17:16 ESV)

That's how I feel today after a few weeks of dealing with bears and trying to keep trail cameras functioning in their living space. So far it has been a fools errand assuming I can put up a camera they won't use as jungle gym. In an attempt to limit my interaction with the cameras and spread scent, I've gone to 100% cellular. The Cell-Links didn't last a week. Now I have four cellular cameras. So far, none have made it 48 hours without being disabled.

I have them mounted at least 8 feet up. Today I erected obstacles under two of them. We'll see if that helps. Using scents on the trees that bears find offensive had little/no impact. Mounting the cameras hard against the tree works. Anything on a 1/4 camera mount comes down quickly.

Right now, it seems that the cellular antennas are the weak link. Being mostly plastic, snapping them off must earn them bonus points. I've looked at other antenna designs, but most sacrifice signal quality which somewhat defeats the purpose. I'm contemplating a 90-degree connector on the camera to a 3 foot cable ran tight against the camera (taped?) into a piece of conduit. The conduit would be bent in an L shape but likely less than a 90-degree angle (60'ish) to make it more difficult to climb/swing from. The shorter portion would be secured to the tree (lag bolts?). At the end of the conduit, at least 2 feet out away from the tree would be the antenna. The thought being to move the weak part to a position less likely to be accosted.

I have to agree with the previous comments that it's the smaller ones at work. The bigger ones just slap down anything at their level. They don't appear to be interested enough to climb. The smaller ones on the other hand, everything gets inspected. If it's in a tree, its fair game.

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22 ESV)

Any other suggestions? I'm not one to give up easily, but a man needs to know when to admit defeat or when the cost benefit will just never add up.

[Hillcountry]

What about smearing nearby trees with something they will be attracted to?
Get some sticky sweet substance that will keep them busy instead of focusing on your cams. I’ve also noticed that something hanging out of reach really puzzles them and the sit and try to figure out how to get it but get frustrated and leave. I realize these suggestions are not solving your bear problem but they are there until they go to sleep in their dens…a distraction away from your cams might work?

[Boo]

Stove pipe attached 5' up and around a tree will ensure they can't climb higher

[DuckHunt]

Stove pipe attached 5' up and around a tree will ensure they can't climb higher

That sounds like an excellent solution. I'm using trees about that size or smaller. Glimmer of hope.

[DuckHunt]

Yesterday I deployed 24" of galvanized stove pipe below three of my cellular trail cameras. My new setup looks like this:

Last night came the real test. The bear arrives...

And the bear departs, caught on a still-functioning camera.

Today I inspected the cameras and found evidence of the attempt on two cameras.

I touched up the paint since I had a can with me while re-deploying my fourth camera with new parts. I departed the woods about 4:30pm. 81 minutes later, this guy strolls by.


I still plan to remote the antennas away from the tree and camera, but the stove pipe seems to have solved the immediate issue. Now I can focus on trying to get an arrow into another buck with only one weekend remaining in my archery season.

A big thanks to Boo for the suggestion. For now, its a solid solution.