Ever find a trail camera?

[Nutsknr]

I shoe them my ass. I would laugh, hoping owner does too.

Then we move on

 

[Squamch]

I had an emergency a couple years back, found a perfectly curved tree limb to handle the emergency on, just off the trail I was walking. Took care of business, turned around to burn the TP, and saw the camera in the locked box pointing at me. Well, that's that, nothing for it, stepped away, two steps later the cabin came into view. Very well concealed from the trail.

 

[Tanner W]

I have found a few and try to stay out if it’s range but if I happen to cross it I’ll just give a thumbs up and move on. I’ve had my camera stolen from a water tank, when I returned there were 3 other cameras and a tree stand there....

 

[MeatBuck]

I check batteries, if they’re old I consider it littering and pull the camera.
Don’t abandon your gear on public land, it’s the same as littering.
Same goes for tree stands, when your done for the season pull em down. The weather and animals destroy the seat padding in off season so why leave them?
Also if you don’t want other public land hunters checking your cards then put a lock on the camera. As for you poor guys who have them stolen from private property, well there’s no excuse for that.

 

[Marmots]

I just smile and walk by. It's tempting to check the card, but I'd hate to mess with someone else's metadata or settings.

Cameras that look grossly misplaced or abandoned could belong to an agency or researcher who are studying something other than the usual game animals. These folks usually leave a card or note on the side of the camera, but by the time you check it you could misalign it.

Dead batteries doesn't mean a camera has been abandoned. It could have been poorly placed just a week ago, and immediately burned up all of its juice taking 20,000 photographs of a clump of leaves blowing in the wind.

 

[D.Rose]

If it's on public land and not locked then it's public information... I always keep a card reader with me.

 

[Crotalus]

I just keep walking, which is what other guys have done with mine so far.

 

[DerkPerk]

No, but this guy found mine.

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[H2PVon]

I feel obligated to make sure there's some goofy picture(s) of me. Don't need to touch other peoples stuff for that.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I check the card if able and make sure they get a shot of the moon before I leave.

 

[Dakota Dude]

I can't believe some people think it's ok to touch other people's property, whether its on public land or not. If your boat is tied up at a public dock, does that mean that anyone can take it fishing? If your car is parked at the library with the doors unlocked, does that mean you can open it and take it for a spin? If your 40' camper is parked in a public campground, does that mean anyone that walks by can stay in it. NO, all of these things are illegal, just like taking someone's trail camera because the batteries are dead.

If it's on public land and not locked then it's public information... I always keep a card reader with me.

This mentality Is wrong, flawed, immoral, and unethical.

Taking someone's camera because the batteries are dead is STEALING. I just replaced batteries on a camera that was dead for 12 days. If you walked by and took it, I would have called the game warden.

 

[D.Rose]

To each their own. I run over 30 cameras on public ground and don't care one bit for anybody to check them as long as they don't take my stuff. No different then hanging a stand and somebody hunting it when you ain't there.

 

[slick]

Easy Dakota Dude, D Rose never said he stole stuff. He just said he checked the pictures.

I’ll go check pics if I find one and then leave it as I found it. Have come across too many to count, I don’t find that distasteful.


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[Rich M]

Leave it be. If enough folks wkby they'll get the hint

 

[Finch]

My cams are cable locked to the tree (if not in bear boxes) and I also use a small pad lock to lock the door. I also use my label maker to make this statement. "Do you see my other camera? It sees you!" I affix this to the top or side of the cam where they will see it if they were determined to cut the cable and steal it. I think if I saw that, I'd walk away. I've never had a cam stolen and I get plenty of ppl pics on public land.

Myself, I've come across quite a lot and just keep walking. I try to give a thumbs up so they know I saw their camera but didn't have the desire to steal it. I'm hoping that carries on to others.

 

[Haggin]

Found one on our private/owned 160 acres a few years ago overlooking a new food plot we put in. Jackwagon had to cross two fences to get there as the gates are generally locked, it was almost as far from the road as you could get. I cut the cable and took it to the County Sheriff and left a note to call them for it. Never heard if they went to get it.

I think i know who it was there's a youtube wannabe big league hunter down there with stands and cameras all over the 1/4 south of us, some faced "over the fence".

Wife wanted to stage a scene for it, me dragging in what looks like a body in a sheet and burying it right in front of the camera. I figured i didn't need the State Patrol visiting me in the middle of the night after they saw the pics.

 

[Burnsie]

My brother and I were hunting in SW Colorado - we were back in several miles where you had to pipe in light.
We were in the middle of nowhere and came across a nice wallow area where a spring had formed a small boggy swamp area. We were skirting the edge of it when my brother looked up and noticed a nice treestand. We started looking around and found two more treestands and two game cameras and an elaborate plateform built between three trees with a stash of some sort hanging from it. We left everything alone, but wondered who in the world was man enough to drag all that gear up there. About a 1/2 hour later further down the mountain in an equally remote spot we found a camp that had apparently been left by someone who had planned to come back - bears had tore the place apart - loafs of bread spread all over, sleeping pads ripped up tarp tore down,...etc.
Were were hiking back out the next day and met a local on horseback going in - we got talking to him and mentioned we had found some treestands, game cams..etc. He asked where, and we described it the best we could - he said it was his stuff and he would bring his wife up there too. He asked "You didn't take anything did you?" We assured him we had not, but let him know if that was also his camp, he was in for a big surprise.

 

[TheCougar]

I’ve found a bunch. Except for one occasion, I’ve never touched one. Once, I was sitting at a water hole for hours and staring at this camera on the water hole. After about 4 hours, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I checked the pics (didn’t erase anything), replaced the card, and resumed my position in the blind. Don’t really regret it - told me not to bother sitting on the water hole any more and saved me setting up my own camera and coming back to get it later in the hunt. Maybe questionable, but I hiked 3 miles around private to get to the tank and the dude that set up the camera drove up in a truck from private, so I justify it with comparative effort.

 

[Dodgetrapper]

Find them all the time on WMA’s here, just smile wave and keep going

 

[MattH]

If I come across one I'll mark it's location and try to stay away from the area