Posted: 8/24/2024 4:15:28 PM EDT
|
Hopefully this is the right place for this topic. We recently purchased 37 acres of land where we intend to build a house in a few years or so later and it's 30 minutes to 1.5 hours away depending on traffic. We've already had people stealing (they stole a large culvert pipe that was for a creek crossing) and we've found lots of sign of people being in there. We just posted several trespassing signs and have several to go. We need some cameras to hopefully catch the trespassers. They'll have to be cellular cameras but wow are those expensive. Needless to say we are definitely cash poor at the moment and we have zero experience with these type cameras. I'm hoping for some advice for brands and or models to consider or to avoid, keeping in mind the budget issues. Also any advice about where to place them or just camera advice in general. We are complete noobs on this subject. I was thinking that a solar charger might be necessary as well. |
Yeti in the hills....
Joined:
Aug 2024
Posts:
1
EE: 0% (0)
TN, USA
|
Hi Brandi, I joined recently because I've lurked and learned for so long-thought I may be able to help some folks out. Gonna try here. First post. LOL. I'll keep this short as possible, as folks have opinions, and we all know what those are like, but here is my story of late. If any of this suits you-great, if not, ignore. I bought land in 2021. Threw up some camera's (very visible) so folks would know they are there. One at the main Gate to my property and one near the eventual homesite (I'm half mile away from the closest county road). Cellular. When I did this, I let folks know I was moving back there full time and some details of my background so they could gossip. At the time there was a sale on Creative XP 4G cams available. I bought 2. One at gate and one at homestead. Painted trees and posted signs. These cams are now available on Amazon at a large discount. They also have security boxes for locking them to trees to help dissuade folks from messing with them. Higher is better-I used back of pickup to get them up there. The good news in my AO is-Methbilly's got word from the neighbors I met. Retired Army guy. Likes to shoot (they hear this) and see the cams and signs and tree paintings. Half dozen GIs on the county road that accesses my place as it turns out. Recently (this year) those cams went on sale. I bought two more and threw them up (along with passive devices watching the critical cellular ones). The passive are not so obvious. You can look on Amazon for these cams and security boxes. Cam's are largely discounted, but reviews (recent) kinda sucked. I have had no problems with any of them. They do cost for real time imaging and you can start at lower cost and auto-renew as needed, but none have been a problem for me. At their current price of $55 I will order two more for the other end of my property (secondary access), before hunting season properly arrives. As far as advice-post them high. Secure as possible. Some visible with neighbors being made aware has worked for me. The family that owned this land since 1930's was never on site. They raped it and local folks hunted it as there was leases available all around here (not a lot of humans). I think they now know there is a crabby human here. And they avoid it for reasons. If you won't occupy for years, you may wish to let folks know it is owned and monitored. I reckon GA isn't much different than TN in most ways. Methbilly's may vary. Sorry you have had issues-but make it what y'all want and don't look back! Best of luck-if you have more questions and want back story-I'm glad to help. |
|
You'll find the Tactacam Reveal cameras are pretty top notch and highly recommended on here. I have 4 of the X Gen 2.0s and they take great pictures. I don't pay for the monthly cell package since I live on my land; I just swap out SD cards every so often and scroll through the pictures. It does do videos as well but I don't have it taking videos to save on battery/memory. There are different options for batteries. Using AA Lithiums with a solar panel and extra battery is probably recommended. I think I've heard the Tactacam solar chargers are not the best setup, but that may be old information now. If you use the HME solar charger with battery box setup, you'll need to buy an adapter to make the charging cord fit into the camera. (It's actually linked on the Tactacam webpage in their FAQs). When you buy Tactacam, they give you either 2 sim cards or one (one ATT and one Verizon; or they give you one sim card that is universal?). The network it connects to does NOT have to be the one your cell phone is on. It's best to pick the sim card for the network with the best connection on your land. The camera connects to whatever network, then sends you pictures/videos to your phone via the app. The Tactacam setup via the app is super easy. If you buy Tactacam, be sure to read their FAQs. They are pretty picky on their SD cards, so make sure you buy a properly spec'd card and you format it. Edit - Oct 2024: Tactacam has brand new Reveal Solar Chargers, and these are awesome! Tactacam finally makes a really nice solar charger. |
|
Originally Posted By TnYeti: Hi Brandi, I joined recently because I've lurked and learned for so long-thought I may be able to help some folks out. Gonna try here. First post. LOL. I'll keep this short as possible, as folks have opinions, and we all know what those are like, but here is my story of late. If any of this suits you-great, if not, ignore. I bought land in 2021. Threw up some camera's (very visible) so folks would know they are there. One at the main Gate to my property and one near the eventual homesite (I'm half mile away from the closest county road). Cellular. When I did this, I let folks know I was moving back there full time and some details of my background so they could gossip. At the time there was a sale on Creative XP 4G cams available. I bought 2. One at gate and one at homestead. Painted trees and posted signs. These cams are now available on Amazon at a large discount. They also have security boxes for locking them to trees to help dissuade folks from messing with them. Higher is better-I used back of pickup to get them up there. The good news in my AO is-Methbilly's got word from the neighbors I met. Retired Army guy. Likes to shoot (they hear this) and see the cams and signs and tree paintings. Half dozen GIs on the county road that accesses my place as it turns out. Recently (this year) those cams went on sale. I bought two more and threw them up (along with passive devices watching the critical cellular ones). The passive are not so obvious. You can look on Amazon for these cams and security boxes. Cam's are largely discounted, but reviews (recent) kinda sucked. I have had no problems with any of them. They do cost for real time imaging and you can start at lower cost and auto-renew as needed, but none have been a problem for me. At their current price of $55 I will order two more for the other end of my property (secondary access), before hunting season properly arrives. As far as advice-post them high. Secure as possible. Some visible with neighbors being made aware has worked for me. The family that owned this land since 1930's was never on site. They raped it and local folks hunted it as there was leases available all around here (not a lot of humans). I think they now know there is a crabby human here. And they avoid it for reasons. If you won't occupy for years, you may wish to let folks know it is owned and monitored. I reckon GA isn't much different than TN in most ways. Methbilly's may vary. Sorry you have had issues-but make it what y'all want and don't look back! Best of luck-if you have more questions and want back story-I'm glad to help. All great information. Your situation is much like ours, the previous owners didn't live on site and it's been free reign for the locals for years. ATV tracks and people tracks all over. When we first looked at the land someone had two large deer feeders and a ladder stand out there. I suspect they've gathered it up since we've posted signs and they know there's new owners but if it's still there it's leaving with us. I'll definitely check that camera out. Also, how much are they costing on average in cellular fee's? You can IM or email if you don't want to say in here. Much thanks. We met one of the neighbors who will be our next door neighbor when we build, he's a retired marine and he was happy to help by keeping watch over the area as much as he could, the only truck entrance is at the future house site. We are planning to have a steel pipe gate built to keep folks out in the meantime. There's no way to keep ATV's out unfortunately. We let him know we'll be building a small private range out there and invited him to shoot with us once it's done. He said he loves shooting so he was extra helpful. I'm always armed when we go out there so anyone watching is going to see that. |
|
Originally Posted By DD1801: You'll find the Tactacam Reveal cameras are pretty top notch and highly recommended on here. I have 4 of the X Gen 2.0s and they take great pictures. I don't pay for the monthly cell package since I live on my land; I just swap out SD cards every so often and scroll through the pictures. It does do videos as well but I don't have it taking videos to save on battery/memory. There are different options for batteries. Using AA Lithiums with a solar panel and extra battery is probably recommended. I think I've heard the Tactacam solar chargers are not the best setup, but that may be old information now. If you use the HME solar charger with battery box setup, you'll need to buy an adapter to make the charging cord fit into the camera. (It's actually linked on the Tactacam webpage in their FAQs). When you buy Tactacam, they give you either 2 sim cards or one (one ATT and one Verizon; or they give you one sim card that is universal?). The network it connects to does NOT have to be the one your cell phone is on. It's best to pick the sim card for the network with the best connection on your land. The camera connects to whatever network, then sends you pictures/videos to your phone via the app. The Tactacam setup via the app is super easy. If you buy Tactacam, be sure to read their FAQs. They are pretty picky on their SD cards, so make sure you buy a properly spec'd card and you format it. Great info, thank you. I'll check them out. |
Yeti in the hills....
Joined:
Aug 2024
Posts:
2
EE: 0% (0)
TN, USA
|
Originally Posted By Brandi: I'll definitely check that camera out. Also, how much are they costing on average in cellular fee's? You can IM or email if you don't want to say in here. Much thanks. Oddly, I cannot find their plans online. But those cams come with a SimHero card-they seem to use several carriers. https://www.simhero.com/ In any event, from what I recall they offer pay as you go (I think based off of data/photos sent), prepay (6 months/12 months) and at various data levels 300MB, 600MB, etc. Cost varies. They also allow you to set up auto-renew, so if your data is exhausted, they will add more against your card. |
|
We spent almost the whole day doing a deep dive into trail cams. We watched tons of videos and read a ton of articles. What it accomplished was deciding not to buy the SpyPoint cameras we settled on because of the reviews and the complaints of terrible customer service. We've decided to go a little more expensive and get a couple Tactacam cameras but haven't settled on the model yet. They infinitely better reviews of cameras and customer service. It came down to do we want to spend $180 for two cams that have a good chance of crapping out or spend more for something that is supposed to be more reliable. The whole "buy once, cry once" thing. We'll see how it works out. |
|
I just purchased my first cellular camera. Moultrie Edge which I got on sale for @ $100. Iirc the data plan was @ $12/month. I set it up today and it has taken 216 photos of nothing. I am working with the settings to try and reduce the false triggers. I own probably a dozen cameras. I have used them to catch thieves. To ID trespassers and to track game. I will say don’t buy a camera without buying a security box. Always cable lock them to something secure. Otherwise they will disappear. The other advice I can give you is how to deal with the trespassers and thieves specifically with LEO’s. When I started getting serious about poachers on our properties the local game cops came straight out and said “If you aren’t going to press charges we aren’t coming out.” I told them 100% I would be pressing charges. After our first case, and conviction of a habitual poacher, they knew I was serious. They started showing up immediately when we had issues. A couple more convictions and some plea deals and suddenly we don’t have many issues any more. Word gets around in those circles that xyz will press charges so don’t fuck around there. So, if you call the cops be willing to sign the complaint. Then you will find that they are driving by occasionally and you may get a call if something is going on. Good luck. |
|
Even if you get pictures, how do you stop the trespassing? If it’s easily accessible it will be accessed. I’m five minutes from some land and it’s hard to get to by foot. We’ve got pictures, but authorities really don’t care that much. |
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
|
Originally Posted By SpeyRod: I just purchased my first cellular camera. Moultrie Edge which I got on sale for @ $100. Iirc the data plan was @ $12/month. I set it up today and it has taken 216 photos of nothing. I am working with the settings to try and reduce the false triggers. I own probably a dozen cameras. I have used them to catch thieves. To ID trespassers and to track game. I will say don’t buy a camera without buying a security box. Always cable lock them to something secure. Otherwise they will disappear. The other advice I can give you is how to deal with the trespassers and thieves specifically with LEO’s. When I started getting serious about poachers on our properties the local game cops came straight out and said “If you aren’t going to press charges we aren’t coming out.” I told them 100% I would be pressing charges. After our first case, and conviction of a habitual poacher, they knew I was serious. They started showing up immediately when we had issues. A couple more convictions and some plea deals and suddenly we don’t have many issues any more. Word gets around in those circles that xyz will press charges so don’t fuck around there. So, if you call the cops be willing to sign the complaint. Then you will find that they are driving by occasionally and you may get a call if something is going on. Good luck. Thanks, good information. We have already decided that we will have zero leniency on trespassers for the exact same reasons you mentioned. We bought two cameras, the just arrived about an hour ago, so now it'll be time to work all the bugs out. I think we'll set them up here at the house to do that before putting them on the property. We ended up getting two TactiCam Reveal Pro 3.0 cameras. They had the best reviews across the board for cameras in our price range. Now we need to figure out the camera security part of it. I like the security boxes but they are significantly more expensive than cables. We haven't gotten too far into that yet. Is there a non Apple iPhone version of the AirTag that works? Seems like hiding a tag in the camera (don't know if that's even possible yet) would be good if one is stolen. |
|
I use multiple, cheap cellular connected Spypoint cameras in areas someone might try to drive or walk through. If they take less than 100 images in a month, you don't need a subscription. I think of it like a kind of trip wire alarm. Critters are a bonus. Attached File |
It's not adventure until something goes wrong.
Don't make me that guy.
Don't make me that guy.
|
Originally Posted By Brandi: Thanks, good information. We have already decided that we will have zero leniency on trespassers for the exact same reasons you mentioned. We bought two cameras, the just arrived about an hour ago, so now it'll be time to work all the bugs out. I think we'll set them up here at the house to do that before putting them on the property. We ended up getting two TactiCam Reveal Pro 3.0 cameras. They had the best reviews across the board for cameras in our price range. Now we need to figure out the camera security part of it. I like the security boxes but they are significantly more expensive than cables. We haven't gotten too far into that yet. Is there a non Apple iPhone version of the AirTag that works? Seems like hiding a tag in the camera (don't know if that's even possible yet) would be good if one is stolen. Good! Yes, once I started signing the complaints and we got a couple convictions the local Leo’s became very friendly and started showing up asap if we had an issue. The bear boxes, security boxes are your best protection. A cable isn’t any good if they can just bust the plastic. But if you place the, strategically they won’t be found. Also, don’t set them up facing into the sun. Set the sensitivity to medium. That’ll help avoid random tripping of the sensors. Good luck. |
|
Can you swivel a camera in a security box so it can be mounted higher in the tree and pointed down? We're having a disagreement in that my sister says you "aim" a camera in a lockbox so the security box has to be mounted low on the tree thus making it a target. I say mounting it up high with no box is going to likely end with a stolen camera. I'm sure I read we should be able to put it in a security box AND mount it up high with the right setup. I came across a "universal" swivel mount but nothing specific to the TactiCam. |
|
I have Tactacams at my property and ha e been extremely pleased. We are pretty remote, and while we have a little bit of cell service it is SLOW. Still, we get pictures monitoring the driveway entrance as well as a winter logging road on the property. Here's a screenshot of the app, with a deer hunter trespassing. I got the notification and called the sheriff and got a picture of them going out to talk to the hunter. Attached File This is the setup looking down the driveway instead of across the trail. Some game cams don't do well looking straight on at movement but I have had no issues with them. Attached File |
[NO TEXT]
|
I was thinking one camera on the back side of a tree pointing down the road like you showed. Someone would have to pass two no trespassing signs at that point, assuming the signs are still there. Then placing the second camera down the road a bit pointing up the road. That way both cameras can see the area that the other is in. At least then there's a chance at getting photos if they try to steal one of the cameras. If they find and steal both we would be hosed. We only have the one road in and out so that makes it easier to monitor at least. I'd love to see a moose on our cameras but they are pretty rare in Georgia. Those are really good photos, thanks. |
|
Originally Posted By Brandi: I was thinking one camera on the back side of a tree pointing down the road like you showed. Someone would have to pass two no trespassing signs at that point, assuming the signs are still there. Then placing the second camera down the road a bit pointing up the road. That way both cameras can see the area that the other is in. At least then there's a chance at getting photos if they try to steal one of the cameras. If they find and steal both we would be hosed. We only have the one road in and out so that makes it easier to monitor at least. I'd love to see a moose on our cameras but they are pretty rare in Georgia. Those are really good photos, thanks. Remember, most trespass laws are written so you can permanently mark private property. Read up on Blazes to mark your property. Signs disappear but blazes do not. We have blazes at all access points. One poacher claimed he didn’t know he was trespassing. I listed all the ways the property was marked and the judge just shook his head. That dude was convicted. Remember, most times a person must be trespassed before they can be ticketed. But, if they trespass with a firearm that goes out the window and they get a higher level ticket. Yes you can aim a camera down. It reduces their trigger zone so you may miss some shots. Careful placement and you will get decent coverage. |
|
Originally Posted By SpeyRod: Remember, most trespass laws are written so you can permanently mark private property. Read up on Blazes to mark your property. Signs disappear but blazes do not. We have blazes at all access points. One poacher claimed he didn’t know he was trespassing. I listed all the ways the property was marked and the judge just shook his head. That dude was convicted. Remember, most times a person must be trespassed before they can be ticketed. But, if they trespass with a firearm that goes out the window and they get a higher level ticket. Yes you can aim a camera down. It reduces their trigger zone so you may miss some shots. Careful placement and you will get decent coverage. An easy way to angle your camera down is to use some door shims behind the camera (between it and the tree). They are angled wedges, come in either plastic or wood. Use however many you need. You can get a pack of 12 for like $2 or $3 from your preferred hardware store. |
|
Originally Posted By SpeyRod: Remember, most trespass laws are written so you can permanently mark private property. Read up on Blazes to mark your property. Signs disappear but blazes do not. We have blazes at all access points. One poacher claimed he didn’t know he was trespassing. I listed all the ways the property was marked and the judge just shook his head. That dude was convicted. Remember, most times a person must be trespassed before they can be ticketed. But, if they trespass with a firearm that goes out the window and they get a higher level ticket. Yes you can aim a camera down. It reduces their trigger zone so you may miss some shots. Careful placement and you will get decent coverage. Here in Georgia you don't have to have any signs for someone to be charged for trespassing although it's highly recommended. No such thing as blazes here. I'm just trying to balance the best chances for the cameras not being stolen and still being able to get good photos. I'm not sure it's possible to have both now. |
|
One of the best tricks with trailcams is put them high, pointed slightly down. You’d be surprised the number of people that don’t look beyond 1 foot of their straight vision. We placed a few at 10/15’ off the ground, pointing down at 45° at points of interest. Keeps them from walking away. |
|
Tactacam has brand new Reveal Solar Chargers, and these are awesome! Tactacam finally makes a really nice solar charger. Has integrated Lithium battery, and the solar charger keeps that battery charged, and that battery powers your camera, not the batteries that are in your camera. Much improved solar cell and tree mount. And only about $60. Doesn't have a heavy battery pack like the HME chargers (therefore easier to mount). I think these were just released late summer 2024. I came across them in September and ordered two of them. Will get them out to my cameras later this week probably. https://www.tactacam.com/reveal-solar-panel |