Fake Trail Cameras - Do It Yourself

[@TrehanCreekOutdoors]

Super idea, Ken. It's a mental deterrent, not a real one, but it may help ward off at least some of the people who constantly trespass on my land. I'm going to start my efforts by taking both sides of the cases off a few old, broken trail cameras that I keep around for spare parts. Those already look like real working trail cameras because they really were at one time. I'll just paint fake PIR sensors, camera lenses, etc. on the back sides of the cases. I can use the old cases as templates for cutting out some extra wood block fakes too. Should actually be a lot of fun making these things and putting them out. I have often used two cameras to capture sneaky videos of deer or other critters. In those cases, I mounted a regular working camera at a normal height and where it was fairly visible to the animals. Then I mounted a second camera higher and off to the side. The basic idea was for the second side mounted camera to do all the real work, catching the animal when it came in to investigate the low mounted first camera. It's amazing how once an animal or even a human for that matter spots a game camera, they fixate upon that one device never considering a second camera located to the side is taking their picture the entire time!

[@PracticalKen]

LOVE IT! I have noticed that animals, and humans, seem to fixate on the camera once they see it. Close ups of turkeys, raccoons, and deer, up close and looking straight into the cameras make some cool shots too. Wildlife selfies 🤳 Thank you for commenting, and offering tips/ideas and what you do for your can layouts.

[@hellsscoutact5379]

Looks like a Nice hobby to take up. The more out there the better.plus you get experience setting them up. Then hide the real ones that transmit the video to a main receiver. Great video thanks. JMHO

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you for watching. It is fun to go through the SD cards to see what wildlife you can capture.

[@kylemurray7086]

Being a fellow Michigan hunter, this idea speaks loudly to me lol thanks for the tip! I subbed to your channel instantly when I seen you were from MI

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you Kyle! Greatly appreciate you watching the video and subscribing. I expect to post more outdoors and trail cam hacks when I get a chance to edit. Please share with anyone you think might be interested.

[@kylemurray7086]

@@PracticalKen Already on it man, sent it to my dad for all his work buddies.. we’re all the typical struggling Michigan hunters lol

[@kylemurray7086]

@@PracticalKen I’ve been hunting with my dad since I was probably 12, and the biggest buck I’ve ever seen was probably a 140-150 class 11pt back in 2010, in Osceola county believe it or not.. sad story actually that still bugs me to this day, I was only 16 years old at the time and it would have been a giant by anyone’s standards for MI, and while tracking it, the neighbor ran out to the clear cut and grabbed it and drug it to his truck and took off! He was tracking his own 4pt that we later found crossed paths with my buck.. with an arrow sticking out of his butt 🤦🏻‍♂️ Only in Michigan man…. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Jaxon1127]

I hope they steal one of the fakes and not the real one! Nice vid

[@PracticalKen]

It would be hilarious if you caught their shock on another trail cam. LOL 😆

[@humdrummed]

Great idea! I'm gonna make some.

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you. Have fun with it.

[@TheDutchFighters]

2:20 You really got me on that part. :P I have enjoyed watching this video, thank you.

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you for watching and commenting. When I get a chance, I will post a video of how to add a "surprise" to the fake or real cam, to "frustrate" a thief. 😀

[@TheDutchFighters]

@@PracticalKen That sounds hilarious. I actually received my first working trail camera today. First testing it in the garden to see how great it works, but I know a good place to use it soon. I want to prevent it getting stolen. A 'suprise' would probably not prevent it, but you can still have a good laugh out of it. That's what matters the most :).

[@TheDutchFighters]

@@PracticalKen Update: Today i got my camera back from the wild. It was on public terrain, so i had to hang it a couple of meters from the path, without disturbing any wild. There was actually a roe deer on it. But when we were getting the camera, someone walked past with a bike. It's quicker to walk through the forest than cycle around it. (It's the Netherlands :) When he watched us watching the camera, he took a turn into a small path, wich was unusual, but still possible. After we put everything in the back, we went the same path. We found him waiting in the middle of the path just out of view. When he saw us, he started making pictures of trees before he walked further. At the end he put down his bike and made more pictures of tree. When we walked past him, he immediately took his bike and walked back to the spot. If we didn't take the camera with us, I'm sure it would be gone right now. Now i have to find a new spot. I am going to send some mails to ask for permission and maybe good spots in other sites. I have thought of a good spot, but sadly it's closed because of storm damage. It can take a couple of months before that path opens again. It's really unknown and bushy. For most people not worth it to walk. When this happened, i immediatly thought of this video. I just like to imagine how long he has searched for something that's not there. But i still think it's really sad. Thank you.

[@PracticalKen]

@@TheDutchFighters Wow! Thank you for update. I am glad you got photo of roe deer and glad you got your camera before the person took it.

[@archmasterone]

I never throw away old worn out/ broken cams for the same reason. I've gone to cellular cams for the instant notification of people on my ranch. It's so much more fun confronting these losers eye to eye. I have a video of a trespasser crying tears, begging me not to call the sheriff. Now that alone is worth the cost of the cam.

[@PracticalKen]

Absolutely! Same here. Adding cellular cams to get the instant notification someone is where they are not supposed to be. There is some pleasure in catching them red handed and having photo/video evidence to prove it. Redemption and consequences. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@System-Update]

I've used tuppaware boxes for making dummies. Good to see if they get compromised in a position that you actually want to place a real one.

[@PracticalKen]

Nice! Great idea. Essentially, my dummy cams are set up in visible spots to hopefully deter people from trespassing. If they are brave enough to try to steal the fake one, I have real ones higher up and not in direct line of site, which catch them trespassing and tampering with the fake ones.

[@geoben1810]

After taking their pictures post them along your property line and online! And I would have cameras facing into the property, past the line so that it clearly shows them crossing onto the property. I don't really have a problem with someone going through my property, but don't be hunting and camping on it. 😲

[@PracticalKen]

I have posted the photos on a local Facebook group, asking if anyone recognizes them. I usually get a lot of private responses telling me who it is. If they disrespect the posted property line, they have stepped on a few toes and made enemies most likely. People are eager to call those people out when they recognize them. 😀 LOL

[@archmasterone]

@@PracticalKen I had a guy approach me two years ago angrily telling me I was trespassing, then he told me the next time he will call the sheriff and press charges. Oh yeah, it was on my own land. LOL He looked me in the eye all the time, good liar.

[@PracticalKen]

@@archmasterone Now that is funny! Even funnier if you caught the conversation on camera, and shared it. 😆

[@JeffsObsessions]

Good idea

[@headedtothecreek]

Good Job and Good Idea

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you! 😀

[@FrugalFarmerChannel]

Ken, this is genius. I have real and fake cameras. Can I share your video? Thank you!

[@PracticalKen]

Thank you Frugal!

[@PracticalKen]

Please share the video with others. This is a fun, easy project, that may help deter people from coming near them, fir fear of being caught on cam (fake). 😀

[@littleoldlady4154]

They tear down the No Hunting and No Trespassing Signs. Trail cameras get ripped down and destroyed. I get all night deer hunters out of season. Here lately, they have been less than 5 feet from my house. The all night deer hunters fire at everything that moves. When hunting, shouldn't the person with the gun get a clear site of what they are shooting before they pull the trigger? And shouldn't hunters be firing their guns far away from occupied houses? Last year, I bought 20 cheap fake cameras and 6 real cameras. Hunting needs to happen to control animal populations. But these guys are law breaking criminal trespassing poaching hunters.

[@PracticalKen]

That is horrible. Position trail cams up higher in a tree, off line of site, pointing at the areas they cross your property line the most. If you have photo/video evidence of them tearing down signs, even better. I got lucky that one of my cams caught them doing exactly that. A cellular trail cam or 2 might be worth an investment. You will get a text with photo when there is activity, so you can call law enforcement, especially if they have guns, at night, on private property. I am sorry you have to deal with unsafe, disrespectful, and unethical hunters. It gives a bad name to the rest of us. Good luck. I hope you catch them and prosecute.

[@littleoldlady4154]

@@PracticalKen Another part is that there is an old small pox cemetery in the back 40. They come onto this private property and drive to the cemetery destroying tombstones. They like to hide there. So when I can get the Sheriff or conservation officer out here, I direct them toward the cemetery after they get rid of them at my house Because that is where they go. So these people get busted twice here because they do not want to leave. I am property caretaker on a rural homestead. Boss and landlord gave me part of the property for being a good employee for my birthday this year. He did not allow hunting here for various reasons. The property is next to a large portion of prime land owned by our state. It draws hunters to the area and our state has strict controlled hunting on their property and that is only during one weekend of November but at random state properties. The prime property in our area is excluded as they have been using it as a juvenile delinquent rehabilitation facility. The state does not want to risk the teenage criminals lives so hunting is forbidden in the entire area. I work hard a being a good steward to the land but it is a hard job. The real cameras are hidden to watch the cemetery and to watch the buildings. The fakes are in the orchard and around the perimeter. I need to expand the cameras but money is short right now.

[@PracticalKen]

@@littleoldlady4154 Keep up the good work at monitoring the cemetery and potential targets. Good luck!

[@littleoldlady4154]

@@PracticalKen Thanks. It becomes madness out here. The state has almost a thousand acres. The boss owns the portion next to the state property. The state does not want hunters because they would be liable if any of the teenage criminals who were sentenced to time out here got shot by these guys. It is a scenic area. On the boundary between the state owned section and my boss's section there is an old road that has not been maintained. This road goes to the back of the bosses property right next to the cemetery. There is a orchard on the southern part of this property in the front yard.Then the main drive is like a fork that branches off into 4 prongs. Off the first prong is the Bosses custom designed home. It's a one of a kind house. The second fork leads to a storage shed with BBQ equipment and outdoor party gear. In between the first and second fork is the swing with natural tree canopy. The third fork goes to the barn and goes straight back to the lawnmower shed. The lawnmower shed has cameras attached to film the cemetery which is next to it. There is a fire pit between the shed and the cemetery. During summer months, fire pit needs to be operating because if I do not run it then the trash dumping trespassing people fill the cemetery with garbage. So I hang out and have bonfires and cook over the fire pit to keep the trash dumpers from giving me more work. They see the fire pit and me cooking on it so they take off and find someplace else to dump the trash. It gets old but it works. There is plenty of firewood here. And plenty of yard waste from just the cemetery alone. Beyond the cemetery is the River. River offers trout fishing. Fence is posts with Barbwire. These trespassers cut the barbwire so it is not safe to keep livestock. On the other side of the next fork of the fence is a shelter house with picnic tables. West of the shelter is grape arbors. They need to be fertilized this spring and repaired. The last fork of the driveway goes back to the ATV building. Every night before it gets dark, I need to do a property line check on the ATV. Between the shelter house and the other half of the property is the field where there is the creek in front of it. In this field, it is where the mushrooms grow. I am not into mushrooms but boss lets his friends gather the up. On the other side of the mushroom field is a bridge over the creek. The bridge was designed so the the deer still have their highway. Then you get to my house. I planted fruit trees that I got at earth day giveaways over the last few years. There are cherry trees that shield the flower bed where the deer sleep during the hot summer months. I do not even bother trying to get the perennials to bloom because it just gets smashed anyways. Then you come to my house. Around my house are raised strawberry beds and old apple trees. It is a small historic 4 room farmhouse. After you pass my house there is a small strip of land between my house and garage. A few feet outside my back door is the creek. These hunters drive right down that small strip. In my backyard is a canning shed filled with glass jars. Bullets fired by the poachers have gone through the walls of the canning shed and broke the glass jars. In the corner behind the garage and on the other side of the canning shed is a garden plot where I can till it up and grow whatever vegetables that I want. There is also raspberry bushes around the canning shed. As you head farther north, you come to the electric main section. And that is the end of the property. The law breaking criminal trespassing poaching hunters have no respect for the property or even the dead in the cemetery or their surviving relatives, Which makes too much work out here. The harvest is plenty out here but the workers are few. It is a lot of work. After so many sleepless nights here lately I have been exhausted. I am hoping for a good night sleep tonight but I am not counting on it.

[@PracticalKen]

Sounds like a few trespassers need to be made and example of with no mercy in the court system. Position cam near choke points, like main drive in points. Make sure the cams are out of the line of sight and in a position to see license plates. Report to police and prosecute. If there has been additional damage done, sue. If it were me, i would always be armed for my own protection. Reckless discharge of a firearm (shooting near houses/buildings), especially hitting structures/buildings, is a serious thing. I am assuming you are in the United States?

[@susanwhitfield4068]

Sent over from frugal farmer

[@ishnifusmeadle]

Interesting. I'm very frustrated with posted signs myself. I hunt alot and what seems to be happening near me is out of staters have voted a certain way, messed up thier state, flocked to other states (one of which I live in) and proceed to bring the same voting habits/mindsets with them messing up other states, not realizing that it's not their states that are messed up, but them. Needless to say vaaaaaaast swaths of once great wilderness areas are being gatekept which legally is fine and as their property is their right, but still frustrating. Oh well...... this is a neat idea tho.

[@PracticalKen]

If it wasn't for the thieves and vandals, I would be a little more loose on it. There were only 2 or the many trespassers that we got law enforcement involved with because they were caught on trail cams (videos) destroying things on the property.