First time Bull Tag, game camera vandalized, culprit caught on film

icgamer · Jul 2, 2020

So I've been spamming up the Elk room with my amateurish questions and comments so I figure I might as well share the wealth and spill it on over to this forum for a bit.
As the title says, I'm a first time bull tag holder and very excited about making sure I put my leg work in and ensuring I have no one but myself to blame if I'm not successful this fall. I've had some kind members reach out to me with advice and it's all appreciated.
Last trip up I decided to try my hand at game camera set up. Turns out, there is more to it than reading the manual, lol.
Apparently I got the active game trails correct, and although one of my cameras worked flawlessly for the two weeks between trips, the second, well it didn't go but around 8 hours before it was noticed and vandalized...
Here are pics. Turns out it wasn't actually destroyed, just knocked about, so it did continue taking a few thousand pics of blowing grass and bushes, lol.

icgamer · Jul 2, 2020

so, there is a whole string of photos I didn't attach, but you get the drift, lol. A small mixed herd comes down the game trail..no problem, just what I wanted, but this one immature bull, well he gets curious and comes back. He immediately figures out something is up, and starts looking at, then messing with the camera.
As you can see by the pictures,he tugged at the straps then managed to open the front.
It reset the date/time somehow, but kept working. It managed to actually take some great pics of some smaller, but legal, bulls, but all in all, this young artists tastes were not my own. In framing the composition, I was going for a more straightforward and traditional effect, he, on the otherhand, seems to have a more "abstract" flair I found unsuitable for my needs. I give him 3/10 when it comes to his cam placement...but I guess I rate 2/10 since I put it in a place where he'd mess it up, lol>
Oh well, time to read up in, and invest in, some lock boxes hahaha.

Cahunter805 · Jul 2, 2020

I would suggest mounting your cameras a little higher off the ground also and just angle them down towards the trail.
Also use lithium batteries especially going into the summer months. Corrosion will destroy the camera.

icgamer · Jul 2, 2020

Thanks for the tips! The documentation that came with the cams said "3 ft off the ground"...clearly higher off the ground at an angle would help.
I'm always trying to learn from those that have gone before!

NMPaul · Jul 2, 2020

Wait till a bear gets curious about it.

icgamer · Jul 2, 2020

NMPaul said:
Wait till a bear gets curious about it.

UG...i did get a bear on my other cam...it was a small one, but still, lol

BUGLEnmIN · Jul 3, 2020

icgamer said:
UG...i did get a bear on my other cam...it was a small one, but still, lol

Pics ! Or it didn't happen ??? give you credit bud. Trial and error is how we learn

icgamer · Jul 3, 2020

Like I said...he was small...but I'm guessing mama was around somewhere, lol.

cosmic_cowboy · Jul 3, 2020

I have this one cow that messes with my cameras every year, I know its the same one.

Cahunter805 · Jul 3, 2020

NMPaul said:
Wait till a bear gets curious about it.

I’ve lost a few cameras to bears and had more than a few knocked around. One bear knocked the camera and the battery tray must have fallen out and he walked off with it. Searched all over and couldn’t find the tray ever.

MTunderRadar · Jul 3, 2020

I had a bear destroy a cam watching over a high mountain spring, but not before capturing several mature bulls. A week before season I packed in an ASAT ground blind and brushed it up. 5am opening morning my buddy and I hiked to a shredded/broken blind with a giant pile of bear $&"@ inside. My buddy has a nice bull euro, I have another bear skull and rug.