Protect Trail Cameras from Theft with ID System

October 18 2013 – Shawn OConnor

Mess with my stuff and I’ll mess with your mind.

I’ve found IDing your trail cameras is an important step in your overall camera strategy. Some camera manufacturers place serial numbers on their products, while others do not. Often times, when there’s a serial number, it is simply a sticker that anyone can easily remove. Without a unique identifier, you will face a difficult time recovering your property from law enforcement. But IDing your trail camera can have additional benefits of which you might not be aware.

My IDing strategy is twofold. Step one is to place my contact info on the CAMBUSH camouflaged camera. Step two includes giving the camera a number. Both of the elements are engraved into the plastic camera case. An electric engraving tool costs as little as $10 at most hardware stores. This tool makes the task simple.



My Info

For the contact information, I engrave my phone number. This gives me a unique identifier to prove to law enforcement that the camera is mine. It also gives someone who comes across my camera the opportunity to contact me.

Number It

The second piece of information I engrave on my camera is a number. This camera number is logged on a sheet of paper, including the manufacturer, model, type of batteries and SD card size. This will come in handy if one of your cameras is ever stolen and you need to describe your camera and contents.

I’m careful when I give the camera a number that I do NOT use consecutive numbers. I choose odd numbers for my cameras. The reason is to play a little psychological warfare with the potential thief. If he were to find one of my cameras, I want him to easily see the camera number. For example, if the trespasser finds the camera with a number five on it, what is the thief thinking? Chances are that he is thinking, "There must be at least five cameras out here." With CAMBUSH camo applied to the camera, he is also likely thinking, "I’ve got my work cut out for me to find the other four." The problem for the thief is that he doesn’t know that cameras numbered two and four do not exist. So the thief either risks being spotted by what he thinks is four additional cameras or he cuts his losses and leaves to look for easier targets. If I were him, I’d probably get out of there as quick as possible and pray I didn’t walk past one of the unseen cameras.

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Shawn has written some other informative blog posts. To read more, click on the images below. To learn more about CAMBUSH, be sure to look at the menu navigation at the top of the page, under Features and About Us.

    

    

1 comment

  • Markus Kreusch: September 04, 2014
    Author's avatar image

    Hi Shawn,

    just wanted to let you know, that cambush made it to Germany. I included your wonderful idea of game cam camo into one of my blogposts (www.wildkamera-test.com).

    Have fun and all the best – Markus

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