How to Hide Trail Camera from Humans?

Written By Ryan Mills

trail camera for hunting

There are two potential reasons to hide a trail camera, but both equate to undetected operation. Let's discuss how to hide trail camera from humans.

First, there are trail cameras used for hunting. These cameras must be obscured so their presence does not alert the animals being tracked that anything out of the normal is occurring.

Otherwise those animals may alter their behavior or movement patterns, negating the very reason the trail camera exists in the first place. Their movements will become unpredictable; or worse, they avoid the area all together.

How to hide Trail Camera from Humans?

Hunting trail cameras must also be deployed in such a way as to minimize the risk the trespassers or poachers might discover their location.

Hiding these cameras from the criminal elements also relates to the other common use for trail cameras.

Trail cameras must be positioned in such a way that trespassers have no idea that their activity is being monitored.

How do you hide a camera in plain sight?

Hiding a camera is not as easy as hiding anything else. That’s because you need the lens to still be visible.

If it isn’t, the camera obviously will not be able to see what you want to see. This means that you essentially need to hide your security camera in plain sight.

There are actually a few different options for hiding a camera in plain sight.

Place the camera behind décor Items

Place the camera behind items in the home that are already present in the room, like a potted plant or a mantelpiece. And if you are looking to record audio, this is easy.

If you want video footage, you need to make sure the camera has a clear view of the area you want to record.

A good example is putting it between statues, picture frames, or book on a bookshelf.

Install them inside Smoke Detectors

They are perfect hiding spots. They can act as decorative skins, and they are also obscure objects placed high on the wall. It will not be easy for humans to spot it.

Spy Camera Notebook

What’s more ordinary than a notebook, you can leave this lying around and the person you are hoping to capture on camera won’t have a clue that the book is actually a camera in disguise.

Put the Camera inside Items

You can also find ways to place the camera inside various items. For example, you could put the security camera inside a tissue box and then cut a small hole in the front of the box so that the camera lens is able to record footage.

Another idea is to put the camera inside a stuffed toy. You can also place a small camera in a hanging potted plant, hiding it between the plants leaves.

When you are placing the cameras outdoors, sometimes you want your security camera to be visible, because this can deter criminals.

Other times it is better to have hidden security cameras to catch people in the act of crime.

Place the camera in Trees, in Garden Items or you can place it in a high position because people won’t usually look very far up in order to spot security cameras.

Can you cover the red light on a trail camera?

Trail Camera Tips & Tricks featured image

There are small red lights on the security cameras that show the progress of the recording.

The light will only come on when motion is detected and a clip is recorded. The light can be turned off even when the camera is recording.

Red lights in Trail Camera are Key to brighter night photos. With the red light, you can capture the image in better quality.

You can cover a trail camera’s red light from sight but it will affect the quality of your photos, by darkening them.

There are some ways the red light can be hidden are 

  • Via trail camera settings – depends on make and mode
  • Cover the red light manually by sticking black tape over it (we don’t recommend this)
  • Use trail camera placement as a way of hiding your trail camera from easy view. Using tall trees or bushy areas will conceal the camera’s presence.

What do you put in front of a trail camera?

Trail cameras are one of the greatest inventions ever created for hunters. They provide an amazing tool for scouting and recording what types of game are in an area you want to hunt.

Many hunters use trail cameras, but not everyone uses them in a way to maximize their effectiveness.

Many hunters like to put out bait in front of trail cameras to attract game to the area.

This does not give you true documentation of the movement of the game in the area, and it also attracts other animals you may not care about.

The best bet Is to place cameras along a trail to get an idea of what is moving on the trail and when it is moving.

Attracting animals to food is problematic because once animals start thinking of humans as a source of food; they lose some of their natural fear of humans.

Sometimes we use a scent / Lure, which is legal. Scent can take an animal that may have missed your camera by say 10-15 yards and draw it right in front of your camera.

Scent will bring nearby animals to one spot. All important is the placement and the right location of your trail camera.

Can you block a trail camera?

Blocking a surveillance camera can obscure your identity, but not your presence.

A person watching through the camera will be able to tell you that you are there, but they won’t be able to see that what you are doing. You can block a camera in the dark using a LED, an infrared laser day or night.

Shine a powerful LED (light-emitting-diode) directly into the camera lens. Try flashlight as brighter as you can. This method only works in the dark.

Don’t forget to block your face with the light, figure out exactly where the camera is, and shine the light directly into the lens.

This technique should create a lens flare that makes it nearly impossible to tell what you look like.

Be aware!  This method is not subtle; the sudden flash of light may alert any vigilant guard to your presence.

Hold Steady. Be careful not to drop the light beam from the camera lens, lest you reveal your face. This method only works if you are quick and precise.

Attach infrared LED’s to your clothing. For a quick fix, use superglue to attach a string of bright lights to a hat or headband.

And if you wish to get more involved, you can craft and LED ‘mask’ that even more heavily obscure your face.

Point an infrared laser directly into the lens of the camera. This method is more subtle, but here also you have to be much more precise.   

If the laser point slips away from the lens, the camera will catch your face. Act quickly and efficiently to avoid detection.

The camera can see you until you get the laser aimed correctly. Anything that comes between the laser and the camera will instantly un-block the camera.

You have to be aware from other cameras, with one laser point you can block only one camera.

If you need to block multiple cameras at once, then you will need as many lasers as there are cameras. Consider coordinating with friends.

How to track a stolen Trail Camera

Trail Camera theft is not a shocking or new thing, if your trail camera suddenly stops sending data to your phone, you must go out there to check what happened to it, and when you see your camera is not at that place where you have placed it, means stolen. Now you must start finding it,

It’s time to be calm down. Things are not that difficult if you know how to track stolen camera.

If you have installed GPS in your camera, it will be helpful to track your camera. Once you have installed GPS tracker, it will ping through the wireless network no matter where you are.

So it someone has stolen your camera, you will notice the location changing through your smart phone. You can follow the signal the GPS is sending and alert the police about this theft.

There are several trail cameras brands available in the market that comes with a Built-In GPS.

But it’s better take prevention and stay safe than be sorry later.

How to hide Trail Camera on Public Lands

Hiding a trail camera on public lands is essential to allow the cameras to serve their purpose of securing your area.

Two factors to remember:  you must make your camera hard to spot and even harder to steal. While this may seems obvious, it is easier said than done.

1.   Elevate your Trail Camera: people do not tend to look up as they walk. Simply putting the trail camera at least ten feet off the ground will make it unlikely that a person will spot it.

2.   Camouflage your Camera: To make your camera harder to spot, use the natural foliage around it.

Use branches and leaves that match the tree or the light post around the spot where you install your camera.

A mismatched spot of undergrowth may draw attention, so use fake leaves and hot-glue them in place.

3.   Disguise your Camera: Mounting your camera inside something else is a great way to disguise the camera.

For Instance, if you are mounting your camera inside your property for home security use, you could put it inside a birdfeeder.

This content was created by CameraLists.com. If you see this on another site, it has been stolen

Can a Trail Camera be used for home Security?

What do you think of when you hear the words “trail camera”? Probably hunting deer and catching your games on camera, but you can use it for more than just finding a game.

Gone are the days when trail cameras are only used for hunting bucks and wildlife photography.

Nowadays, more and more homeowners are switching to trail cameras to use for their home security system.

Conclusion

It is amazing how useful a trail camera could be. Aside from wildlife photography and hunting. You can also make use of it to protect yourself and your loved ones.

The thieves will never take an offseason when they broke into someone’s house. Take a step and use your trail camera as a security camera.

You might be also interested in other how-to guides, our articles will give you more helpful information. Check it out here!

Ryan Mills
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