This past winter I had a Cudde Capture out near a wheat field where some deer were feeding, hoping to catch a glimpse of a nice buck that made it through the season. Last time I checked it was early March with no buck pics to speak of. I had planned on picking it up while shed hunting later that month when my dad unexpectedly passed away. Whilst dealing with all of that I didn't have a chance to go pick up the cam, figuring it would be okay where it was at. After all, it was smack in the middle of about 1,000 acres of private land that nobody else really has access to where we have never had a single problem with stands or cameras getting stolen. Last night I decided it was time to put some cams out so I headed over to grab it. After braving the killer mosquitos I arrived at "the spot" only to realize that some mishappen individual seems to have mistaken my camera for their own and taken it home with them. Part of me couldn't help but chuckle. After all, it seems only fitting with the way my year has been going. The tally for this year so far is 1 LW Alpha Hang-On, 1 four pack of LW climbing sticks, and now 1 Cuddeback Capture. Total value: just over $500. Faaaaaaaaantastic!
Sorry again about your father and about the camera. That sucks that someone is taking all your stuff. It's probably one guy sneaking on and using your property and his personal pro-shop. Good luck finding that jerk.
I'm holding out a teeny bit of hope that someone from the farm stumbled upon it this spring and took it, not realizing it was mine. However, I'd say there's about a 1% chance of that happening. My dad and I are the only two people who had permission to bowhunt this particular piece of timber and the only ones who ever had cameras in there. My guess is that one of our local shed hunters who don't seem to understand what private property means grabbed it, which would also explain why we never find any sheds here either.
Been there before Justin. It sucks, but if your Cudde "works" like mine, he might have done you a favor.
You need to use a dead cam as a decoy and put a good cam about ten feet off the ground to take a pic of your thief.
I declare open season on trespassers and thieves. Nothing much else to hunt this time of year anyway. A few years back I started up my ladder in the morning darkness and as I shined my light up there was no stand at the top of the steps.
turkey hunters mushroom hunters who knows. just because you had premision to hunt doesnt give you the right to hang your crap all over. nore does it give ht eright to tresspass again. every time you access the property you should ask. unless he has given you assess at anytime in writing. my bet is the land owner has it.
one of these days I too will probably come up with something missing, you never know there are so many people out their with no common sense and morals it's not even funny! I wish I had my own land but even then you get people who just don't care....sorry man
didn't mean to stir the hornet nest. I have land which over the years have let individules use. but they call me or let me know every time thay access it. its just common curticy. i have found tree stands on my property over the time. and have taken them down and placed them out on the trail leading to them with a note. i have had hunters walk thru my property just because it was in their path. or the have always hunted it couse their father or friend had. i have lisened to many a story on why they thought they had a right. it all comes down to letting the land owner know what your doing on his land and when. sorry for your loss. did you tell him you were placing a trail cam on his property and you were going to leave it there for an extend amount of time.. do you ask him or ring him on the phone or boor bell and let him know your accessing his property. my bet is no. thats no better then a common tresspasser.
That sucks JZ Hopefully you'll catch the low life thieves How do you figure that? . He has PERMISSION to be on the land. Every land owner I have ever dealt with has let me come and go as I please. I'm betting its the same situation thats Justin is in. Not every land owner needs a phone call every time you go out to hunt or scout. It's called trust. You develop a relationship with the land owner and he trusts you to close the gate, not rut up the pasture, stay off the fields he just seeded, ect.......
The farm I hunt is owned by a very large corporation, not an individual person. This particular farm only grants access to a very limited amount of individuals for any use, hunting or otherwise. I have written permission to be on the property, and all employees working there have a list of all authorized personnel who are allowed on the premises for hunting purposes along with the make/model of our vehicles and license plate numbers as well as the locations we are allowed in, and what animals we are allowed to hunt. All individuals are fully aware that I hunt the property, have treestands on it, and trail cameras as well. In fact, the majority of photos taken on this farm are emailed to several of the employees who work on, and help manage the farm b/c they enjoy looking at them. So to answer your not-so-eloquently put question, yes I have legitimate written permission to be there, and yes the landowner/managers are aware of the trail cameras on the property and who they belong to. Unfortunately living in the crowded suburbs of Chicago there is a lot of trespassing that goes on, and with that comes missing equipment from time to time. Sadly it's just a part of the game around here, and in the future I will be locking up all of my trail cameras regardless of where they may be located.
