Thursday, July 24, 2014

DIY Trail Camera Safety/Bear Box

Two DIY Trail Camera Box's
One main reason for DIY (Do It Yourself) projects is to save a little cash.  This projects was a great one for me for exactly that reason, but sadly I can't claim that the idea was my own...  I have to give the credit to my buddy Destry who showed me this DIY project as well as let me share it on my blog.

**Disclaimer - This DIY project may not be a cheaper rout for you if you don't have an electrician as a friend or family member who can get the supplies at a low price. 

Trail cameras are a great took for scouting as I made mention in one of my posts last month.  The price and importance of these cameras usually isn't cheap so protecting them is one task many of us don't skip out on. Purchasing a "Bear Box" or "Security Box" for your trail camera can be expensive especially if you add it to price you've already paid for the camera, batteries, and a memory card to go in it!  So saving a few buck still may not make your spouse less mad at you for spending that much money, but at least you can tell them that you tried to save every penny you could.

So here is what you need: Electrical enclosure, metal drill bit, jigsaw (or saws-all), and spray paint. 


DIY Trail Camera Box
What I would encourage you to do is shop around at Home Depot, Lowe's , or any electrical wholesale store and find the cheapest price for a box that best fits your camera.  If you have a friend or family member who is an electrician (like my friend Destry) have him see if he can pick one up for a cheaper price.

After finding the best size electrical box, I would suggest finding a way to snug up your camera to keep it from sliding around if the box is not a perfect fit.  The trail camera I used for this project is the Wild Game Innovation's Lights-Out camera.  I just had some old packing foam laying around the house from some packages I had received so I cut a few pieces to make my camera nice and snug.
DIY Trail Camera Box
DIY Trail Camera Box
DIY Trail Camera Box
DIY Trail Camera Box

Once your camera is secure, mark out where your camera sensor and lens are so that you can make the appropriate cut in the outside lid.  With the WGI Lights-Out camera the sensor and lens are in a very odd spot and are perfect circles so I was able to cut a whole just using a drill bit (once again thanks to an electrician) which was the perfect size.  If your cut is not that easy, I would suggest using a jigsaw with a metal blade or even a saws-all.  I would suggest cutting just slightly larger than the lens and/or the sensor just to make sure that the metal box is not interfering with the functionality of the camera.

DIY Trail Camera Box
DIY Trail Camera Box
















After cutting the appropriate openings, the bear box is now your canvas to decorate any way you want.  With mine we just did a quick spray paint with a few colors to help it blend into the pine trees that we would be putting it on.  Another suggestion for decking out your new box is to gather sticks, leaves, and even bark from the area you are placing your camera and then cover the box with adhesive and sprinkle on the items you gathered.  Once you let those items harden onto your new bear box, a quick spay with a product like Mod Podge can set the elements more secure so that your trail camera box is now decked out with natures goodness!  In this process, just be sure that the opening you made for your camera are clear of debris. 
DIY Trail Camera Box


The last and final step is to get your trail camera in the box and into the mountains to see if your DIY project works!  Like I stated earlier, this DIY is fun and may be less expensive than buying one online but do your research, if you can find a box to fit your camera for cheaper than this project won't do anything except you grow more facial hair and give you the right to carry your man card with pride!