In April bought a new trail camera, got a 32 Gig memory card and a 12 V rechargable battery.
Installed it on a tree on my property in July. Got some great pictures when I checked it 3 weeks ago.
Went back 2 days ago and found that someone had pulled my gate post out of the ground and went into my property and stole the camera setup.
Are other people having this type of theft problem? How common is this type theft?

It's EXTREMELY common. One area I hunt is seeing almost every camera stolen by suspected "Ginseng hunters" across numerous leases and clubs. Also a large plantation i hunt in GA.
Scumbags will be Scumbags and view other peoples property as an income generating opportunity commonly known as theft.

set up a trail camera so it takes pictures of your trail camera.

Isn't anyone using the locking cables and security boxes?

In an afternoon I welded up my metal boxes to fit my cameras and Master Lock makes a great product they call the Python Cable Lock that works perfectly. They're camouflaged and come in various lengths. You can buy them keyed alike to make checking them simpler.

Even if someone smashes the camera they're probably not going to get the memory chip so at least you'll have a photo of the perp.

I got away without locking them for years, but I decided it wasn't worth tempting fate.

Seems to be prevalent these days. Sorry looks to be a way of life for way too many. If they spent as much time working as they do stealing and tearing up other peoples property, the country would be in a lot better shape. Instead, everybody seems to want something handed to them.

Adult thieves should be shot on sight since we've become too soft to put them to work on a prison farm to learn self-respect, discipline and the meaning of hard work that the rest of us already know.

It is a very big problem in East Texas, I hunted around Dangerfield and had gate torn down and multiple stands and feeders stolen. I will be happy if I never step foot in East Texas again.

The only effective means of preventing trailcam loss from theft is to put them where no one will see them. Cable locks and metal boxes attached to trees may work in remote areas and keep out the curious, but they do not fare well against cable cutters or battery operated roto-zip type tools. A friend of mine has a camp that he can only visit once a month or so and has five trailcams set up between his gate and his camp. Won't stop from loss, but gives him a chance to ID the suspects after the fact.

If they ripped out your gate it almost sounds like they were after more than just your camera. Sorry for the loss.

I would use multiple cameras with good camouflage such as hiding one in a stump or among rocks etc. that are not easy to find.

I agree that cables etc. just attract attention.

Bob, it all depends on your area. With us access is limited and it's hard to trespass, and the cams were not easily findable. So none stolen. But, we wouldn't leave them out very long just for that reason. A couple weeks was about it. And I've found it doesn't take long to get the idea of what you have out there, how many and at what times do the game use your place. For instance, we found lots and lots of deer pics, but most were in the middle of the night.

In other words, it was mostly a kind of getting to know a new spot. Then the cams weren't of much further use anyway.

As far as other things stolen, yes, that's happened. I did learn the hard way once on a turkey feeder. Since then I realized they weren't really necessary in the first place. I've also had deer stands stolen and found a practical virtually theft proof alternative - ground blinds made of scrap lumber and brushed with natural grasses, leaves and so forth. Stealing those is both impossible and impractical. And they're far cheaper than the modern store bought kind, with ultra thin foreign made pot metal that bends easily in your hands and rusts if you even look at it.

All in all, our local top citizens do things believe it or not, a lot worse than stealing cams and stands.

Like doing drug deals on the place and stealing four wheelers and breaking into the cabin and leaving burned out stolen cars on the property, and so on...

I ended up putting mine in a tree high enough that they could not get to them without a ladder. I just carried a section of those strap-on steps to put them up. Just angle them downward.

With a crow bar and cable cutter, the rest is merely seconds from gone.

I did not notice anything else missing, but consider that just luck. I had a 3 Point Post Hole Digger out at my camp site and it was still there. I since brought that home.
Additionally, I purchased a 40 Foot Cargo Container that I keep locked. I imagine someone with the will could break into it, but hope that the thieves are more interested in a quick in and out attack. I since heard that some neighbors have had tractors and tractor implements stolen. I expect that kind of theft is by people who are already known felons.

I'm thinking that the ideal trail cam would be one that immediately uploads the photo's taken to a cloud rather than saved to a self contained memory.

I think once technology get to that point, and the perps get prosecuted, the thefts may drop off for a while.

Click HERE , Frank......