I have a feeder set up in a pasture that is leased out for cattle. This feeder is dedicated to hog hunting. There are no trees in the area on which to mount a game camera, so I have been using T posts to mount a camera. This works good except for the fact that the damn cattle knock the hell out of the game cameras. A couple of weeks ago, I deployed a Spypoint cell camera which was working well until the cattle ripped the damn antenna out of it the other day.

What is the best way to keep cattle away from the camera? My thought is to build a little pen around it with just to 3 to 5 foot panel fencing from Tractor Supply, but will they just knock anything like this down? Would it have to be barbed wire? I have also thought about using a 10 foot T post and mounting the camera at a height where they could not reach it, but they may just take out the whole post. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as well as any links (Tractor Supply, etc.) to fencing products I could use to accomplish the. As a disclaimer, I'm not a seasoned in setting up fencing, but can whack T posts in the ground and could probably secure fencing around the posts.

Of course, the other options is to just take out all the damn cattle with my 308, but I'm not there just yet.

Are we on the same lease together?

A cattle panel, in a circle, hog ringed back into itself, wired to several T-posts. Trim welded wire as need for unobstructed view.

So something like this?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/feedlot-panel-cattle-16-ft-l-x-50-in-h?cm_vc=-10005

You think two of these formed to make one circle around my camera would be sufficient?

I think more than sufficient if held with 4 t-posts

Do you have a pen around the feeder? If the cattle are abusing your camera, I have to believe you're fattening them up as well.

Charlie

The feeder is being used for hogs, and I would have to get real fancy (I assume) to exclude cattle while allowing pigs in.

Appreciate all the info.

That will be about a 6 foot diameter circle, Use 4 T posts.

We sink a 8’ 4x4 post about 2 ft. Fill the hole with foam and mount the camera toward the top angled down......

I was trying to figure out what the diameter would be with 2 panels, but my geometry skillz were failing me. So, with the camera in the middle, that would put a cow 3 feet from the camera. Ya'll think this is far enough where they won't reach over and wreak havoc with their heads/mouth?

A wise old hunter, maybe the smartest guy I know, maybe... taught me this. Make your pen big enough to be a bit larger than your corn throw circle and tie the panels on to your T-posts to be about 2 feet off the ground. Pigs can come and go, but not the cows. A tip if you hunt from a blind is to put the panels on the far back of your pen on the ground, so when the corn starts exploding, they have to run toward you somewhat to get out. T-post on each end and one in the middle or the panel gets kind of floppy, but still works. Two seasons for me with no cow entrants. Just mount your camera on one of the t-posts or move it inside some on another.

Here's a thermal view, you can see the panels still.



Charlie

Electric fence

That guy sounds really smart. Looks like you should take shooting advice from him also.

A single tee post is like candy to cattle. They rub in it. What’s the others said, build a small pen around it. I did this on a fish feeder.

Gonna encircle the camera with two 16 foot cattle panels tomorrow. According to my calculations, that will give me a 10 foot diameter circle, keeping those heathens 5 feet from my camera at all times.

Ours are on 4×4 posts sunk in ground. Camera is 6 foot up. Easy. Camera needs to be a good distance out anyway so they are way outside the barb wire fence on those feeders.

yep 10' diameter, minus overlap of the panels ... if you use hog panels, you will have better unobstructed view since they are only 32" tall.

Got everything set up on Saturday. Wasn't too bad for my first fencing project. Left a little space to squeeze my fatass through to access the camera. And my Camera survived the weekend untouched. Lol.

Nice.

1st fencing project. LoL

I'm a full blown rancher now Bro.

Looks good! Have you thought about some pig pipes staked in the ground instead of a feeder? Cows won't mess with them much.

I actually deployed a pig pipe a couple of months ago and haven’t had a pig even sniff it. In fairness, I have seen very few pigs over the last couple of months. Before that, they’d be on my camera almost every night. This is in a mostly mesquite tree infested area of Brooks County, so I’m not sure it’s acorns to blame. I miss them dearly and hope they come back soon.

Yep a bovine backscratcher!

I simply mount mine on the feeder where the cattle can't get to it. Has worked great for me.

3 t-posts & one 16' panel and a pair of bolt cutters is all you need.

Drive 2 t-posts 6' apart, bend panel in half, use 14ga electric fence wire and tie folded portion to the inside of one of the two t-posts 6' apart. Tie this end really well in multiple spots, pull the two loose ends to the inside of the other t-post and get an idea of where centerline is side to side and front to back, release panel ends, drive 3rd t-post in the center of the bow, mount camera, pull loose ends back to the remaining t-post and tie equally as well to the inside of the t-post as the other end. You will need to cut one horizontal and one vertical bar out directly in front of the camera and you are done.