Building a Bear Box with the Leupold RCX1

Different types of hunting always offer different types of challenges and this year is no exception.  In preparation for an upcoming wolf hunt in Northwest Ontario, I am sending an RCX1 Leupold game camera up in advance to the outfitter so he can do some recon scouting and perhaps get some good wolf photos in the process!  Knowing that the area is highly populated with bears I set out with a friend to build a “bear box” for the camera. I have learned from past experience that you don’t hang a game camera in the Canadian outdoors unless it is in a good steel box. Bears eat cameras or simply destroy them, perhaps approaching it as a new toy! A camera is something you don’t want to have to replace!

Our camera box was somewhat of a challenge because it had to be easily accessible and custom fit to the Leupold.  The window openings had to be big enough so as not to restrict the lens “funnel”  and LED window.  We made two mounting holes on the inside of the camera box so that two 2 ½ lag bolts could be placed in the holes in the back of the box and screwed into a tree. A lock receptacle was put on the front for security purposes. The convenient design of the Leupold allows for three screws to be screwed through the back of the box so as to firmly hold the RCX1 in place.

The front of the camera box is designed like a door with the hinges on the inside. The bottom is also part of the front panel which gives us easy access to the bottom control panel of the RCX1 for changing batteries, checking the memory card, or accessing the USB port outlet.  All in all, it didn’t turn out bad for a couple of amateurs! Actually, my hunting buddy, Travis, is a certified welder, thus making my job easier!

Building something on your own has a certain amount of gratification and there are so many opportunities in the outdoors to be innovative!  The harvest of a wolf because of our efforts will just add to the thrill.  Why don’t you just get out there and invent something we can all use!!!  Good hunting!

Ed Johnson

Hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, is no stranger to Ed Johnson. Groomed in the outdoors by a grandfather and two uncles, since he was a small child, with a fly rod in one hand, and a bow in the other, Ed has 50 years of bow hunting experience behind him. He has record bow kills in the Safari Club International record books with a collection of some 60 mounts and has taken 17 species with bow in Africa. He has received awards for North America's Top Ten and Goats of the World and Wild Sheep of the World.

He is a member of Safari Club International, Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), North American Hunting Club, NWTF, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, ICAST, and retired co-founder and owner of the Bass Pro Crappie Masters All American Tour.  Ed still maintains his status as a professional photographer and is an avid freelance writer for numerous outdoor publications. He was featured in several hunting videos with Roger Raglin, and On The Water and In the Woods, with Cody and Cody.  He serves on the pro staff and pro staff review board for Commando Hunting Products and is senior adviser and consultant and Trusted Expert Pro Staffer for Trusted Outdoor Gear  and OutdoorHub.com

His love for the Ozark whitetail and old tom turkey is still his passion. Ed is quite active in promoting the outdoors and enjoys sharing hunts with others, especially first timers!  His mission in life is to expose people, young and old, to this great pastime of hunting and fishing. Each year he takes a group into Ontario for bear hunting and fishing. In a time when it is getting more difficult to get kids exposed to nature, Ed believes all outdoors men and women, can and will play an important role in helping to expose more children to the outdoors. The bottom line….our hunting industry future. Ed has coined the phrase "teach a child to hunt and fish and you will never have to hunt the child"!