Camera stealth falls into 3 areas: Visual(most important, in my opinion), olfactory, and audio.

Visual Stealth

Here is a photo of one of my cameras after I have camouflaged it.

The bottom line is, if the camera looks out of place, it is. Does this mean it won’t work? Not at all. To-date, even I have not practiced the level of visual stealth I feel may be needed. However, it is not difficult to hide something as small as a camera, or at least make it less noticeable, so I feel it is a reasonable precaution to take. The most basic method would be simply camouflaging the color of the camera housing. Cameras can be purchased in camo color now, and can even be covered with camo tape, or painted. Beyond basic camo, you can take the additional step of breaking up the square outline of the camera using strips of burlap or other material. This makes the camera look like nothing more than a clump of leaves, and if placed in relation to other vegetation, nearly invisible. One could also go beyond even these methods, and employ such ideas as a false cover made of wood or bark, and wire mesh covered in leaves which could be molded to any shape and make a camera literally invisible if sufficient time is taken in setting it up. One could use bark from the tree chosen to place the camera on (with permission of the landowner, of course) to completely mask the camera, and have it seemingly become part of the tree it is on. Not only might this help keep it from being noticed by the subject, but it may well save you having a camera stolen by other people who may come across it.

Another method of hiding the camera may be to place it very high in a tree, but pointed down, thus out of the normal visual range of most subjects, or to have it at ground level and nearly covered in vegetation. This, however, opens up the possibility of getting a lot of false-positives if small forest animals wander by, but it is a very good method of rendering cameras nearly invisible. Visual stealth is easy, and while the need for it may be in question, it is certainly better to err on the side of caution.

Olfactory Stealth

The second consideration in hiding your camera is disguising its scent. I feel this is likely less important than visual camouflage, but by no means something to be ignored. It is also the easiest problem to deal with. All of the known great apes have a sense of smell not terribly dissimilar to humans. If Sasquatch is then similar also, then olfactory stealth is likely a moot point. However, since we do not yet know the level of olfactory acuteness of the subject, again it is not a bad idea to err on the side of caution and assume a more highly developed sense of smell in the Sasquatch. Animals such as canines, bear and deer, all with a very good sense of smell, have been proven to be able to detect cameras that are totally hidden. Bear in particular are known for this, and often will destroy cameras, presumably due to the smell of the minute amount of gelatin contained in the film inside. This is not to say that an alleged North American ape, even a very smart one, would have this ability; but since we don’t know, why not just take the simple precaution? And simple it is, thanks to the advent of scent elimination technology, driven primarily by the hunting industry.

Over the last decade, a number of scent-killer sprays have come onto the market, and they all work very well. The use of them could not be easier. Simply start by washing the camera with cold water and a non-scented mild soap, making sure the camera is fully closed. Cameras are waterproof, so this is not a problem. Dry with paper towel, then spray the camera heavily with a commercial scent-killer spray which is available at any hunting store. Without touching it, allow it to air dry. From this point on, handle only with latex gloves. After drying, and with gloves on, place each camera in a large Ziploc bag, seal it, and that’s it! When handling or loading film, use latex gloves if possible. Keep the camera in the Ziploc bag until it’s ready to be set. Keep a bottle of scent killer handy, and spray the camera again after it is set up. If the camera is visually camouflaged as discussed previously, make sure to spray the material used as camoflauge, as well as the entire set, as a last-minute tactic after it is set in place.

It is also important to minimize the human odor you leave in the area while setting up the cameras. The methods of doing this are varied, but basically, if possible, always wear latex gloves and knee high rubber boots. If possible, shower just before going out to set the cameras, and wear fresh, laundered clothes with no perfumed or scented detergents or fabric softener. If you really want to go all out, you can purchase a scent-loc garment from a hunting store. This is a purpose-made item used by hunters which traps and stops all or most human odor. It is expensive, and may well not be needed, but if you really want to leave no remnant of human odor in the area you are working, it helps greatly. Avoid brushing or touching any vegetation as much as you can, particularly with bare skin. Again, gloves really help here. Doing all of the above, while tedious, will pretty much assure that there is not enough human scent to alert even a deer or bear to your presence, and if you combine those techniques with good visual stealth of the cameras, they can become practically invisible.