In my season recap for the 2025 season I noted that I struggled all season with camera angles, resulting in very few usable video clips. This post is about a new way that I am mounting my camera that I hope will eliminate the problem.
Background
Over the course of the last few years I have tried multiple methods to attach a GoPro to my hat. My post on “Pheasant Hunting with a GoPro” shows some of the options I tried.
The option that I thought was the most workable was using a helmet mounting plate attached to the crown of the hat, like this:
This did work, but there were a few problems:
- The camera angle would change over the course of the day unless the screw that locked the camera into the mount was really, really tight.
- The screws for the helmet mount would push on my forehead, making it uncomfortable to wear.
- I discovered that over time, the crown of the hat would lose its stiffness, causing the camera to move around as I moved. This was the biggest problem in 2025.
I had also tried putting the helmet mount on the brim, like this:
This does work and addresses a couple of issues:
- Mounted to brim which does not flex.
- No mounting bolts rubbing against your forehead.
But the weight of the camera is so far forward that it makes wearing the hat uncomfortable.
Brainstorming Solutions
I was at a craft show and ended up buying some 3D printed toys for my grand kids. I got talking with the vendor about the possibility of 3D printing a different type of mount for a GoPro. He said he worked on custom printing projects so I took his card and started thinking about what I wanted.
When I got home I started messing around with the different parts and pieces that come with the accessory kits that everyone buys when they buy a GoPro. I ended up cobbling together a solution by modifying some parts. The prototype solution looks like this.
I drilled holes through a ‘J’ quick release bracket and bolted it to the brim. Then I used a short extension to position the camera higher and back. I used this setup on a weeklong fishing trip to Canada.
This mount worked really well. The camera angle stayed in place the whole week and the hat was comfortable to wear. Having the camera weight back closer to my head was much more comfortable.
Version 2 of New Hat Mount
So now that I had a version that worked, I wanted to evolve the solution to use stock parts.
Instead of use a ‘J mount’ that I had drilled holes through, I used a helmet mount from Amazon. They are lightweight and designed to be mounted to a rigid surface. Next I used a longer extension to get the camera a little higher and farther back. This moved the camera weight backwards, making the balance better. The resulting solution looks like this:
With the camera mounted it looks like this.
Hopefully this solves the hat flexing problem. I will still have to really tighten the mounting bolts but that is a solvable problem.
Summary
I have not tested the final solution in the field yet but I will be within the next couple of weeks. I will update this post after I test.
