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Do deer see IR light?

Old 02-27-2003, 08:25 PM
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Default Do deer see IR light?

I am working on a game camera and don' t want to use a standard flash because I think it was scare bigger bucks. I was told infrared light cannot be seen by deer, does anyone know this for a fact? Thanks
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Old 02-27-2003, 09:15 PM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Welcome to the board first. I' m not all that camera savy, but I use one occasionally as well as a bunch of friends. Usually you only get one shot of a buck, and with the delay I guess they would have gone on anyway even with the flash. I' m not sure what kind of film you would have to use with infrared light, but I doubt you would get good color photos of a deer.
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Old 02-28-2003, 04:57 AM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Have seen where too many bucks have walked up to where the IR beam would be coming out from my cam and then had them turn and go behind my cam and continue on.They wouldn' t know front from rear on the cam,but if they could see the IR beam it would make perfect sense for this action.I think in some way or form they can see IR light.I' ve seen this maneuver preformed many times thru the years when there is snow on the ground but only by larger deer, does and smaller bucks don' t seem as concerned. JMHO

woods
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Old 02-28-2003, 06:23 AM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

I know what you are tallking about and I think it isn' t the IR beam they see but probably they have had that camera flash at them in the dark or the smell that the hunter left. The PIR beam that they trip to take the picture is passive and I am pretty sure they can' t detect it. They may have also heard the camera snap the picture. THe one I am talking about is a IR beam of light from a IR spot light. THe camera I am using is digital - no noise when picture is taken - and the site I get my ideas from told me how to alter the camera to work with the IR light. Most guys believe deer can' t see the light but I want to make sure. Some say the flash doesn' t bother them and I think for does and smaller bucks that is probably the case but I want Mr Big and I know those guys don' t get big by doing dumb stuff. I have pictures of some deer already and I turn off the flash but I would like to see night stuff too.
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Old 02-28-2003, 07:20 AM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Not to seem arguementative but the smell is the same 6feet in front of the camera as 6feet behind,I' m in central Maine and the deer I photo don' t seem alarmed by the flash and out of about 650 pics I have 5 deer being spooked by flash and none are big bucks.Have strings of up to 5 pics of bigger bucks taken as they stayed in front of cam for several minutes.I think they can see the PIR beam but thats just my opinion from camming for 7 years and seeing the bucks take evasive paths past the cams behind and not in front.Use carbon sheets in cams and they seal when closed,after a week I notice smell is not a big issue with coyotes,bears,deer,and other animals, sooner when it rains or snows.we will not know what a deer sees with there eyes and can only assume on UV and IF spectrums.I never thought about it much till I started seeing how a buck will walk right to where the beam is and without tripping the cam will back up and go right behind the cam often within several feet and continue down thru woods.I' m the only cammer in the area and don' t think its the flash as I get pics of the same bucks over and over from velvet thru the hunting season and they don' t seem alarmed by the flash that much,and I' m talking up to 150-160 class deer.I do however believe you will get much lower quality pics with the IR flash and it will be hard to distinguish antler quality if deer aren' t very close to your cam.I' ve heard much made about deer being scared by the flash and not getting bigger bucks on film and have not found that to be the case at all.We run 4 cameras each year for six months and get pics of the smallest to the largest bucks in the area as verified by spotlighting(legal here)and they don' t spook any more than moving to another trail 20-30yds away that you can move the cam to and get their pic again.If flashes spook them what does lightning do to them? On the other hand,the flash and lightning are momentary while the beam if visible to deer remains there the whole time they are walking up to it thru the woods and the entire time the cam is in the woods and functioning correctly.Something to think about when they seem to know the front of the cam fron the back.[]

woods


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Old 02-28-2003, 12:20 PM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

I understand what you are saying and all of it makes perfect sense, however on one of my posts that involves only game camming some guys still believe as I do and some have witnessed deer being spooked by the flash. All deer are different and I think both cases to be true. Where I hunt on public land there just aren' t that many big bucks and call me cautious but I just don' t want to take any chances. Here is something else to consider. If that deer learns where the camera goes off he might just avoid that area for camera noise, flash or light beam. Which one or ones is what I would love to find out that causes him to avoid that spot. Others have told me its the smell more than any thing. I am not sold on that but believe it is worth considering. I want to thank you for responding - I always like other ideas and opinions. p.s. What type of cameras are you using?
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Old 02-28-2003, 01:59 PM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Woods, I did some more checking, remember I am electronically challenged, which means dumb. I read that PIR which is used in sensors does not emit any beam, they pickup and collect infrared waves from what is passing by it and send that to the sensor which trips the camera. Thus the deer has nothing to detect because there is no beam to break or see. Maybe the camera click taking the picture is what he is keying on and knows where to stop and turn around. Just a thought.
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Old 02-28-2003, 04:30 PM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Aahhhhhhhhhh........Your so right,just took a quick course in PIR and see what your saying,oh well there goes that theory.I' m sure they can smell the film and electric parts so all you can do is use some carbon sheets to absorb odors and activate every so often and leave out in an area long enough to descent in outside air.Maybe they just aren' t spooky up here but very seldom ever get a pic that shows any alarm.I use woodwatchers with samsung cameras and pir' s.Very scent carefull when going to cams and checking them,try to leave minimal ground scent(rubber boots)and keep cams out from June to November(never bring them home or anything,just move from one spot to another).Good Cammin' and keep the batteries fresh

woods
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Old 03-02-2003, 07:30 PM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

Just because deer are color blind doesn' t mean they can' t see light. Basically, why they " can' t see" IR light is because it doesn' t truly intensify the surrounding area drastically. I' ve done some experiementing with blue and green light filters as well as white light polarizing filters, as long as you reduce the amount of light significantly, they will not notice that anything is shining on them, because they only see contrasts in black and white, so if you minimize the contrast, they are MUCH less likely to notice the difference....the reason IR light is a favorite is because at similar intensities, the red wavelength travels farthest, so you get a much larger swath of light, without intensifying your light enough to catch their attention dramatically more. With a trail camera and a red filtered flash, you' d either get pictures so dark you' d never know exactly what you were looking at, or you' d get the same effect as your white light camera (deer fleeing). IR light works for our eyes to see better at night because it illuminates things just enough for our eyes to pick out movement, which our EYES are very capable of, in a photograph taken with an IR light so low that it wouldn' t scare deer, a two dimensional representation without the natural intensification provide by our eyes, you' d never be able to descern what you are looking at.
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Old 03-03-2003, 12:16 AM
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Default RE: Do deer see IR light?

I did a search on the Internet and found some scientific reports that deer lack receptors in their eyes to see light in the red end of the spectrum that would include IR. The report also stated but they did see UV light extremely well. I found that a couple of months ago, If you search im sure you can still find an article or 3.
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