Bry.....I haven't experienced the "flash phobia" with the deer I hunt. BUT.....I spray down my camera when I put it in the field. I wear rubber gloves when I check it.

The landowner mows the upper pasture (2 acre open patch in the middle of the woods), so I know the deer around there are used to machinery being in the vicinity on occasion. I admit to driving my ATV to within 50 yds of my mineral site (where I keep my cam)......but I try to be pro-active about scent control when I retrieve my cards and change batteries.

I have a sneaky suspicion that scent scares "some" deer away from cameras.....ESPECIALLY when there's no "real" reason for them to be in that area, anyways (ex - camera on a trail v. on a mineral or bait site).

I also don't hunt near this site......and don't worry about leaving human scent in this area. I use mine ONLY for inventory purposes. I don't buy into putting them on trails......for the area I hunt. Too much intrusion and too much temptation to over-check them. But that's just the way "I" do it.