I have never had a picture taken when a deer is jumping. I usually set my camera for 3 pics everytime it is set off and usually the first pic the deer is looking away then in the following two it is looking at the camera. Sometimes I even get another set of 3 pics if the deer sticks around long enough.

After thinking about this some more I think that during hunting season
when placing game cameras on trails close to your stand the best option
is to have the camera only take pictures during daylight hours. This will
eliminate the deer ever knowing his picture was taken and still will let you
know what is coming by your stand while you're not there. After all who
cares what is coming by your stand at 3 a.m. What comes by you're
stand during shooting hours is what really matters.

I guess since I solved my own problem it's time to invest in some more
DC-200's.

I don't see an obvious agreement on what a big mature buck is here. How many of you watch free ranging wild mature bucks on a regular basis year around? The majority of bucks hunters are viewing are 1.5 year olds or 2.5 year olds. A mature bucks behavior in his settled state when he has no idea anyone is watching him..... will teach you more about them than any book or article written. A bucks skull plate doesn't mature till he's 4.5.

I personally feel that the majority of mature bucks (4.5 years or older), no matter his rack size, will shy from a flash in the dark. Why wouldn't he? Your talking about a suspicious light going off in the dark that he is not accustomed too seeing. He lives out there 24/7, he knows every inch of his territory once he reaches a mature age. And, even if "some" mature bucks don't or may not shy........ is it worth taking the chance on getting a picture of a big buck versus educating him even fruther. That's a decision every hunter has to make. We need tape recorders out there to see how many deer BLOW when those flashes go off. Even in the dark a big buck will allow subordinate bucks or does to lead the way out to a destination as a buffer. He will set back and listen and use his nose. Once a deer out in front of him blows off their alarm he sifts off into the night secretively like the smoke from a rustlers campfire.

Another concern I would have would be..... coupling the human scent left in near your game camera that is throwing off flashes in the night. A mature buck could then associate that flash with human scent and then with danger. I wouldn't be confident in using a flash type camera. I have read about some cameras that take infared pictures, these are void of a flash, I would be interested in using something like this. The definition of surveilance does not include FLASHBULBS !

Show me game cam pictures of a mature buck visiting the same camera time after time, and make sure its an educated hunted critter, like on public land, like I hunt or private that gets some pressure. Then I would agree that "some" mature bucks "may" tolerate it. But I would never take the chance.


Shed

For what its worth.... I have been using cameras for about 3-4 seasons now in my pre and post season scouting. The reason I use the cameras , more or less anyway, is to see what deer are using my hunting area. In a way i agree with shed...i cant take the chance of spooking a deer at my stands, so i dont set them there.
First...I know we have all had the pics of a deer with its nose in the camera. This to me means that the idea that the flash appears to be lightning to a deer, is false. If it appeared to be lightning it would not pay attention and move on... but instead they investigate the source...Im sure they know that lightning doesnt come from a tree.
Second... I have set my cameras on runs in the winter with snow on the ground...deer will just begin to avoid the camera...they dont stop using the whole area...they just dont walk past the camera.
I usually set my camera in feeding area's...this lets me see the deer that are in my area without alerting them to exactly where my stands are. For example I usually hunt a ridge back in off some fields (corn and alfalfa). By putting the cams in the fields I see the deer that are in the area without spooking them out of the funnels I hunt them in.
I hunt with my brother and for two years going now we a have takin quality bucks that we did get pics of before the season a 10pt 140, 8 pt 125, and a 7 pt 120 (in MA those are quality and to do this with frequency is a rareity). The 7 point we actually had never got a pic of, but he came through just like the others. What the cameras have done is given us a reason to let the spikes and forks pass by. We now know we have quality deer in the area, and we are able to wait and sit the extra hour or two...and its fun to see the deer you have had pics of.
So for what its worth in short...deer do see the cams...i think they will avoid them... but it does not scare them out of the area.

hope it helps...

"show me game cam pictures of a mature buck visiting the same camera time after time, and make sure it's an educated critter"................ does this guy count???

Here are some more

D@mn Cornfed that is a monster. So did you get him? By the way the Drop Zone is working great on the new xTec. That sure is a sweet bow. Thanks for the help.

HOLY Matilda.... what a buck.

hey il cornfed i was just wondering is that the albia buck? looks alot like him. if not you have a monster on your property!

Cornfed,

The Albia buck pics are all over in North American Whitetail. That sure looks just like him. Is it ???? From what I read everyone in that area was scouting him, trying to get photos of him, trying to kill him, of course why not when you have a potential world record bow nontypical in the area. Wasn't it titled something like "Walking World Record" ???. I wonder if all those flash bulbs pushed him over onto that teenagers property ...where he shot him with his muzzleloader.

What a buck. Question..... are those all pics from one hunter or pictures from several hunters? Did any of the guys that took those pictures ever get a shot at this buck? If it is the Albia buck, did that kid or his family have this buck dialed in and are any of those photos thiers?

If thats not him, I am gonna have to dig up that article and compare those pics

Shed