muzzyman88

Just wondering what everyone elses thoughts were on this. I just bought a camera and have yet to go get it out of the woods yet. Its been on the same trail since Sunday and I'm anxiously awaiting Saturday to go get it. Do you think they scare deer enough to keep them from using a trail much? If they do scare deer enough, thats it, its gone. I won't use any longer.

Bird Hunt Dog

I just put one out for the first time also. The film ones do make a little noise when the film winds and i can't believe a deer wouldn't be a little startled by the flash in the dark!

SW Iowa Hunter

I don't think the camera bothers the deer at all. We have gotten the same deer on film on the same trail before. You do need to beware of your scent when checking it. I think you have a better chance of spooking them with you presence and scent than the camera does.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Yes, they do scare some deer. I have several pictures of that. Some deer are curious and some seem to jump out of their skin....one buck...first picture he's sneeking, next picture he's standing on his hind legs leeping forward like he's going airborne.....I doubt however if it's enough to push them out. I have other shots of this same deer and saw him in the area during the season. Keep your human smell out of there and they'll accept that non threatening sound and flash.

Bukmastr

Seems to be a regional thing. Where Im at it scares the heck out of them. But some of the areas I travel to, they don't mind it at all. I never put a camera where I intend to hunt, rather, I put near by at a night time feeding area. I just want to know if there is a worthy buck in the area and get a pic. Good scouting will find out where he is holeing up. You also have to watch your scent and where you walk when setting cameras.

pocomoke

I run anywhere between 8-12 cams at a time on my property.All but 1 are digital,in fact the film cam is on the fritz now so I am running all digitals at this time.

I have been using trail cameras for 4 years now and have too many pics to count.I do hunt near enough to the cams that I can see 1 or 2 of them with my binoculars.I have watched 130-140 class deer get their pic taken 3-4 times in a row with flash and just go about what they were doing.Same thing with doe and fawns and small bucks.

Then there are the deer both big and small who when the flash gets them they darn near climb out of their hide trying to get away.I have also seen them do this when a treelimb falls,and if your woods look like mine there are 1000's of tree limbs laying around so I am sure deer hear them fall all the time as well.

No doubt each deer is different and I have lots of pics of big bucks that I only got 1 pic of and never saw them again,however this was always around the rut and I just chalked it up to a bruiser passing through my area looking for does.

Deer are just naturally skittish so I dont think some added flash of light or a little noise from a film camera will send them to the next county but just like if you hunt the same stand site over and over,deer will get to know that there is something that they dont like in that area and will adjust their patterns accordingly.

I have proved this to myself by having cams on a trail that saw heavy daily use by deer.At 1st I would get 100 pics a week,then it slowly dropped off and after 4 weeks I was down to 10 pics a week but the trail was still tracked up before and after where the cam was located so I put another cam up about 25 yards directly behind the original cam and caught pics of most of the deer that were leaving the trail and going around behind the original camera.

So they did change their patterns because of the cams...

titleist_03

How is the flash of a camera any different then the flash from a bolt of lightening? I would think a deer would become conditioned to it just as it would lightening.

pocomoke

Well you have to realize that lightning,though common,usally does not strike right in the woods next to a deer.Especially on a constant basis.We are talking about a flash of light every time the deer walks past a particular spot.

Think of it like this,there is a big ol pot hole in the road you travel everyday.After hitting it several times you just instinctively know to swerve when coming to this area.

I still say it wont spook them out of your woods but they will alter their patterns a bit.Just my opinion.

Hill Hopper

I have used the lightening analogy quite often, but there is a twist. It is rarely at eye level. Try putting your cam about 8 to 10 feet above the ground if you are very paranoid about it. If out of site, normally not a problem even for most skittish deer. Poc, your and my observations are almost identical.

adams

I seem to get a lot of the same deer and often on the same runs. I've been moving it around but I have one draw that the deer cross at the same spot every time they pass though and I get the same deer there all the time. I havn't been getting any mature bucks so I'm not sure how they'll respond.