does anybody use ir cameras
 

are ir cameras junk? i have a bushnell and it takes lousy pictures at night. what does everybody have for ir cameras, and do you like them? or is everybody just sticking with the flash digitals?

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

I bought a LR IR this past winter and I like it. Trigger is a little slower than my cudde but it works good. I bought the external IR enhancer and it really makes a big difference. It actually cast a shadow on the ground behind the deer. I haven't pulled any pics off my card since I got the external enhancer yet. I just got it a couple of weeks ago but here is a pic of a buck I got this past season. One with the IR and one with Cudde just to show difference.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

I've used two IR cams and several with white flash and I prefer the white flash. I've also not seen any evidence of the flash spooking deer. I think that the color pictures are just so much better than the black and white or tinted pictures.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

Trouble is, if they get spooked, you never see them again so how ould you know. I did a test with my setup. 3 weeks with an IR camera with lots of pics, more then one picture of the same deer. Changed it to a white flash and in one week, only got one pic of a deer. After I went back to the IR, started to get deer pics again.

If you look at white flash pics, the deer are almost always looking at the flash while the IR camera the deer do not notice it at all. To me, for a scouting cam, I want the least intrusive camera I can use.

Big Ten I believe that IR cams are great and I see more and more people switching to them. But I would not pay for any store bought IR cam as I do not think that they are worth the money they charge for them. You can build an IR cam for just a little more money then a regular cam.

Just my Opinion.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

It is my opinion that there are too many variables for us to determine if the flash spooks the deer. Maybe someone with penned deer could do a test but it would be difficult since the tameness of the deer could bias the results.

I've watched deer get flash pictures taken and none of them ran. I also have thousands of pictures of deer taken with a flash and most of them are not looking at the flash. I think that many of the deer that are looking at the camera when the picture is taken are looking at the camera because they hear the camera's shutter open up. If they look at the camera when it flashes then it would be too late. Once the flash goes off the deer has already had its picture taken. Surely a deer cannot beat the speed of light and turn it's head.

Once again this is my opinion from my experiences. I've not yet seen any study that would prove otherwise. For instance you would even have to be sure that the flash and IR camera have the same dependability. I've used 19 different cameras and the dependability varies widely. I've also had deer show up for a couple of weeks and then be no shows for a week or so and then show up again. These critters are very hard to pin down.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

You are correct that there are way too many variables to test this. Every day, every time is different. As for the camera having the same dependability, well it was the same home built camera which I can use as either a white flash or IR camera. Therefore the reaction time, sensitivity was the exact same.

As for deer. Any deer can be taught or become acclimatized to a white flash, espically over a bait pile. Every deer is different, some will be spooked, some will not. I have seen deer where they have come up wind directly to me (sniffing all the way) and was not spooked. I have walked up to deer in an open field without spooking them as well. With some other deer, walking into a fields over 500 yards away have spooked the deer.

Maybe you have enough deer in your area that you do not need to worry about spooking a few deer (white flash will not spook all the deer, but has a great chance of spooking some of them if not most). But as I said, as a tail scouting cam, spooking a deer (even one) is one less deer in my area that I want or expect to be there (as the pics have showed).

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

Hi, if you just want a camera for scouting, stick with IR, I have 2 Leaf River IR cameras and love them, I also have a Moultrie 100 I changed to IR, Cuddeback 1.3 and a homebrew. There's a lot of debate about flash spooking deer, but why take a chance go IR.[/align]Good Luck[/align]Joe[/align]

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

I agree with snoogs and grumpy...way to many variables. I've noticed that the deer look at both my IR and my flash. I think on the flash it's just coincidence or it got them on the first flash and they are just looking at it when it hits them again...that cudde is so fast there's no way they know it's coming. On the IR it takes my LR a sec for the red lights to light up a little which is just enough time for them to see it andlook up at it. They defintily see it though. Does either spook them. I don't think so for the most part. I've gotten quite a few big bucks several times over different days and none of them seemed to mind any.Not saying it doesn't spooksome of them but most of them it doesn't bother for the most part IMO.Here area couple of pics of deer looking at my IR. Big buck and doe are at my lease in AL. The other buck is behind my house here in FL.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

These are wild animals ..you can not predict what they will do or for what reason. How do they know a flash is not just LIGHTENING? I have pics of a huge deer with my Stealth not over a bait pile who stuck around for 4 pics in succession...so who really knows..if a deer is skidish enough he may just see your camera on a tree and get spooked.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

Last pic in sequence of four

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

I don't want anyone to think that I think it is impossible for a white flash to spook a deer. We once had a dog that was afraid of lightning and we could make her afraid just by turning a flashlight on and off. I suppose there could be deer out there that might react the same way. Along the same line, If a deer is afraid of the white flash then I think lightning could likely scare them too. I also know that they are fond of staring into headlights and then often even walk towards your car.

One other thing that makes me wonder is that the IR cameras are more expensive than the scary white flash. If you are selling game cameras surely you would want to sell more of the IR models wouldn't you? Maybe I'll have to e-mail the manufacturers and see if they'll share the studies they have done that show that deer are afraid of the white flash.

For me, after my experiences, I just can't get past the excellent quality of the regular flash cameras. I find I've a hard time even looking through the IR pics.

Use what you think best and won't scare away the deer and enjoy those pictures.

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

Hey Joey - Tell me more about converting a Moultrie to an IR. I'd kinda like to try that. Got instructions? Advice? How did it work? Can I see some samples?

RE: does anybody use ir cameras
 

This is everything I used to change my Moultrie, you might have to register at haghouse to view first post, It's actually pretty easy, the biggest pain in the A$$ is refocusing the camera.[/align]Good Luck[/align]Joe[/align][/align]http://hagshouse.ipbhost.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17829&hl=[/align][/align]http://www.chasingame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=921&highlight=conversion[/align]