And interesting presentation of deers reactions to trail cameras. Worth watching the entire clip as most of the relevant info is near the end. Trail Cameras: What You've Been Missing - Reality Deer Management Ep. 8 - YouTube
Pretty cool video. I have my cams on video almost all the time. I don't have deer running off like that, but it does make me think. Thanks for the post.
That is very interesting. I never really considered the reaction deer have to trail cameras until I watched this. The video I have from trail cameras show no alarming behavior, but I think I will start putting my cameras up higher after watching this. I do have a lot of still shots that show the deer, both does and bucks, with their nose right up to the lens. I figured the deer knew the camera was there, but I didn't think they perceived the camera as a threat. This video research sure makes one think about camera placement, that's for sure! Thanks for sharing this............it is enlightening information.
It is definitely a lightbulb moment, watching this video. I had deer all season long looking and sniffing of my cameras...one camera I hung about 6.5' up on a smaller tree and now tha tI think about it, I never had one pic that I recall of deer investigating that camera. Wow...aha! Great info, again thanks for posting it.
I have seen this video and I have several issues with it. First of all, not all deer react the same way every time. Deer are individuals and will react differently to different things. Secondly, they advised everyone to put their cameras in the video mode to see what they are missing. Well, I have found that video, especially IR video, does tend to spook more deer than still pics. This is because the flash is activated for a longer period of time. Just a simple flash from an IR cam or even a white-flash cam is simply not activated long enough for most deer to notice. And lastly, I have also found that placing food or some other attractant in front of the camera will make the deer oblivious to almost everything else. I can't say I've never had a deer spooked by flash but I will say that it is not at the frequency portrayed in this video. I also think that anyone who thinks that cameras will spook all the big bucks out of a given area should look at Pat's (gutoneforme) photos over several years and then make that argument. Blessings.........Pastorjim
I don't believe it will spook deer out of an area indeffinitely and I know not all deer will react the same way. What I take away from this after seeing my cams all year is that: 1. Deer do often get jumpy around the cameras 2. Bucks do very often avoid the cameras once they see them. I have had several pics of bucks at the edge of the frame looking at the camera and obviously going around the cameras view a lot of the time. 3. Video or pics..the deer were spooked by the dead camera...period. Their point is that it was a negative experience for the deer and in turn could very well be having a negative effect on the deer and/or the area for the hunter. Setting the cams higher seems to fix the impactual problems of deer being spooked. I had pics of big bucks all season long as well, that doesn't mean there's not a better way of hanging them that will work even better. It's not a big deal to hang a camera a bit higher and not worry about it.
I agree with you CoveyMaster, deer do sometimes get a little jumpy around cameras. I have had deer react to my cams in the daylight when no flash of any kind is happening. I think it's just something new to them. I also think that elevating your cams is a good way to make them a little less conspicuous and know several guys on here that do just that. My main issue with the video was their claim that we didn't know what we were missing when not having our cams in the video mode. I think that a greater reaction was created because the cams were in the video mode. I feel that having an IR cam in the video mode does create much more of a reaction, as I have experienced this myself. I think if you are going to do a lot of video then a black-flash cam is probably a better choice in most cases. I have also placed white-flash cams with another cam in the video mode in the same location and the deer, at least those deer, had absolutely no reaction to the white-flash camera. Blessings.........Pastorjim
If the video mode is in fact the cause of the " negative response" how does that explain the negative responses to an inoperable dummy camera? the use, placement and maintaining cameras on a property is going to alert deer in at least one way if not several. Its up to us determine if that disturbance is in fact worth it. For my part it is, the running of cameras though the year gives me a connection to the hunt when we can't hunt. It adds enjoyment. That said the presentation does help make us more aware to how in tune deer are to their surroundings. It also made me think of or rather weigh the negatives of frequent camera use on a property that I will be hunting irregardless of what my trail cameras show me. Is an increase in pressure( more so on your smaller property and high hunting pressure areas) worth it for a few pictures? That's up to all of us to decide. Good discussion BTW.
Trial153, I'm not sure there are concrete answers to all of your questions. I agree that our intrusion into there world can and does have an effect on the animals. That being said, I've had deer show up 10 minutes after I have left a spot and they didn't seem to show any reaction at all. My brother-in-law and I have had this discussion many times and he I thinks that my running cams all year causes an adverse effect on the deer. My response to him is I check cams only every three to four weeks. When we hunt we may go into an area three times in a single week. I always ask him what would cause more pressure, once every three to four weeks or three times in a single week? I really don't know for sure but I do think there is no hard fast rule. Some it may bother more than others. I also think that animals can be conditioned to accept some human presence, especially in farm country, which is what I hunt. There is one area in my hunting spot that is a utility right of way. That spot has a lot of human traffic because it's accessible. At the same time our biggest bucks have been killed on it because it's the main travel route to a doe bedding area. So I obviously run cameras on that spot year-round and it doesn't seem to restrict any movement of anything. I think it boils down to what individual animals will tolerate. That said I still think we should do everything we can to minimize evidence of our presence, like keeping our scent to a minimum, checking cams during times that we likely won't be bumping deer, and never intruding into bedding areas. Blessings..........Pastorjim