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Do deer become immune to game camera's?

fairchaser

fairchaser

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Sep 13, 2011
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Location
TN, USA
Game cameras have proliferated over the past several years to the point where they are almost everywhere. Deer eventually become immune to every day things in their environment even when they are associated with a human such as a farmer on his tractor as long as they don't perceive them as a danger. Do you think, this can happen even with a game camera?
 
I believe they are on my place. I have alot of cameras and they stay out year round. Deer there are literally getting their pic taken from birth to death if they stay around. I routinely get multiple photos of mature bucks at the same locations over long periods of time with white flash cams. Now a buck that is out range roaming, and just passes through, he certainly may become spooked. You'll see alot of people post about avoidance of white flash and red glow cams, and I believe them, I just do not see it in my situation with white flash. I have seen some bad reactions to red glow though, for sure. I have red glow video showing a definite negative reaction from a mature buck.

 
Everything that I have seen and read has indicated that deer do notice cameras and it has a negative effect on them. It's a delicate balance between not tipping off deer and taking advantage of the benefits of trail cameras, but there does seem to be a noticeable effects on deer from trail camera use. Obviously scent precautions and advanced cameras, like black flash, can decrease the impact of camera usage
 
Proof has got to be in the numbers. More game cameras out there now than there has ever been and are the deer harvets numbers going down? I would guess not.
 
I think it all depends on the timing of human pressure. Mine have been out all summer on a salt lick and i have at least 5 different 3.5+ bucks and another 15 younger bucks as well. Daylight and night. Right now deer arent on edge. But if your deer isnt seeing cameras and flashes almost yr around, and one just pops up on one in the middle of season when awareness of human pressure is higher, then the negative reactions occur more.

Just the other day a guy posted a picture of 3 bucks in his back yard under apple trees. They were looking right at him. The deer were used to having human scent, movement, and involvement around and present, and knew that human wasnt a threat to them because they hadnt ever hurt or been a major threat there. I personally like having a camera near my hunting spots, simply because i feel they get "immune" to human scent in that particular area. I never worry about my scent control during summer months for that reason right there. And if i knew how to post pictures, i would show the proof in the pudding. I actually drive my truck up to the cameras. Twice a week.

My deer numbers at my cameras and there multiple visits dont lie!
 
I personally think scent wise its better to drive as close as possible to cameras... There is a definite change once the velvet comes off in a deers tolerance of human scent... I've never seen much negative effect from game cams, not say it doesn't exist. Placement can also be a huge factor... All my cams are infared and I have pics of deer with their nose to the camera, and then in the next pic 1 min later there standing a few feet away feeding.. I think at scrapes deer are usually to pre occupied to worry about cameras, this is when I'll put mine on video. I have gotten negative reaction from video mode at feeding sites though...
 
I have noticed in when you put outa camera over a salt block that the first few times it spooks deer but you can watch them night after night get acustomed to it. Thats not saying it dosent scares off bucks never to be seen again.
 
In my opinion, game cameras save more big bucks lives than anything out there. From the fact that I have seen countless numbers of pics of good bucks that usually never are seen much less killed to the people who watch their cameras and will not hunt until they see the type buck they are looking for show up on camera.
 
Headhunter said:
In my opinion, game cameras save more big bucks lives than anything out there. From the fact that I have seen countless numbers of pics of good bucks that usually never are seen much less killed to the people who watch their cameras and will not hunt until they see the type buck they are looking for show up on camera.
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I agree......in a relative thread, I posted that if the lack of pics on a camera keeps a hunter at home, then he/she needs to put the camera in the garage or only out during late or early season to maybe take a bit of inventory.

Also, not all bucks or deer, in general, get caught on film....

Never base a hunt on pics because deer can be in the next county tomorrow.

I don't think all deer get immune to them, just like all deer don't get immune to traffic, farmers, dogs, etc. Some may, but many don't....

Remember this, in most cases the deer you don't see are the ones that you need to see...lol.

I have no doubt that many deer in my county die of old age, many seen by man only a few times after they matured...jmo.
 
IMO, I think it affects them in a negative way as well. I've noticed, that no matter how long my cam's are out, the deer are still looking at them when they come in. Also, I've got pics of deer one time and that would be the last time I saw the deer too. Now maybe the deer just "skirted" the area just out of range of the cam after noticing it the first time, but that still indicates a negative reaction imo.
 
Headhunter said:
In my opinion, game cameras save more big bucks lives than anything out there.
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I would have to disagree with this.

Although deer may "go around" a cam, they don't leave the area (if you consider altering their route by typically less than 50 yards) upon becoming suspicious or "scared" of a trail cam.

But I will say trail cams are highly over-rated as a hunting tool, and purposefully hunting near a cam just because you got a particular buck's pic there is a good way not to kill that particular buck.

Getting pics of older bucks often greatly motivates many hunters to pass up younger bucks, allowing many hunters using trail cams to kill more older bucks.
 
Nope and do not care to. If they did work they would take some if not all of the "hunt" away for me. One good use they have is if you are paying to hunt (leasing, guided, outfitter, etc.) then they can give you a feeling that what you are wanting to kill is there. I would not want to know the location the picture was taken in though, I would just want to hunt. One thing I enjoy about hunting, is, well hunting and to me using cameras takes away from "hunting". I know there are good deer that use most places I hunt, I don't need a trail camera to get me to hunt, I love to hunt. I still say from the hundreds of pictures of bucks I have ever seen, I personally know of none that were killed using the "pictures" and that is all I need to know. I have nothing against them being used, but I don't and probably never will.
 
I have pre-kill pics of most of the mature bucks I've taken over the past 5 years in the areas I was running cams. Noteworthy that most were killed no where near the places I'd gotten their pics. Even more noteworthy is I have pics of bucks I was specifically hunting that were killed several miles away by a friend. In this respect, trail cams have really helped educate me about the movements of specific older bucks. Pretty amazing when you have a pic of a particular buck, thinking that he's "yours" or on "your property", then a friend kills him 12 hours after a dated & timed pic some 3 miles away!

Little difference in using trail cams to enhance your hunting experience vs. looking for big rubs and scrapes and other deer sign. I also go out searching for shed deer antlers for the same reasons: It adds to my overall hunting experience.

Ever go out and glass fields in your hunting area just to see what deer you can see? Using trail cams to "see" what's sometimes there is little different.
 
It is much different, intrusion is made on a deer's area everytime you go in and put out a camera, check the camera, etc. Plus there is some element of "not knowing" what is there that I value and that is another reason why I say it takes away from my hunting. I know deer travel, have known it as long as I have been hunting. Don't need a camera to tell me that. Kind of goes with when I do not see any good bucks on my favorite farm to hunt during bow season, means I am probably going to see some in gun season, but if I see good bucks during bow season, they usually get killed on another farm.
 
Deer, especially mature bucks, are like people, in that many have very different "personalities" that vary greatly! I learned long ago that there is no real "rules of thumb" when it comes to hunting mature bucks. Just when you think you have pinned down a certain trait among them, one throws you out with the dishwater!
While there are definitely generalities, there are very few certainties among them. I too have had some old bucks that simply would ignore white flash cams day and night and give me multiple pics and at maybe even multiple sites on a tract of land. Then you have the more common result of only getting 1 or 2 pics of a particular buck in front of a white flash cam.
I do have better luck getting multiple pics over a longer period of time with the totally black flash cams on average, but not exclusively.
As for deer being conditioned and those who made comments about the deer getting used to their scent in a given area, no comparison in breezing thru and changing a sd card vs coming in and climbing a stand and staying in the area for hours on end!
There really are no short answers to any given subject when dealing with mature bucks, as it would take a book to totally discuss each small aspect of hunting them.
I love running cams and seeing what I can get on film, but never let a pic take the place of scouting and learning the lay of the land I hunt!!
 
Winchester said:
I love running cams and seeing what I can get on film, but never let a pic take the place of scouting and learning the lay of the land I hunt!!
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I agree.
As a hunting tool, a pic of a particular deer is usually no more valuable than having seen that deer standing out in the middle of a large field --- the sighting doesn't tell you how to kill him.

But it can simply be exciting to get the sighting! :)
 

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