Cory from WI asks,
Bill, There are a lot of comments regarding trail cameras not properly hidden will spook deer, especially mature bucks resulting in them leaving the property. I’m curious your experience with trail camera positioning if you “hide” your cameras to not spook deer.
Bill responds,
Topic: Hiding Trail Cameras:
I have never had any issues with putting trail cameras right out in the open as long as I kept them scent free and kept the area scent free. I always store my cameras in a tote that keeps them from absorbing any human odors and I always wear gloves and waist high waders when setting or checking the cameras. Eliminating human scent is critical to deer accepting your camera sites.
Cory,
I have never tried really hard to hide my trail cameras, and I have not seen a big issue with that. However, I do often place them inside the edge of cover so they aren’t as obvious. I think as long as they don’t have human scent on them (store them in a separate tote away from odors) they don’t really attract a lot of attention.
The bigger issue, I think, is camera noise. If the camera makes any sound when it takes a picture the deer will react to that. Some of the older models did and some of the more recent ones also have a filter that moves in front of the lens when the camera shoots in certain light (possibly an infra-red filter?). I am guessing that most of the better ones on the market today are noiseless or they wouldn’t sell with all the competition out there, but I did have issues with sound over the years.
Also, keeping human scent away from the area when you place and check the camera is critical. I wear waist high waders when I set and check my cameras to keep ground scent to a minimum. I think it is basically non-existent. That’s also a key point.
To create some perspective, let’s just say you place a T-post (fence post) out there on the edge of the woods, will the deer leave the farm or even react to it? Probably not past the very first day (and even then very little) unless it is coated in human scent. So, keep the cameras away from odors and you should be fine.
Maybe, I don’t live in the real world, but I can’t say that I have any evidence that certain bucks ever reacted negatively to my cameras – especially past the first day or two. Good luck. (7/8/22)
