Trail cameras can help or hurt deer hunters

Motion sensing trail cameras are easily one of the biggest innovations in the world of hunting. More than any other tool, they are responsible for the harvest of deer that would have otherwise never been seen.

But despite the clear advantage they give deer hunters, if used improperly or misread, they can also ruin a hunt or even an entire season.

When they work correctly, even the cheapest trail cameras are like a permanent set of eyes on a hunting spot.

The trouble is, all of them eventually malfunction. And that applies to the cheapest Wildview cameras, the most expensive Reconyx cameras and everything in between.

Sometimes the battery dies. Sometimes the memory card is too big or the wrong brand. Sometimes moisture penetrates the electronics or the lens. Sometimes the trigger speed is too slow or the pixel count is too small, and sometimes they fail for no apparent reason at all.

Most frustrating are the cameras that are too complicated to even turn on. Lots of frustrated hunters have returned to check cameras after two weeks to find out they were not even running.

Despite some great innovations, the new Bushnell Trophy Cam is a classic example of a camera that is too complicated for it’s own good. Many hunters have given up on trying to decipher the novel sent with the camera Bushnell calls instructions.

Assuming the plastic latches don’t break, which has been a problem with Leaf River and Wildview cameras, and the cameras actually take pictures, there are other potential problems.

Though countless deer have been captured on both standard flash and infrared illuminated cameras at night, sometimes they spook deer.

Unfortunately, does, fawns and small bucks don’t seem to mind flash, but mature bucks do.

Infrared was supposed to fix the problem. It did not.

Infrared cameras use a burst of red lights instead of white ones. Deer can see red lights as well as white, and mature bucks don’t like either.

Pay close attention to trail camera pictures and it becomes apparent that even infrared flashes may be ruining your hunting spot.

Point your infrared trail camera at a scrape and set it for three bursts. Watch how many bucks appear in the first photo but not in the second or third. Then note if that same buck returns any time soon.

What will become clear is that a lot of bucks either back out of the frame or run away after the first photo. And once a buck is spooked from a spot for any reason, he will avoid that spot for quite some time.

Reconyx claims to have a new type of night lighting that solves the problem, but most hunters will never know if it works. Despite having the best trigger speed, Reconyx are unexplainably expensive.

Add the cost to the fact that they only are 3.1 megapixels, and they aren’t worth the price tag. Reconyx claims the rest of their camera is so great, the pixels don’t matter, but they are wrong. Pixels are important when zooming in on deer at a distance to determine finer points.

The best solution to cameras spooking deer is to turn off the flash and only take daytime shots. It is also a good idea to never place a trail camera next to a stand site.

Use them before and after season or place them on the opposite end of a food plot if night shots are important.

None of this is meant to imply motion sensor cameras are all bad. They solve puzzles that would have otherwise been eternal mysteries.

The only thing better that catching a trail camera glimpse of a monster buck on your property is catching a glimpse of a trespasser. Thieves have been arrested in almost every state based on trail camera photos.

Other trespassers exposed by trail cameras include dogs or in some places, hogs. Both can ruin a hunting area without ever showing themselves to the landowner or hunter.

Criminals and lazy dog owners can’t argue ignorance when confronted with a big color photo of them or their dog on your food plot.

Beware when buying and using trail cameras, and always make sure they can be returned if they don’t work. This might sound obvious, but sadly it is an issue with some.

Though every major retailer in the country still sells Wildview and Stealth cameras, for example, neither camera has a working customer service phone number or address for returns.

Consider buying cameras from retailers with solid in-store return policies, and don’t expect any of them to work all the time.

Written By: Don Mulligan