Spooked!

[Bill G]

Have been wanting to get into the trail cams so being the cautious type, bought an el'cheapo Stealth for about 70 bucks. In the corner of my backyard I have a corn-feeder used to feed the deer for the past couple years. So, had a perfect testing ground before moving it out to some of my hunting areas. Was somewhat concerned about the flash and noise when the film advances. A group of about eight bucks and a few does come to my feeder every afternoon. Setup and hid the camera very well and after a few days noticed the deer were feeding only in the area not covered by the camera. 1 or 2 of them were always looking in that direction. While watching one afternoon about dusky dark 3 of the larger bucks(120-135 class)walked by in range of the camera, flash went off and I guess a short whrrr from the film advance. Boooom! You would have thought a 7 mag went off above their heads. The entire group of about 10 deer absolutly tore the woods down, big time! Did not see them for 4 days!
Lesson learned, sometimes the cheapest way turns to the most expensive! Removed and returned the camera, looking at digitals.

 

[KTMMIKE]

I have the same set up at my house. It's interesting to watch how the deer react to the camera. I have found that some deer don't mind it & some do. The biggest buck that comes doesn't mind at all. He doesn't even flinch when it goes off. But there is another buck he spends a lot of time with & he is scared to death of it.

 

[firedog]

I've got a Stealth camera also. Some pics show deer not spooked, even coming in and taking a sniff as the second and third pics go off. Other ones show a deer moving across and then nothing. Like maybe they took off. Never even thought about the sound of the film advancing. When I set it up last year, I forgot about it and it snapped a couple pics of me

going in to hunt. I can't recall hearing a noise coming from it. Then again, my ears aren't nearly as keen as a deer's!