Is this buck gone for good?

[fairchaser]

I got a picture of this buck and he obviously sees the camera and then next two photos (I have it set on 3 shot burst then a video) he wheels around and runs off. I didn't get any video before he ran off.

My stand is 350 yards away. Will I ever see him again? Cameras can be a blessing and a curse.

 

[ImThere]

He ain't dead so there's always a chance

 

[rifle02]

Seems like an educated buck. Hopefully he has a short memory. If he doesn't- you might not see him again.

 

[Remington700]

50/50 chance I would say. Depends on pressure in the area, how bad it scared him, etc. Also, with the rut around the corner he might be leaving the area anyways. You'll have to stay tuned.

 

[tellico4x4]

I doubt he lives the area but may very well avoid the camera location.

 

[rem270]

He'll be around. I hung a camera over a scrape once and that afternoon had a 10 pt come out. He walked the field edge right to the cam, looked up and shagged tail. It was pretty crazy seeing him do it. But I seen him multiple times after that

 

[BSK]

Deer have a shocking ability to notice anything new in their environment. Cut a sapling - they notice. Hang a camera - they notice. Put up a stand - they notice. And sometimes they react violently to the change. But once the "new thing" does them no harm, they ignore it.

To answer the original question, the buck seeing the camera and running away from it means nothing. He will be back. The one caveat to this is if a deer gets visibly flashed by a camera at night. They WILL avoid that in the future, but not by changing locations, just walking behind the camera.

 

[rem270]

Deer have a shocking ability to notice anything new in their environment. Cut a sapling - they notice. Hang a camera - they notice. Put up a stand - they notice. And sometimes they react violently to the change. But once the "new thing" does them no harm, they ignore it.

To answer the original question, the buck seeing the camera and running away from it means nothing. He will be back. The one caveat to this is if a deer gets visibly flashed by a camera at night. They WILL avoid that in the future, but not by changing locations, just walking behind the camera.

I used to have 2 or 3 moultrie cams that took the colored night time pics. In order to get those they had the white flash. I never seen any negative effects from it but I know their had to be. I remember multiple times walking in and seeing the cam go off and it lit up the woods for a split second. The only negative effect I know for certain was from my dad. He walked by it one morning not knowing it was there. He about had to change his drawers lol.

 

[BSK]

I used to have 2 or 3 moultrie cams that took the colored night time pics. In order to get those they had the white flash. I never seen any negative effects from it but I know their had to be. I remember multiple times walking in and seeing the cam go off and it lit up the woods for a split second. The only negative effect I know for certain was from my dad. He walked by it one morning not knowing it was there. He about had to change his drawers lol.

Back when I still used hacked digital camera trail-cams, that use white flash, the two major patterns I could count on was a rapidly declining number of pictures at each cam from week to week to week, and deer learning to walk behind the camera. I have a long narrow food plot that I've monitored with a camera from various locations for years. When I still used white-flash cams, I would watch deer walk up the middle of the plot until just before they entered the cams trigger area. Then the deer would leave the plot, walk behind the camera, and then reenter the plot just beyond the camera's trigger area. The white-flash camera caused the deer to alter their behavior, but it did not influence them to leave the area or make major changes to their travel pattern.

 

[ZachMarkus]

Deer have a shocking ability to notice anything new in their environment. Cut a sapling - they notice. Hang a camera - they notice. Put up a stand - they notice. And sometimes they react violently to the change. But once the "new thing" does them no harm, they ignore it.

To answer the original question, the buck seeing the camera and running away from it means nothing. He will be back. The one caveat to this is if a deer gets visibly flashed by a camera at night. They WILL avoid that in the future, but not by changing locations, just walking behind the camera.

So you think there's a good chance this buck will stay around? He saw the red glow of my reveal cell cam.

 

[BSK]

So you think there's a good chance this buck will stay around? He saw the red glow of my reveal cell cam.

He won't leave the area, but he may avoid that exact location.

 

[fairchaser]

I have had better luck at placing the cameras high 6-7 ft and angling them down. They don't seem to see them if they aren't line of sight.

 

[Snake]

So you think there's a good chance this buck will stay around? He saw the red glow of my reveal cell cam.

He definitely noticed it but in hind sight he didn't run off . He did the foot stomp but stayed so I guess no harm no foul .

 

[Snake]

I got a picture of this buck and he obviously sees the camera and then next two photos (I have it set on 3 shot burst then a video) he wheels around and runs off. I didn't get any video before he ran off.

My stand is 350 yards away. Will I ever see him again? Cameras can be a blessing and a curse.

Boy he's a stud but smart and a cautious one at that . Be hard to tell Fairchaser but I'd still hunt him hopefully after a couple days he'll forget . Maybe he'll come back around cautiously and see nothing to harm him . Although deer are cautious they are curious.

 

[Gone Hunting]

Most likely still around, he will just swing wide and avoid camera. I also use the reveal and man deer see it and avoid like crazy

 

[TheLBLman]

I frequently see ANY disturbance shift where deer utilize an area (feed and/or pass thru) by 25 to 150 yds. Place a ladder stand, hunt it several times, and many the older deer will start passing by where they are not seen by someone in the stand (often by passing thru on the opposite side of the tree).

Red flash cams can be almost as bad as white flash (and in some cases have seemed worse) in "spooking" deer. They will also spook a coyote even faster.

For this reason I usually favor true black (invisible) flash cams.
I do use many Browning Pro Scout cell cams which are red flash, but when set to their lowest intensity (economy mode), I can still use them around scrapes without spooking deer (and still get acceptable nighttime images). But they will still spook a coyote.

 

[Ski]

If he's a resident buck you're OK. He'll stay around. But if you just happened to get his picture as he was on a walk about, then maybe not. In other words if you know the buck then yeah I'd expect him to stay. If not then maybe/probably won't see him anywhere near that camera again.

Lots of bucks are shifting range right now. Some for food. Some just because it's that time. And some because they were being hunted somewhere else so they're searching for new home. I've chases away many great bucks by hunting them and they stay gone.

 

[Rackseeker]

Not a chance he is coming back, he is long gone. Just to make sure send me a PM with GPS coordinates and a signed permission slip and I will keep an eye out for you. LOL......

 

[backyardtndeer]

That looks like a great buck. Hard to say if he will be back or not, I don't think any mature bucks act exactly the same. Hope he comes back around while you are in your stand though.

 

[megalomaniac]

Those bucks aren't leaving from getting their pics taken/ spooking off the camera. Like BSK said, they will learn to avoid getting in front of the camera, though.

I watched a mature buck do that a few years ago. Had 2 pics of him a month before on a salt lick. Saw him 3 times that hunting season browsing and getting salt run off from BEHIND the camera. He wasn't a shooter, so it was neat actually seeing him multiple times from the stand, 10y from the camera, yet never getting another pic of him that year.

 

[TheLBLman]

Each buck is an individual. Some are just more wary than others.
I've had some, even older ones, not seem to upset by bright white flash.
But most quickly start avoiding anything that looks suspicious to them.
That "avoidance" may just mean a few yards in altered travel.

 

[fairchaser]

I rarely place cameras near my hunting spots. I only use them to take a census of the bucks in the area. We've already gotten another pic of this buck 1/2 mile from the original spot. I think he's checking out the does in the area. Normally when a buck moves 1/2 mile he's in another property. One of the advantages of having a large property to hunt is you can follow a buck more easily.

 

[TheLBLman]

I rarely place cameras near my hunting spots.

Wise words.

I do however place cams where they're easily serviced along my comings & goings

Of course, if you were shooting for pet deer in someone's backyard, you could have an entire film crew there with you, and none of this would matter.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

Don't be discouraged, he very well could be looking past your camera

 

[BSK]

Don't be discouraged, he very well could be looking past your camera

And even if he did see the camera, not a big deal. Deer stare at my cameras all the time. The see it, stop and stare, and when it doesn't do anything threatening, move on.

 

[Shed Hunter]

It's amazing how different individual deer can be. Most bucks I get on camera return. Even in daylight often.

Some deer out there must just be intensely good at avoiding us. I glassed a pretty nice buck and put a camera out and over three months never got a picture. Got several other deer I never glassed in the field but never him

 

[Lt.Dan]

My experience has been that the big mature bucks in my AO will not return. I pulled all my cameras from the woods. I tried having them high, still would not see the good ones again. Hope this doesn't happen to you. Oh, this is the 1st year not using a camera and I have had 2 great mature bucks pass my stand while I was in it. Just didn't have a shot at either one.

 

[BSK]

My experience has been that the big mature bucks in my AO will not return. I pulled all my cameras from the woods. I tried having them high, still would not see the good ones again. Hope this doesn't happen to you. Oh, this is the 1st year not using a camera and I have had 2 great mature bucks pass my stand while I was in it. Just didn't have a shot at either one.

Are you walking to your cameras? I ask because since I stopped walking to my cameras, my return visits went way up. Now, if I can't ride an ATV right up to the camera, I don't put a camera there. I can place cameras WAY back in the woods, where I have to ride a half-mile cross-country, and still get the same mature bucks on cam dozens of times from early September until the end of the season. No avoidance. But I only use black-flash cameras and I only ride to check the cams.

 

[Ski]

I rarely place cameras near my hunting spots. I only use them to take a census of the bucks in the area. We've already gotten another pic of this buck 1/2 mile from the original spot. I think he's checking out the does in the area. Normally when a buck moves 1/2 mile he's in another property. One of the advantages of having a large property to hunt is you can follow a buck more easily.

That makes an enormous difference, pun intended. A deer relocating a 1/2 mile very much would be off the vast majority of properties. For most of us it means he left. Please keep us updated on how this progresses. I'm really curious if he'll ever come back to that area again, or at least this season.

 

[Smells Like Sulfur]

Over the past few days I've had a new buck coming on to our property. He's been mere feet from the camera, been flashed, looked right at it, and continued to eat the acorns like nothing happened. I've seen him in the same area twice since then.

I wouldn't necessarily say that he won't be back.