Any Ideas?

[the man]

I only seem to get pictures smaller bucks. I get pictures of them when they are young and small and then once they start to develop in to a nicer 8 it's like they turn in to a ghost. I will get pictures of bigger ones during the rut when they start moving more. Any ideas where I should move them to?

[Abndoc]

Get your cameras on trails in between food, water source and bedding areas. Run mutiple cameras. They get big because they get smarter...spray yourself and your cameras down with scent killer. Leave them be for a month at a time. My guess is your getting pictures of bachelor groups and the bigger buck just happen to be out of frame.

[matchset]

he said it! but i'll put in my trail cams can get a lot of guys into trouble...its a heck of a lot of fun checking them all summer, seeing deer, but all that pressure will drive the big boys underground. Dan Urbas said in a interview a few years back that once he gets a pic of a big buck, he pulls the camera out of the area! that way you won't be tempted to tromp around in his area.

run your cameras over mineral sites and scrapes. those are the two most consistently active big buck areas IMO.

[Bear55]

What they said, big bucks don't like cameras and especially don't like people checking cameras. Every now and then you will find a buck that isn't cameras shy but a lot of the time you get one pic of a nice buck and then they are gone. They will sometimes tolerate cameras on food sources or mineral sites so that is where I generally place them. Also like mentioned above I check them as little as possible or if I know a storm is coming I like to check them and have the rain wash away my scent.

[Scoot]

This is an impossible question to answer, but I'll ask it anyway: to what extent do you think the glowing red light (on an IR camera) spooks big bucks vs. human scent?

I place my cameras in places where I can get to them without ever crossing the deer's trail. I know deer may eventually hit my path and catch my scent, but I'm really careful about not walking across the trails I have my camera set on. However, I still get a lot of "one and done" pictures of good bucks too. Maybe I'm all wet, but I think the glowing red flash of an IR camera spooks some deer from coming back.

[sticknstring]

Do you have a salt/mineral station established? If you don't, I suggest you do. Once the deer find it, they'll hit it hard all summer long including the mature bucks you're after. Like the guys said, don't be tromping in the area you hunt or checking cards every week. Does and yearling bucks will tolerate some pressure, but the 3 year & older deer won't.

I switched to Bushnell black flash cams this year and the deer are rarely ever looking at the camera. I'm so impressed that I'm actually reluctant to put my one white flash cam back out this year. If you want to get less reaction from the infrareds, hang them at least 6-8' aiming downwards.

[HunterLee]

I just read a article in a magazine my buddy had about trail cams. Big mature bucks seem to be spooked by the IR and then just move around your camera's.

The guy in the article had one pic of the big one in the summer along with a small 9, the 9 would take his picture all the time but only once did the big 10 get his picture taken. He ended up shooting the big 10 as it stopped right before the camera and ended up walking around the camera. This was on previously unhunted uncameraed land.

He stated that all camera's will IR scare some deer. 3 shot bursts are the worst. Most higher end cams were least likely but still some got scared. Get them higher so the red light doesn't blast them right into the eyes. I have had some of the same things go on with one and done until I move it. I will post a small video in a min.

[HunterLee]

He saw something he didn't like lol click on it

I got a pair of the cuddeback attacks. This is a video i got last week was trying for a wolf pic. Stick is about 30ft away if not a tad farther. They are great but would like them to come out with a no flash/black flash.

[surewood]

It may spook some, but I know mine have helped more then they hurt. I don't check them often. Gotta fight that temptation. When I do I go in as scent free as possible and rubber gloves are a must.