Does Your Game Camera Stink?

When I ask the question, "Does your Game Camera Stink?", I'm not asking if performs poorly, or doesn't work well?  I mean, "Does it smell?"

One tip that many hunters overlook is to wear gloves any time you have contact with your digital game camera in the field.  Everyone knows that deer have an incredible sense of smell.  There has been a huge market created around products that claim they will help you defeat a deer's sense of smell.  Open any hunting catalog and you will find scent cover sprays, scent killing sprays, scent-free soaps and shampoos, Scent-Lok hunting clothing, rubber boots, and even deodorants.  Deer will become spooked by human scent, and when they do, they are typically GONE!

Over the past season, I learned first hand the importance of using the same precautions when interacting with my game cameras, as I would if I were heading into the woods to hunt.  I have a couple of cameras in the woods behind my house.  Due to the close proximity, I was heading into the woods frequently to swap out memory cards to look at my pictures and videos.  I noticed that I was getting more and more videos of nervous deer.  The does appeared spooked, with their noses wildly sampling the air.  I also noticed that I was getting fewer pictures of the bucks that I had been seeing regularly in the area.  I started capturing more pictures of deer staring directly at my cameras (like the one below), or even nosing them.

When it dawned on me, I changed my act.  I started pulling on my rubber boots, scent-lok jacket, and wearing my gloves each time I would head into the woods to swap my memory cards.  I also tried to put my curiosity on hold and make fewer trips to my game cameras to swap out the cards.

The difference has been noticeable.  I'm getting more pictures and video of deer that appear less nervous.  I'm getting less pictures of deer staring at my cameras, or appearently spooked by its presence.  And most importantly, I'm getting more pictures of the bucks that I knew were cruising the area.  I believe that these bucks were more cautious than the does when detecting human scent, and were vacating the area before the does would.

So take this tip into consideration the next time you go hang a camera, or pull a memory card.  You will see a difference, and see more deer.

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