Hello

Any wisdom on IR vs. Traditional Flashes on Game Camerss?

Than you

Unless you are trying to catch a poacher on your place, the traditional is just fine. The deer & hogs or whatever don't pay any attention to the flash.

I totally agree, I have 3 cuddebacks all with flash. The only advantage of IR is like he said if its in an area where someone will see the flash and possibly steal it. nighttime flash pics are 100000 times better then an IR nigth pic. Not to mention the flashes range is farther then IR. IR cameras seem to be more prevalent with problems. Cuddeback capture $199.

IR, battery last longer.

I'm finding trails dodging my cameras and several bucks only seen once with the flash. I'm not so sure , the area hunted and pressure my really make a diff. I moved mine and want to see the results.

I think each type has it's advantages and disadvantages as the guys above stated. I totally agree that the night pictures of a flash camera are much better then the black and whites you get with the IR and usually much brighter. But, if battery life is something that is important to you then the IR will almost undoubtedly out perform the flash camera.

As far as scaring game goes, I DO NOT believe that a flash bothers the animals at all. I've sat in a stand many times and had a camera flashing at bucks that were under a feeder and they didn't pay it much attention if any. I think that noise is what spooks them more then any flash. If you have a camera that makes ANY noise at all, this WILL spook animals. Most cameras now seem to be noise free so that shouldn't be an issue.

Like ccbaseball said, if you are going to be setting it up near a fenceline or road where somebody can see the flash, then an IR would be a much better choice IMO. And on a dark night, you can see that flash a heck of a long way off!!!

So what are hunters doing with these beautiful flash pictures of a 235 B&C class buck that their camera took at 2AM. They sending these pictures to National Geographics?
They going to be in the stand at 2AM the next morning to shoot him?
Never could understand all the hoopla about not getting perfect night time pictures of game animals, you can't legally shoot them when it is dark.

its the same concept as daytime pics, you want to be able to distinguish what it is and what exact buck it is. No one wants a pic of a big buck but he cannot tell how big it is, how many points or how old. Thats the worst feeling, getting a nighttime pic of a big buck and you cant see him to see if he is new or if you have seen him before. Cameras can and should be used for management purposes. So if that buck walks out and only gives you 4-5 seconds you know if he is a shooter or not and whether he is mature or needs 1-2 more years. You can still pattern bucks at night by knowing their general locations.

I have seen deer run off from my feeder when the flash goes off only to come back about 1 minute later. So yes, it does affect them but they get use to it really quick. Maybe if you are putting your camera on a trail they might avoid a flash camera but on a feeder the corn keeps them comming back.

very true HLo. When walking up to my stand or once in my stand pre dawn in the mornign I have seen my camera go off several times before light meaning a deer was at the feeder. They stayed there. i agree I think they would get more spooked by a camera off the beaten path and on a trail. Because corn keeps them occupied and coming back. And after a couple times IF THEY RUN OFF FROM FLASH, they will learn it means nothing and come back and not get bothered by it eventually.

I like the flash because if you are sitting in a stand at night you can tell if something is coming in.

amen to that, it helps so much!!!!! good point

IR has been the best choice for me. I prefer no flash due to the possibility of spooking game.

A thief won't see your camera take a picture of him either.

I like the battery length of the IR's. I don't have to buy a solar recharger. One less thing to go bad.

yes, my new capture is defective and the battery dies immediately. It sucks but in general yes the battery life is alot shorter on flash models. I wish all companies would be like stealth and make the 6v/12v adaptions.

Maybe I'm just lucky in the area I have my IR cam set up. There's a dead tree about 9 feet from the feeder and my Wildgame Ir4 is attached to it about 7 feet in the air. It's been up since last year and has taken thousands of pics, 90% at night, and I've had no problems distinguishing individual deer and their indentifying characteristics from the black and white IR photos. Best $89 I ever spent.

I decided to take a cull buck I had identified as one who needed to go, and immendiately recognized him at the feeder from all the night time pics I got of him. He's now another euro mount.

Some set-ups lend themselves better to one camera over the other. I have a buddy who's camera is what I would consider too far away. He has his reasons though, mainly terrain, and uses a flash camera. He gets great pics at night, but as said before, goes through a ton of batteries. He will eventually break down and wire it into a solar panel.

x2 solar is the way to go! We got some shots of a cull, it helped us identify him immedaialty when he popped out. Shoot, we had never seen that one before

IR has worked best for me.