How Does He know?

Bowriter

Member
All summer into early fall, my barber had pictures of a typical-twelve. Deer would score about 185. I scored a 173 for him two years ago and this one is at least 12-15 inches larger. Deer vanished day before the season opened. Season closed Sunday---he showed up yesterday, Monday. Two of my better "backyard" bucks also came back yesterday and they, don't get hunted.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I'll be out looking around this afternoon. I expect to see abandoned scrapes, freshened and licking branches picked back up. Wish I knew how to post a picture with this thread. Maybe this will work. I found this yesterday. It is new, about 150-yards from my house.
 
image.jpeg
I'll try again. Instructions, please.

John, try resizing it. I always have to edit mine, make them smaller. I only use an ipad, and I can take a screenshot of the pic and that will post. I learned that here.

To your point, I was out with a buddy yesterday on our lease and saw an old freshened scrape also. Ran the cards on my camera, and noticed the boys are all back together and the long tined eight that I've never seen is back in my wheat also. I don't know how they know, but they do.
 
Big mature deer don't get that way by being dumb... They are far more adapt to figuring us out than we are them.

I know in my area the sights and sounds and the like of the fall include harvest equipment, people shooting their guns, people small game hunting, checking cams and hanging stands. It may not be your place that is alerting the deer, but they are certainly aware that the activity level in their neighborhood has increased and the smart ones will move to safer areas.
 
No problem for them to disappear, they just become nocturnal. We have exactly two daytime pics of the long tined eight near a deer stand in the months of November and December. There's lots of room between stands and they know their living room as well as we know ours, maybe better.
 
Younger bucks move when detected. Mature bucks move to avoid detection. They have 3 or 4 hiddy hole bedding areas that are about fool proof. Going back about 15 years - I remember when we got about 6 game cameras placed on our farm. We discovered how poor of a hunter we actually were.

We got mature bucks on camera we had never laid eyes on. We became better hunters as a result of that information.

Yep - mature bucks move to avoid detection and avoid detection they do.

Wayne
 
How do they know? They know when they smell human footprints going off the beaten paths where there were none all summer. Their brains scream "intruders in my house" and they know what to do to stay alive: lay low in the remotest cover available until the intruders leave.
 
If you think about it, it’s not very surprising. These deer spend every moment of their lives in the woods, they’re gonna notice anything out of the ordinary going on. They quickly learn signs of danger, and they know exactly where to retreat to when the hunters hit the woods


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum
 
Not sure of everyone's hunting areas, I know in ours its hard for a deer to get old. Most of the properties are generally small - and when they get bumped out of their hideyhole - they have to go somewhere - and that is when they get nabbed. Usually by a 2 days a year hunter - that was given a crappy stand on the neighbor's property - LOL.

The deer you mention must have a good spot - If they can get through the rut - then they have a chance.
 
A big buck's greatest asset and biggest weakness is the same thing: he's guided by instinct. That means his behavior is predictable. Even if the rules don't always make sense to us and 99 times out of a hundred he wins the game.

I'm always shocked by how many "shooters" I get pictures of during the season that I never lay eyes on. I truly believe that the single best thing I could do if I want to shoot more bucks is develop better access routes.
 
Deer change patterns or movement all the time, as hunters we tend to only notice or care when it's associated with hunting season. Maybe we then give them credit for awareness or cognitive abilities that aren't necessarily true. One thing is certain... it's frustrating and can almost be uncanny.
 
The number one thing that spooks most deer, is not man walking in the woods. Most deer experience that, all the time. Deer are not particularly afraid of man. They are afraid of man the predator. At one time, I did an hour-long seminar on just that topic. It was amazing to see the lights go on in so many hunter's heads. When you live with deer daily for over 35-years, to tend to learn a little about them. Catscratch said something very important. "...as hunters, we tend to only notice or care when it is associated with hunting season." That is so true.
 
My philosophy about pressuring deer that I’ve been forming lately is similar to what you said above this post.

Deer won’t fear your presence when they know where you are, they begin feeling pressure when they know you’re in the woods but are not making yourself known. They’re not clueless, they know when you’re trying to be sneaky and they know why you would be trying to sneak around.

There’s been many times where I’ll be out doing something to prepare for the season like trimming lanes, stand maintenance, etc and the camera will show that deer showed up shortly after I left. However, if you’re hunting and a deer finds out you’re in the area, they’re leaving and probably not coming back during the day any time soon.
For example, this past October I raked a path through the woods to my blind which took about 20 minutes and I made all kinds of racket. I then decided to sit in my blind for a few and enjoy the view. No less than 5 minutes after I stopped raking, 3 deer came out.
IMG_6862.JPG
 
If I have to cross my property to hunt an East wind I will go in loudly, talking out loud, whistling, coughing etc. My reasoning is that I don't want to be seen as a predator to anything watching from a distance. I have no way to confirm if that helps or hinders. It's just a theory that I may be able to fool their sense of danger.
 
If I have to cross my property to hunt an East wind I will go in loudly, talking out loud, whistling, coughing etc. My reasoning is that I don't want to be seen as a predator to anything watching from a distance. I have no way to confirm if that helps or hinders. It's just a theory that I may be able to fool their sense of danger.
I've done that noise thing. But I like better what the highly skilled First Nations hunters in Canada taught me. When they'd take me out they were always emphasizing utilizing the wind to hunt. One time I asked "what do you do when the wind is contrary? I'll never forget his answer "when the wind is wrong Indian don't hunt"
 
Consider this: Deer can't count. If two walk i and one walks out, they can't count. Now...this will make a lot of people mad. I pay no attention to the wind. After all the bellowing, I am sure will follow, I'll explain that. I expect, when i do, it will make sense.
 
Consider this: Deer can't count. If two walk i and one walks out, they can't count. Now...this will make a lot of people mad. I pay no attention to the wind. After all the bellowing, I am sure will follow, I'll explain that. I expect, when i do, it will make sense.
I'll be interested in hearing your reasoning for that.
 
Back
Top