Weirdest thing I've seen a deer do is....

Familytradition

Active Member
I personally can't name just one. I had a doe, very small spike, and a button buck come bed under my stand. I believe the spike was a fawn that produced a very small rack. He had one inch curls of hard bone unlike most button bucks. The spike and button did a little sparing before bedding with the doe for about an hour. All of a sudden two does came crashing into the thicket and scared the sleeping deer into full run. This scared the does. They looked like quail rising out of there.
Another time I shot a small doe who ran headfirst into a tree next to my stand at a full run. Sounded like a home run hit.
The third is story is the only time that I have witnessed full on combat between mature bucks. It was the Saturday before gun season here in Indiana. We had many mature bucks using this farm. I had a picture of a huge double droptine buck and my family was pumped with excitement. We all headed to our best stands waiting on droptine. Before sunrise we had an awful commotion arise in the 50 acre thicket that my dad and I were both hunting. My grandfather was 200 yards south of me where my dad would later connect with droptine the day after Thanksgiving. Turned out droptine and a buck we called ten with stickers where in full on rage mode. It sounded like 50 deer were running back and forth. These bucks fought and ran this doe all over this 360 acre farm. Giving each of us a glimpse of at least one of these giants as they went by in the dark. Right at first light it all stopped. Ten with stickers appeared right on the path leading to my stand and beat a cedar in defeat as droptine took the doe out the end of the thicket. I could hear the rage in his grunts as he stood 12 yards from me beating this poor tree to death; I could tell that he wasn't used to loosing his girlfriends. I needed one more step and a glimmer more of light in order to get my shaft in the boiler room. I just could not see my pin nor get around that tree. At that moment, like he knew that he was about to die, he stopped and slipped back into the thicket as quite as a mouse. I think this fight might have been the one that broke off droptine's droptines and the coolest kicker point that I have ever seen on a whitetail. Ten with stickers was only spotted one more time. He walked right under my dad who had just used his only buck tag the day before. Ten with stickers got the last laugh after all.
 
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I was sitting 20' up in a tree stand one time when a squirrel that was way above me, had the branch break that he was standing on. He hit the ground hard and laid there for at least 10 minutes before he finally sat up. About 5 minutes later he slowly walked off.

Another time while sitting near a corn field I watched a red squirrel walk by carrying an ear of corn that was bigger than he was. He'd stop ever couple yards and take a breather. Too funny!
 
I've had a lot of crazy stuff happen but one of the funniest was back around 1992. Filming a buddy of mine bowhunting. Sittin in a huge live oak tree. Squirrel running around above us. Squirrel stops and starts peeing. Right on my buddies head. Too funny. Thought I would fall out the stand laughing.
 
I was hunting in Coastal North Carolina in climax stage pines. Using a climbing tree stand I climbed until my 50 foot rope tightened on my gun, and then I pulled the gun up to the stand. There had been controlled burns in previous years, and there was an old firebreak plowed in the ground. As things quieted down around me I could hear something noisily rustling the leaves, and strained to see what it was. To my surprise it was a buck crawling on it's belly up the firebreak. The buck must have heard me climb the tree, but couldn't pinpoint my location, so he tried to sneak passed me by doing a low crawl up the ditch on his belly with his head sliding along the ground!
 
I was out scouting a new property we had just got permission to hunt. It was in north central Missouri. I drove my truck thru to the back of the property and was getting out of my truck to look over a stand site. I started walking out of the corn field into the woods when I saw a turkey 10 feet away and it just kept eating and moving. Next thing I know there are about 20 more turkey that just walked up and was scratching around at the ground. I walked right thru them and they never spooked. I felt like Dr. Doolittle.
 
I was sitting in a stand one late morning wearing a ghille suit and head mask and out of nowhere, a pair of talons appeared about an inch from my nose. The sharp shinned hawk hit the air brakes and pulled them back at the very last instant. The hawk then landed on a branch in my tree about 3 feet away and just stared at me. It was a bit unnerving so I gave a wave of my hand to scare it off.
 
I had a doe so interested in my son and I once that as she did her "make it move tricks" - the head bob, the foot stomp and all the other tricks they do she actually tripped over a corn stalk and fell completely to the ground in a flurry of kicking legs. She hopped to her feet and looked around like "I hope nobody saw that" - my son looked at me and said, "killing THAT shouldn't be very difficult!"

I also had an event where my son and I where hunting on the ground and as we got ready to go my son stood up. There was a young 2 year old buck coming towards us from a direction we couldn't see from the ground. I simply told my son, "Don't move". The buck passed so close to my son that he could have turned around and touched it! The entire time my son had his back to the deer and he was facing me and I could see it all go down. My son was shaking like a leaf! Finally the deer got 10 yards away or so and the wind swirled and it was game over....but oh what an experience.

A not so proud moment I had.....I had just shot a nice 3 year old buck that was the biggest buck of my life at that time. One shot and he pilled up on the spot. I was pumped and nearly jumped out of my stand to get to him. I was too excited to think straight and walked up and crouched down next to the deer and grabbed an antler. Just about the time I got his head up square the deer jerked its head away from me:eek:. I about pissed my pants! I was so surprised I grabbed my gun and let the deer have every shell in the gun and I was shooting from the hip as fast as I could. If that wasn't so bad - upon further inspection of the deer.....I only hit the deer once....the very first shot! I missed that deer from 3 feet away with several rounds being fired.....yep, ice water runs in these veins:confused::oops:!
 
I had a doe so interested in my son and I once that as she did her "make it move tricks" - the head bob, the foot stomp and all the other tricks they do she actually tripped over a corn stalk and fell completely to the ground in a flurry of kicking legs. She hopped to her feet and looked around like "I hope nobody saw that" - my son looked at me and said, "killing THAT shouldn't be very difficult!"

I also had an event where my son and I where hunting on the ground and as we got ready to go my son stood up. There was a young 2 year old buck coming towards us from a direction we couldn't see from the ground. I simply told my son, "Don't move". The buck passed so close to my son that he could have turned around and touched it! The entire time my son had his back to the deer and he was facing me and I could see it all go down. My son was shaking like a leaf! Finally the deer got 10 yards away or so and the wind swirled and it was game over....but oh what an experience.

A not so proud moment I had.....I had just shot a nice 3 year old buck that was the biggest buck of my life at that time. One shot and he pilled up on the spot. I was pumped and nearly jumped out of my stand to get to him. I was too excited to think straight and walked up and crouched down next to the deer and grabbed an antler. Just about the time I got his head up square the deer jerked its head away from me:eek:. I about pissed my pants! I was so surprised I grabbed my gun and let the deer have every shell in the gun and I was shooting from the hip as fast as I could. If that wasn't so bad - upon further inspection of the deer.....I only hit the deer once....the very first shot! I missed that deer from 3 feet away with several rounds being fired.....yep, ice water runs in these veins:confused::oops:!
J-Bird, that last one is hilarious....just know you're not the first nor the last that'll happen to.
 
Weirdest thing I have ever seen a deer do I guess would be a doe I watched stick her entire head under water sometimes up to almost 30 seconds only to come up with a mouthful of some sort of grass that was growing on the bottom of the pond.
 
I once watched a herd of mule deer does chase a coyote around a big field and stomp the crap out of him. He'd get running for a bit and then they'd catch up and give it hell again. Pretty fun to watch as it happened.

Another time I was out bear hunting in eastern AZ and was using a varmint call to see if I could get one to come in. Well about 5 minutes into my calling a big ol' coues whitetail buck came running in to see what was causing the raucous. He stomped and blew trying to get me to move but I just stayed still and watched him. After a bit I stood up and he took off down a ravine.
 
I had a nubbin buck walk up to a doe decoy I had out by my pond. Since I was not going to shoot him, I took out the binos to see what he was going to do. He cautiously approached the decoy and when he could not get any response out of it, he licked it on the nose.
 
I had a nubbin buck walk up to a doe decoy I had out by my pond. Since I was not going to shoot him, I took out the binos to see what he was going to do. He cautiously approached the decoy and when he could not get any response out of it, he licked it on the nose.
I had one trail me to my stand and then lick the stand where I walked up.
 
Last bow season I was sitting on a camo painted 5 gallon bucket, with the wind in my favor, when a 1.5 year old buck walked by at about 10 yards..... stopped and looked at me. I sat completely still and he walked over to check me out, stopping about 5 yards away and studying me... I froze. Satisfied that I was nothing but a lump, the buck turned and slowly walked away, browsing as he went.
 
Not me, but my son had a young buck stick his nose in one of my homemade blinds, not once, but two mornings in a row.
 
I was hunting the edge of a woods with a pond jutting out to funnel deer passed my stand. After sitting motionless I stood to stretch and saw a doe running, that I thought I'd spooked, but the doe was running the edge of the woods toward me! It was over 80 degrees and soon I could hear her heavy breathing and see that her tongue was hanging out. Then I saw a buck in hot pursuit, and could also hear his heavy breathing. To my astonishment the doe jumped into the pond, and the buck jumped in after her!
 
I was hunting a farm in Kingstree a small town in SC. The stand was on a power line and I could see a good ways into a swamp bottom in front and a pine stand to my left. Behind me were cotton fields and the dirt path through the farm. I had two does out of the swamp into the pines and stop about 50 yards from my stand when the farmer came down the path on his tractor. The deer sat down and looked like a couple of dogs as the farmer drove past (butts on the ground and front legs straight). That is the only time I've seen deer sit like that.
 
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