Is it just me, or have deer learned to pay more attention to what's going on above them?

[GAHUNTER60]

I mean, when I first started hunting out of a tree stand, I could dance a jig in the stand with six does standing below me, and, as long as I didn't make any noise, none of them would ever look up.

These days, however, it seems that if I bat an eyelash with deer in the vicinity, all eyes instantaneously fix on me in a stare down to ascertain the threat! I've gotten to where I sit 20-feet up a tree with the same attention to unneeded movement as I used to when my "deer stand" was a tree trunk I was leaning against while sitting on the ground.

The one exception is when a buck, young or old, comes by pushing a doe. There are still times where I could throw pine cones at it while singing Dixie in a loud falsetto, and not catch his attention. Lord, I do so love hunting the rut!

 

[rugerfan]

I think some do, and some don't. Mostly it has been older larger does that will look up at me. The smaller ones and the bucks I have seen while in the stand have not looked up at me. Saturday I was roughly 20 feet in the tree, had a momma and a little come by the trail. As soon as she came out, she looked up at me, knew something was there, but did not blow, did not run, she just stepped in front of the little one and they slowly moved off.

A few hours later had a smaller doe directly under me for a good 10 minutes and never even looked up, did not get nervous did not show any sign that my ground scent was even there. Go figure.

 

[Thunder Head]

It seems so.

Goes double on public land.

 

[StriperrHunterr]

I had a doe eyeing me Saturday evening in the box blind. Never stomped, never blew, she would just take a break from grazing to look the blind over every few moments. The fawn with her never even glanced in my direction unless it was to get the next bite.

 

[Redbeardless]

Older does are every bit as smart as old bucks, if not a little more so. I have also noticed that it is usually the older does that look up. A couple of weeks ago, I had an old doe come out on a trail that I usually see a lot of deer on and as soon as she stepped out, she focused in on me in a ladder stand, froze and did an about face. Since then, I have had younger does and a couple of young bucks come out on the same trail and never look up. One doe and fawn fed all around my stand for 30 minutes and never knew that I was there. It may be just me, but over the years, it seems like older does are about as scarce as older bucks. I think that if they live past the first three years, they learn to avoid danger just like the mature bucks. Like they say, they didn't get old by being stupid. And it could be that deer are just like us, some are just smarter than others.

 

[StriperrHunterr]

Older does are every bit as smart as old bucks, if not a little more so. I have also noticed that it is usually the older does that look up. A couple of weeks ago, I had an old doe come out on a trail that I usually see a lot of deer on and as soon as she stepped out, she focused in on me in a ladder stand, froze and did an about face. Since then, I have had younger does and a couple of young bucks come out on the same trail and never look up. One doe and fawn fed all around my stand for 30 minutes and never knew that I was there. It may be just me, but over the years, it seems like older does are about as scarce as older bucks. I think that if they live past the first three years, they learn to avoid danger just like the mature bucks. Like they say, they didn't get old by being stupid. And it could be that deer are just like us, some are just smarter than others.

They also have the burden of rearing the fawns. They can't be stupid or the species would die out.

 

[Jim Boyd]

I personally think they are as dumb today as they were 40+ years ago when I started hunting.

Evolution is a very slow process.

Now, the question is - can they learn?

Yes, I’m some situations, they can learn - ie: this area has danger.

 

[TIMBO1985]

In permanent stands that I hunt a lot and have Been busted climbing up and getting out they will keep their good eye up at it , I like slipping in and using climbers and not climb the same tree more than once, unless I get busted climbing up they never pay any attention

 

[Doug B.]

It's just you. Hope this helps.

 

[buckpasser]

I think there’s something to it. I had a 3.5 yo buck walking directly to me last night. It was breezy and a pine cone broke out of my tree and thumped the ground when he was around 40 yards out. He stopped for around a minute and stared at the spot it hit. For around 30 seconds he scanned up my tree and looked at and around me. He couldn’t pick me out but I thought is was odd that he put so much time into his investigation. This was a climber setup with no previous pressure.

 

[280 Man]

I believe that if deer keep getting "boogered" in a certain area they might not totally reject the area but I can almost guarantee they will avoid it during any legal hunting times.

IMO, this is why its so vitally important to have and rotate different stands in different areas.

 

[Taco4x4]

I agree with 280 Man and several others. From my 40 years of huntin I have seen that deer don't scan the skyline for danger unless they have seen it in that spot previously. If a deer busts you moving or whatever it will look for you each time it comes through. Sometimes you may never know because they picked you out from a distance and went another rout. I have watched deer do this to shooting houses from a distance. They stare at the windows for movement and if it looks empty keep going and if not turn around. I only use climbers and if I get busted I will move over two or three trees and next time watch the deer come through looking up at the tree I was in before. I love this obsession of mine.

 

[Twiggbuster]

When I was a kid 40 years ago, they never looked up. Nowadays , give it time and they’ll look up.
Evolution...

 

[BornToHuntAndFish]

It does not take much to educate whitetails who are wiser than we give them credit for, but also includes fine survival instincts. We try to pattern them while whitetails pattern human behavior & their activities. When hunting season approaches & starts, hunter stampedes easily change & can have negative impacts on whitetail behavior & patterns as they typically tend to avoid us intruders. Yep, whitetails can be quicker learners.

 

[Nicodemus]

I`ve been hunting them since we got a season in 1966, and in my experience when we started hunting from trees they`ve always looked up.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I agree with 280 Man and several others. From my 40 years of huntin I have seen that deer don't scan the skyline for danger unless they have seen it in that spot previously. If a deer busts you moving or whatever it will look for you each time it comes through. Sometimes you may never know because they picked you out from a distance and went another rout. I have watched deer do this to shooting houses from a distance. They stare at the windows for movement and if it looks empty keep going and if not turn around. I only use climbers and if I get busted I will move over two or three trees and next time watch the deer come through looking up at the tree I was in before. I love this obsession of mine.

I was hunting last Wednesday morning, and had a nice eight-point come out about 60 yards from me. I waited until he put his head down and started eating acorns for a couple minutes, and strted eeeeeeasing my gun up. He caught that little movement immediately and was gone in a second. I remember a couple years ago I was hunting that same stand, and shot a buck that had another buck with it-a little spindly-horned eight-pointer. I wonder if that might have been the same one?

 

[bany]

I’ve always heard they don’t look up. Ive always experienced they certainly do look up.
I haven’t quite made it to 50 years in the woods yet so it’s anyone’s guess I suppose.

 

[across the river]

Older does are every bit as smart as old bucks, if not a little more so. I have also noticed that it is usually the older does that look up. A couple of weeks ago, I had an old doe come out on a trail that I usually see a lot of deer on and as soon as she stepped out, she focused in on me in a ladder stand, froze and did an about face. Since then, I have had younger does and a couple of young bucks come out on the same trail and never look up. One doe and fawn fed all around my stand for 30 minutes and never knew that I was there. It may be just me, but over the years, it seems like older does are about as scarce as older bucks. I think that if they live past the first three years, they learn to avoid danger just like the mature bucks. Like they say, they didn't get old by being stupid. And it could be that deer are just like us, some are just smarter than others.

I would agree with this. Took my daughter opening weekend of archery season, and had six does walk out. Five never batted an eye, but the matriarch of the group, looked right at the blind when she eased out of the woods. She was up wind, so didn't smell us, couldn't see us, but knew something was up when none of the other did. She never step more than a step or two out of the woods.

So the next weekend we went back. Same doe comes out first and does the same exact thing. Her two littles ones walk in like nothing is going on, but she stayed at the edge of the woods, constantly raising her head and facing the blind. A couple of minutes later, while she is still facing the blind looking up every few seconds, an eight pointer walks out, never looks her way or our way, walks right in, and she shot him at about 15 yards. He wasn't spooky at all. I have found bucks to be less skittish in situations like that when a doe or group of does is already in the field.

 

[woods&water]

I`ve been hunting them since we got a season in 1966, and in my experience when we started hunting from trees they`ve always looked up.

I agree 100%
In the late 60's all my hunting was OTG. Climbers came into the game and of course I had to have one. I remember being in a climber and getting busted by deer that came in behind me so I moved about 50 yards. Next morning I watched a doe and yearling walk into the same area. It was the young deer that stopped and looked and stared at the tree that I was in the day before, not the old doe. Folks, there is nothing in the woods that looks like a man hanging off the side of a tree. If you don't have something to blend in with up in the air you stick out like a sore thumb and deer will pick up on anything unusual. After that, I would not use a climber unless it was so thick you had to get above it to see down into it.
Over the years I've quit using stands at all because of the safety aspect. It is a lot easier to blend in and hunt the wind on the ground because I can move so easily and quietly when I need to.

 

[JustUs4All]

I don't think deer in general are any better at picking off hunters now than they were 50 years ago. I do think that they get better at it through experience as they age. Deer see with their nose and they see movement. You can't do much about the nose except play the wind. The movement you can control. If you move much even the young unlearned among them will pick you off. If they are very young and unlearned they will go back to ignoring you if you go back to being still.