Spotlite
Resident Homesteader
now that you have gotten a couple good responses, it is 24/7/365 around the houseoutdoorgirl said:
Sorry Marathon, forgive me
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Deer Hunting 101...Questions and Answers
- Thread starter marathon
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Sorry Marathon, forgive me
marathon
Senior Member
Spotlite said:now that you have gotten a couple good responses, it is 24/7/365 around the house
Sorry Marathon, forgive me
Hey man, I just knew YOU couldn't resist. Forgiven my brother.
Now let's get back to business.
Spotlite
Resident Homesteader
Thanksmarathon said:
Bucks and does bedding
I work in an LNG plant that is sitting on 950 acres that does not allow hunting, and I see deer every day. Not to argue with anyone, but I see bucks and does bed beside one another almost every day in the fall. Don`t see it as much in spring/summer but lots in the fall.
It`s amazing what we see, especially in the fall, where it is common to see up to 25 deer in an afternoon, with many bucks sparring and pushing one another. This begins in Sept as soon as velvet peels, the bucks begin to get aggressive, and most will stay in their own age class for the sparring, with occassionally a younger buck matching against a larger buck.
The best fight I`ve seen occured in mid-afternoon, when three bucks fought over one doe. The bucks pushed each other around a up a big hill, until the largest got an uphill advantage and rolled one of the other bucks down the hill.
Great place to work and learn about deer.
Another interesting observation is that deer will feed heavily until about 2 hrs after dark, then bed for a few hours and feed again. This cycle goes on all night..
TH
I work in an LNG plant that is sitting on 950 acres that does not allow hunting, and I see deer every day. Not to argue with anyone, but I see bucks and does bed beside one another almost every day in the fall. Don`t see it as much in spring/summer but lots in the fall.
It`s amazing what we see, especially in the fall, where it is common to see up to 25 deer in an afternoon, with many bucks sparring and pushing one another. This begins in Sept as soon as velvet peels, the bucks begin to get aggressive, and most will stay in their own age class for the sparring, with occassionally a younger buck matching against a larger buck.
The best fight I`ve seen occured in mid-afternoon, when three bucks fought over one doe. The bucks pushed each other around a up a big hill, until the largest got an uphill advantage and rolled one of the other bucks down the hill.
Great place to work and learn about deer.
Another interesting observation is that deer will feed heavily until about 2 hrs after dark, then bed for a few hours and feed again. This cycle goes on all night..
TH
DCHunter
Senior Member
2 questions
If you're using doe estrus to attract a buck, is it pointless to do this while hunting on the ground? The scent has to be carried to the buck so naturally your human scent would go with it. Also, if you are using scent and you're about 20 feet up in a tree, do you still face into the wind, or do you face the other way?
If you're using doe estrus to attract a buck, is it pointless to do this while hunting on the ground? The scent has to be carried to the buck so naturally your human scent would go with it. Also, if you are using scent and you're about 20 feet up in a tree, do you still face into the wind, or do you face the other way?
DCHunter said:
If you're hunting on the ground its' pretty much going to be useless, because you definitely need to be hunting upwind. If you're in an elevated stand and you go high enough, you can hunt all directions, at least I do.
Sixes said:
Interesting. Do you think they interact like that because there is no hunting pressure on them? Just wondering.
There is hunting on the surrounding land, but the nearest point is about a half a mile.
I think the deer naturally interact with one another. I`ve seen does nuzzle bucks, fawns nuzzle bucks, bucks nuzzle does and so on with all the deer. The only deer that I do not see intermingle are the 2.5 y/o bucks and the 5.5 y/o bucks. The older larger bucks will not tolerate the younger bucks.
The best example of this is a couple of years ago, about 1.5 hours after dark (our security cameras can be viewed in the dark), there were 21 deer in our front field with 11 of them bucks, the bucks were all staggered in groups sparring, when I see a huge (10 pointer about 200lbs LW) buck jump a guard rail at the furthest part of the field and slowly strut his way through the field, the buck checked every doe group in the field and then proceeded to split every buck group up and send them on their way. He was definitely the boss.
After about an hour, the other bucks began sparring again and big boy joined in for a few minutes. He sparred for about 15 minutes and then strutted to one of the doe groups, scent checked them and bedded down in the middle of about 8 does.
I had all of this recorded on our security camera, but we upgraded our cameras and lost all of the footage.
The neat thing is that this all happened in early Nov during prerut. So, I think deer comingle alot more than I ever thought.
TH
I think the deer naturally interact with one another. I`ve seen does nuzzle bucks, fawns nuzzle bucks, bucks nuzzle does and so on with all the deer. The only deer that I do not see intermingle are the 2.5 y/o bucks and the 5.5 y/o bucks. The older larger bucks will not tolerate the younger bucks.
The best example of this is a couple of years ago, about 1.5 hours after dark (our security cameras can be viewed in the dark), there were 21 deer in our front field with 11 of them bucks, the bucks were all staggered in groups sparring, when I see a huge (10 pointer about 200lbs LW) buck jump a guard rail at the furthest part of the field and slowly strut his way through the field, the buck checked every doe group in the field and then proceeded to split every buck group up and send them on their way. He was definitely the boss.
After about an hour, the other bucks began sparring again and big boy joined in for a few minutes. He sparred for about 15 minutes and then strutted to one of the doe groups, scent checked them and bedded down in the middle of about 8 does.
I had all of this recorded on our security camera, but we upgraded our cameras and lost all of the footage.
The neat thing is that this all happened in early Nov during prerut. So, I think deer comingle alot more than I ever thought.
TH
marathon
Senior Member
PChunter said:
I would set up as close in proximity to the creek and persimmons as possible if you haven't done so already. Then I would go back into the thick stuff especially in the evening, 'cause that's where the bigger bucks are likely to be. It's going to be tough to get a look at a bigger buck during archery season, but it can be done.
Early Riser1
Senior Member
Sixes said:
It's really amazing what you can learn from watching deer that you don't intend to kill!
Thunder Head
Gone but not forgotten
Heres a tip. I have been very succesful with this.
After the rut, hunt little out of the way places that no one has hunted all year. It does not take many acres. There is about 10 acers behind my moms that has heavily hunted tracks on both sides. I have seen as many as 21 deer in a single sitting.
I now have several spots that i save for december. After hunting for bucks for 3 months i killed 2 does in december last year.
After the rut, hunt little out of the way places that no one has hunted all year. It does not take many acres. There is about 10 acers behind my moms that has heavily hunted tracks on both sides. I have seen as many as 21 deer in a single sitting.
I now have several spots that i save for december. After hunting for bucks for 3 months i killed 2 does in december last year.
Spotlite
Resident Homesteader
Nice deer !!Sixes said:
I wonder what the what affect it has on deer in the woods vs open field around food plots? I know for us, we are open field and at the beginning of the rut, the bucks tend to hang around the edge of the field rather than coming on out in the open. But when its on, they will follow those does anywhere. after the rut, they dont hesitate to come right on in to the plots. The only time they get a little shy is at the beginning so is that typical for all bucks or just location and their surrounding that makes them hesitate early on.
futuredoc
Senior Member
Proximity of bedding and feeding areas
What are your tactics for hunting feeding areas that are in very close proximity to bedding areas? Say an oak bottom bordered by thick pines that are a well-known bedding area. Would you hunt such a place in the morning and risk running deer out of there on the way in? Do you hunt with the mindset that the deer will feed their way back to bed in the morning or get up at some point in the morning to feed again? Or do you stay out of there all together and only hunt it in the evenings?
What are your tactics for hunting feeding areas that are in very close proximity to bedding areas? Say an oak bottom bordered by thick pines that are a well-known bedding area. Would you hunt such a place in the morning and risk running deer out of there on the way in? Do you hunt with the mindset that the deer will feed their way back to bed in the morning or get up at some point in the morning to feed again? Or do you stay out of there all together and only hunt it in the evenings?
bradpatt03
Senior Member
do deer try to cross creeks in one area every time?
will a deer avoid crossing water if its too deep or the current is too strong?
is it true that when a deer is staring at you stomping his foot that it is releasing a "warning scent" to alert other deer in the area of danger? i have had them do this before and then never blow and return to normal behavior
if you jump bedded deer right near your stand on the way in, should you still hunt it or find somewhere else?
do deer and turkeys get along?
do deer listen for sounds of other animals to let them know an area is safe to enter? (ie. would a deer be spooked by the warning chatter of a squirrel??)
i will list some more up here as they come to me
will a deer avoid crossing water if its too deep or the current is too strong?
is it true that when a deer is staring at you stomping his foot that it is releasing a "warning scent" to alert other deer in the area of danger? i have had them do this before and then never blow and return to normal behavior
if you jump bedded deer right near your stand on the way in, should you still hunt it or find somewhere else?
do deer and turkeys get along?
do deer listen for sounds of other animals to let them know an area is safe to enter? (ie. would a deer be spooked by the warning chatter of a squirrel??)
i will list some more up here as they come to me
outdoorgirl
Senior Member
When a buck grunts, what exactly does that mean? ...Why are they grunting?
PHIL M
Gone But Not Forgotten
I think it is more or less a location call. It lets deer in the area know that there is a willing buck working the area, or is in pursuit/chasing a doe.outdoorgirl said:
bilgerat
Senior
ok lets seebradpatt03 said:do deer try to cross creeks in one area every time?
will a deer avoid crossing water if its too deep or the current is too strong?
is it true that when a deer is staring at you stomping his foot that it is releasing a "warning scent" to alert other deer in the area of danger? i have had them do this before and then never blow and return to normal behavior
if you jump bedded deer right near your stand on the way in, should you still hunt it or find somewhere else?
do deer and turkeys get along?
do deer listen for sounds of other animals to let them know an area is safe to enter? (ie. would a deer be spooked by the warning chatter of a squirrel??)
i will list some more up here as they come to me
[1] no
[2] yes, but wont hesitate to cross or swim any water if being chased of threatened
[3]scent??? dont think so but not sure, good question
[4]sure, deer have short a memory
[5]yes
[6]yes
bradpatt03 said:do deer try to cross creeks in one area every time?
will a deer avoid crossing water if its too deep or the current is too strong?
is it true that when a deer is staring at you stomping his foot that it is releasing a "warning scent" to alert other deer in the area of danger? i have had them do this before and then never blow and return to normal behavior
if you jump bedded deer right near your stand on the way in, should you still hunt it or find somewhere else?
do deer and turkeys get along?
do deer listen for sounds of other animals to let them know an area is safe to enter? (ie. would a deer be spooked by the warning chatter of a squirrel??)
i will list some more up here as they come to me
Good questions.
1. I have a lot of creek bottom on my property. There are several "well worn" crossings where the bank on either side has been beat down. I'm sure they "mix it up" and change crossings but not by design.
2. I assume they're like every other critter and take the path of least resistance, but I busted one one morning on the creek bottom and she jumped off a 6' high bank into one of the deepest pools in the creek and was across a 30' wide creek bottom in two bounds, in waist deep water on me.
3. Don't know. I've had them do that to me many times and have wondered about that behaviour too.
4. Flip a coin. I jumped 10 deer, one at a time, bedded down in the high grass around a pond. If I had stopped and moved slowly I could have shot one. Never did go back and hunt the spot though so I don't know.
5. I've seen them in the same food plot. Usually the turkeys show up first, and if they don't alert, deer will come out and graze in proximity to them.
6. I know squirrels' chatter gets their attention.
HighCotton
Senior Member
futuredoc said:
I usually try not to hunt feeding areas (food plots) in the mornings and sometimes not at all. IMHO, a food plot should be a "safe haven" for deer.
I would suggest you find trails between the feeding areas and the bedding area and set up there. In the mornings, generally your strategy is that you are trying to catch deer going back to bedding areas. If bedding areas and food areas are close, you'll need to hopefully find a way to get to your stand without disturbing the food area/without spooking deer and most importantly, get in there EARLY (1 hr before official sunrise-- this will be about 30 minutes before "shooting light"). If I hunt food plots at all, it's usually afternoon. HC
