#1976475 - 06/28/10 11:14 PM
Doe body language?
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RKenney
10 Point
Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 3634
Loc: Maury Co.
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When on the stand, during the rut, what kind of body language
have you noted when a breeding buck might be very near? It took
me awhile in the early years, but I began to notice the tails of
the does.
I know there are many more, so let's hear some.
Thanks
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#1976581 - 06/29/10 06:25 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: RKenney]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 17068
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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When on the stand, during the rut, what kind of body language have you noted when a breeding buck might be very near?
Think not just in terms of what you might "see", but what you may hear and even smell before you can see what you're hearing or smelling.
I often hear sounds & smell aromas that are often indicative of rutting deer, and seldom heard except when bucks are hot after a doe.
Just a few that come to mind.
If you suddenly hear what sounds like a running deer (or a running anything), good chance it's a doe running from a buck, which will soon follow, although he's more likely to walk. As that buck catches up with the doe, she may take off running again. Hearing this in the distance, you either start looking that way straining your eyes, or when conditions are ideal, I begin a stalk or slow still-hunt in that direction.
Another sound is simply any strange animal sound you've never heard before --- good chance it's going to be a rutting buck. Sometimes a particular buck can make some unusual sounds, although the more common "grunting" sometimes sounds like pigs in a barnyard. Then, I've both heard and seen two mature bucks "bang" their heads against a tree so hard that it sounded almost exactly as what you would have heard had you taken a wooden baseball bat and swung it hard against a tree. Had they not made this loud noise, I never would have seen either.
Of course, sometimes you'll hear a very subtle "click" that's the touching of one buck's antlers against another. I commonly see bucks together, as they simply do not go around fighting each other like many seem to think, although they do often "spar" with nothing more than a single light head butt or more like antlers just touching enough to be audible.
Back in the mid-80's, one week my best hunting friend and I both witnessed (and heard) a mature buck making what we both described as "alligator" sounds. About 25 years later, neither of us have ever again heard this in the wild (except from alligators in Florida). Yet, we both heard and saw this buck doing it several times over the course of a week, and despite seeing him, we never could get a good shot. All his sightings were when he was chasing one or more estrous does. As to "that" sound, I next heard something similar when someone made a "buck growl" deer call, although I don't think it is a commonly heard sound in the wild, and maybe most bucks never make it.
Lastly, I often simply smell a rutting buck before I see him.
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#1976587 - 06/29/10 06:31 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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tndrbstr
16 Point
Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 12157
Loc: knox co tn
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They seem to just act nervous or fidgity in general sometimes...but then they do that at times anyways it seems...
Think not just in terms of what you might "see", but what you may hear and even smell before you can see what you're heard or smelled.
I have smelled a ruttin buck as much as 6 or 8 minutes before I ever saw the thing...I have also smelled em and never got lay on eyes on them either...
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#1976606 - 06/29/10 06:56 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: tndrbstr]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 17068
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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Have you ever been out in the woods, thinking you were the only human around, then suddenly got the whiff of cigarette smoke?
I've done this and then seen a fellow smoking much farther away than I would have thought I could have smelled his cigarette. Yet if he hadn't lit up, would never have known he was there.
Similar is getting the whiff of a rutting buck.
I've learned to pay great attention to any changes in what's being heard or smelled, as deer hunting is not always just an issue of "looking" for deer. Even the appearingly normal movement or sounds of birds and other critters can be in part the result of deer moving your direction. And few things will bring a deer off their bed to feed on acorns in mid-day more than having some turkeys feeding on acorns. Having turkeys around you can be a "mixed blessing", as you may spook them, then they deer spook. But deer will feel safe to come out into more open areas when turkeys are there feeding.
Learn to bring yourself to a higher level of attention, perhaps using your binoculars to scan the shadows, anytime there's a change in what you're hearing or smelling while deer hunting, at least regarding the typical stand or still-hunting most of us would be doing.
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#1976622 - 06/29/10 07:10 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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mossyhorns300
10 Point
Registered: 12/15/04
Posts: 3731
Loc: memphis, tn & savannah, tn
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Ditto Wes. I killed an 8 pt last year that I smelled when walking in to the stand at dark. 7-8 minutes into my walk in, I froze. All of a sudden it smelled like somebody poured a bottle of Code Blue right in front of me. I stopped and listened and didn't hear anything, so I continued on quietly once the smell had diminished some. I reached the stand, which wasn't but another 7-8 minutes away, and got settled quietly. Right at legal shooting light, I could smell it again and started glassing with my binos and spotted an 8 pt with 4 does in the CRP field at 135 yds, in which one was bedded and he was standing over her. Rest is history.
_________________________
I'd rather be judged by 12, than carried by 6.
Pretty women make us buy beer...........Ugly women make us drink beer!
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#1976672 - 06/29/10 07:48 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: mossyhorns300]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25335
Loc: TN
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Oh its a wonderful thing when a doe comes along and you simply KNOW there is a buck somewhere close by. After you have hunted for a while and got to watch a lot of deer it becomes super obvious. A doe in heat or nearing heat will act accordingly, as will one thats not ready but still being pushed/pursued by a buck anyway. There are many scenarios and telltale signs, but one thing is for sure, when the action is in full swing you may hear/smell and especially See things you never thought possible from a whitetail deer. This is why I love November, anything is possible, anything!!
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#1976711 - 06/29/10 08:24 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: Winchester]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59668
Loc: Nashville, TN
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A doe coming into estrus will appear to be highly adgitated. She will move much more than normal but in a smaller area than normal.
When looking for an estrus doe that is being followed by a buck, I watch for a doe that trotting and stopping and trotting and stopping and constantly checking her back-trail instead of looking forwards most the time.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1976758 - 06/29/10 08:52 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: BSK]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25335
Loc: TN
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A doe coming into estrus will appear to be highly adgitated. She will move much more than normal but in a smaller area than normal.
When looking for an estrus doe that is being followed by a buck, I watch for a doe that trotting and stopping and trotting and stopping and constantly checking her back-trail instead of looking forwards most the time.
Exactly right BSK, throw in a open mouth and heaving sides and you may have a whole group in tow! U gotta love it!
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#1976868 - 06/29/10 10:16 AM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: BSK]
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Snake
16 Point
Registered: 05/03/09
Posts: 15567
Loc: McMinn Co.Tennessee U.S.
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A doe coming into estrus will appear to be highly adgitated. She will move much more than normal but in a smaller area than normal.
When looking for an estrus doe that is being followed by a buck, I watch for a doe that trotting and stopping and trotting and stopping and constantly checking her back-trail instead of looking forwards most the time.
Ditto !
_________________________
No matter the storm , when you are with God , there's always a rainbow waiting .
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#1976949 - 06/29/10 12:00 PM
Re: Doe body language?
[Re: Snake]
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102
10 Point
Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 3680
Loc: Tennessee
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I call them "frisky" does. Fidgety, restless, jumpy.
My heart races when I see one approaching. It USUALLY gives me time to get my mind ready for the shot.
102
_________________________
God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.
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