#2000332 - 07/20/10 05:41 AM
Pressure and memory.......
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15480
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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I posted a story on here once about a member of an old hunting club shooting a buck out of a barn. The hunter was sitting in the barn. The way the story went was that I had jumped that very same deer the day before out of his bed right beside the barn. The next morning, the buck was killed as it was making it's way back to that very same bed. Also, the bed was located just feet from the barn and less than a 100 yards from a house...in plain view. It was a 2.5 year old buck.
My question is this.......
At what point does pressure push deer out of an area for good and do they have a memory about being jumped up from a certain bed? Did this deer realize while walking toward the barn that it had been jumped up there just the day before? I know that deer are not capable of rational thought, but at what point do they KNOW that an area is off limits due to human activity. Does it take repeated disturbances or can one time be enough to disperse them to another area....?
I realize that deer can't just move at every human sighting. They would soon run out of places to go. But, at what point do they say ENOUGH and move out?
This is not about changing to a nocturnal pattern and simply avoiding man during the day, but more about leaving an area all together....
I know that this may be more of an opinion question, but I've seen deer react both ways. I've jumped certain bucks repeatedly in the same area and have also jumped a buck in an area and never see him again.......
thanks
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#2000411 - 07/20/10 07:05 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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MUP
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Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 36143
Loc: Just North of Chatt-town
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I'd say that it just depends on the individual deer, as in the last paragraph of your post. Some will come back later, some will move on I suppose.
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MUP
Amateurs: Built the Ark
Professionals: Built the Titanic
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#2000474 - 07/20/10 08:07 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: MUP]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Deer have an amazing ability to differentiate between what they perceive to be threatening versus non-threatening human contact. They completely ignore non-threatening contact but more experienced deer will adjust their activities to avoid threatening human contact.
At what point does pressure push deer out of an area for good...?
I don't think anything short of total habitat destruction pushes deer out of an area "for good." Deer simply adjust the times (night-time) and routes of movement to avoid what they perceive to be threatening human contact.
_________________________
"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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#2000666 - 07/20/10 10:26 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: BSK]
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Tomahawk
6 Point
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 762
Loc: east & west tn
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Deer have an amazing ability to differentiate between what they perceive to be threatening versus non-threatening human contact. They completely ignore non-threatening contact but more experienced deer will adjust their activities to avoid threatening human contact. At what point does pressure push deer out of an area for good...? I don't think anything short of total habitat destruction pushes deer out of an area "for good." Deer simply adjust the times (night-time) and routes of movement to avoid what they perceive to be threatening human contact.
Edited by Tomahawk (07/20/10 10:29 AM)
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#2000678 - 07/20/10 10:33 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: Tomahawk]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Tomahawk,
Your theory doesn't sound crazy at all. I photo-census my local deer herd six months out of the year (Aug-Jan) and have for 11 years. I travel the property weekly to pull pictures and move cameras.
I'm thoroughly convinced I can "get away with more" while hunting than other hunters on the property because the resident deer are so conditioned to my scent. 80% of the time they encounter my scent it is a non-threatening encounter.
_________________________
"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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#2000707 - 07/20/10 10:47 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: BSK]
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bowriter
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Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40303
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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I don't think deer have a memory at all. I think they have a coditioned response.
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Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#2000710 - 07/20/10 10:52 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: BSK]
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Tomahawk
6 Point
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 762
Loc: east & west tn
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Thanks for insight BSK. I believe that theory for sure, seeing how I practice it also. Now when I'm at land in west TN (much larger tract), I fall into the old keep your scent out of there as much as possible. And of course when I'm actually hunting, which ever property, I do my best to keep from getting winded. But I certainly believe you can "condition" the local herd to your scent. Just don't let them wind you while your in your set up.
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#2000719 - 07/20/10 11:05 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: bowriter]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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I don't think deer have a memory at all. I think they have a coditioned response.
By definition, a conditioned response requires memory.
_________________________
"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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#2000720 - 07/20/10 11:05 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: Tomahawk]
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redcorn
4 Point
Registered: 09/07/06
Posts: 252
Loc: Chattanooga, TN.
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I think MUP makes a good point by saying "it depends on the individual deer". I think sometimes we forget that deer are like other animals in that each one is different. If you observe them for long enough, you will find that they have personalities. Some deer are wary of people almost all of the time, some occasionally, and some not much at all.
For example, we had a young buck that would go from one food plot to the next. He didn't care if we were standing 20 yards from him. He would even turn his back to us during hunting season. When other deer would run for their lives, scattering in all directions, he would stay right there feeding mouthfulls of grass to his fat belly. Sometimes we would run toward him to scare him and he would leave, but he would usually come back in a few minutes.
Conversely, we have had a six pointer on our property for several years, who, even at 1.5 seemed to behave very differently than his peers. We never saw him travelling with other bucks, and usually only got pictures of him at night. In fact, over the past five seasons, he has only been spotted once or twice by our party and only once by our neighbors who hunted ten at a time over 600 adjoining acres. Yet we know from regular trail camera pictures that our property was his core area.
Since I don't see many mature bucks in the course of a season, I tend to measure the amount of pressure i'm applying by my sightings of mature does. I feel comfortable in a location if i'm consistently seeing the older does; if my sightings drop off drastically, yet the food or incentive for their movement remains, then it's time to relocate.
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#2000759 - 07/20/10 11:44 AM
Re: Pressure and memory.......
[Re: redcorn]
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Good time Charlie
TnDeer Old Timer
12 Point
Registered: 10/08/99
Posts: 6539
Loc: Tazewell
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I feed these deer on a daily basis,and I can almost walk right up to some of the older does that have been around awhile.
When the season comes around ,I don't know what causes it ,maybe the shooting,They react totally different,like bolting at the site of me.
They certainly have a sense for danger
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