Bottom Hunter
Well-Known Member
I've noticed quite a few newbies running around, some new not only to the site but also to deer hunting.
I thought it might be nice to share some of the knowledge we as veterans have acquired, be it generally agreed upon or not.
The amount of "understanding" I have for deer now versus what I had when I began this journey way back in 1974 is vast. It's vast in my mind at least, but far from what is needed to be considered a "master". I'm not really sure that anyone can be a "master" hunter simply because in order to master something, wouldn't you have to be successful every time and make no mistakes?
I'd like this thread to be more of a comprehensive overview of what each "experienced" hunter has seen and learned during his or her time afield. If someone wants to bring scientific data into it, then fine. But, I have always believed that, much like humans , deer are individuals. They may indeed react in general to certain things, but from time to time we may "see" a totally different reaction than what is expected.
Maybe we can shed a bit of light on some things , just by not only using data to explain how the majority of deer react in a certain situation, but also how some may react in a totally different manner and maybe why.
It would be nice if we simply talked about what we have seen and learned over the years and not really debate any of these ideas about deer hunting. Questioning someone's experiences seems a bit futile since you weren't there and nothing is absolute, not even classic scientific data...
Controlled experiments are useful, for sure, but again they are not absolute, imo. In order for them to be absolute, you would have to conduct these experiments on ALL deer.....quite impossible, right?
For example, the thinking that all mature deer go nocturnal when pressured, especially post rut. I think more along the lines that they know more about going undetected during the daylight than we could ever know, even when cameras are used. I believe that the definition of the word "pressured" has changed a great deal as deer have adapted to more and more of our movement. Fewer and fewer areas go unhunted these days. It seems like every piece of ground is cleaned up for farming and thus the habitat is changing daily. What may have indeed blown them out of an area or made them go nocturnal 20-30 years ago, may indeed be just part of what they experience every day now.
Deer are indeed individuals and are indeed very adaptable. We, as hunters, get to see first hand some of the strange and unusual things that they are capable of doing. Some of these behaviors may indeed be out of the norm, but still relevant to try to figure out how to become better hunters.
Again, let's try to educate some of the newbies and maybe get us veterans to thinking about what they have always deemed as a sure thing. Sharing our experiences from years of spending time in the field can be enlightening to others and realizing how many times what you expect is not always what you get while deer hunting can be fun....
enjoy!
I thought it might be nice to share some of the knowledge we as veterans have acquired, be it generally agreed upon or not.
The amount of "understanding" I have for deer now versus what I had when I began this journey way back in 1974 is vast. It's vast in my mind at least, but far from what is needed to be considered a "master". I'm not really sure that anyone can be a "master" hunter simply because in order to master something, wouldn't you have to be successful every time and make no mistakes?
I'd like this thread to be more of a comprehensive overview of what each "experienced" hunter has seen and learned during his or her time afield. If someone wants to bring scientific data into it, then fine. But, I have always believed that, much like humans , deer are individuals. They may indeed react in general to certain things, but from time to time we may "see" a totally different reaction than what is expected.
Maybe we can shed a bit of light on some things , just by not only using data to explain how the majority of deer react in a certain situation, but also how some may react in a totally different manner and maybe why.
It would be nice if we simply talked about what we have seen and learned over the years and not really debate any of these ideas about deer hunting. Questioning someone's experiences seems a bit futile since you weren't there and nothing is absolute, not even classic scientific data...
Controlled experiments are useful, for sure, but again they are not absolute, imo. In order for them to be absolute, you would have to conduct these experiments on ALL deer.....quite impossible, right?
For example, the thinking that all mature deer go nocturnal when pressured, especially post rut. I think more along the lines that they know more about going undetected during the daylight than we could ever know, even when cameras are used. I believe that the definition of the word "pressured" has changed a great deal as deer have adapted to more and more of our movement. Fewer and fewer areas go unhunted these days. It seems like every piece of ground is cleaned up for farming and thus the habitat is changing daily. What may have indeed blown them out of an area or made them go nocturnal 20-30 years ago, may indeed be just part of what they experience every day now.
Deer are indeed individuals and are indeed very adaptable. We, as hunters, get to see first hand some of the strange and unusual things that they are capable of doing. Some of these behaviors may indeed be out of the norm, but still relevant to try to figure out how to become better hunters.
Again, let's try to educate some of the newbies and maybe get us veterans to thinking about what they have always deemed as a sure thing. Sharing our experiences from years of spending time in the field can be enlightening to others and realizing how many times what you expect is not always what you get while deer hunting can be fun....
enjoy!
