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They know #7344913 11/11/18 01:07 PM
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I was hunting out of a box stand yesterday when a doe reminded me how deer know what is and isn’t man-made in the deer woods. I was watching a long, open strip in an otherwise wooded area when the doe steppped out before turning and looking directly at me. It was obvious she knew exactly the box stand was something that required her undivided attention, even though it had there since the early summer when my buddy and I moved it there.

I gave her a pass.


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344918 11/11/18 01:14 PM
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If you came home and your furniture was rearranged, you'd notice that too


If at first you dont succeed, then skydiving is not for you..

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Dennis

Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344938 11/11/18 01:55 PM
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Maybe, they dang sure know it doesn’t belong but that doesn’t mean they feel threatened by it. I pass a giant concrete tower often that sits in the middle of hundreds if not thousands of acres. It’s been there all of my memory. I always stare at it as I pass. Curiosity I would say. Now if it’s new I would say that’s a whole new ballgame. Maybe.

I was surprised when Friday I put a new top on my quadpod and Saturday morning the deer came to the feeder like nothing was amiss. I had taken the old top of 6 months ago, they clear cut the whole area, and they still came with it sticking out like a sore thumb. It can be seen from a thousand yards away. Saturday mornings deer made good chili Friday night.

Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344944 11/11/18 02:02 PM
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I do know that if you have windows in your blind, whether they be wood or glass, when they are down or open the blind will look different to them and they pick up on that immediately.
I have a box blind with wooden windows that I close to keep the birds out when I'm not there so I paint them black, and the deer don't seem to know the difference when they are open.
They do pick up on differences, but will usually just stare out of curiosity and then go about their business.....An old momma doe, all bets are off.

Last edited by Jimbo; 11/11/18 02:06 PM.


Thursday at 12:45 PM
#33
Once i learned that i didn't "NEED" to kill something, and that if i did kill something all the fun stopped and work began, i was a much better hunter.
Re: They know [Re: Jimbo] #7344949 11/11/18 02:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Jimbo
I do know that if you have windows in your blind, whether they be wood or glass, when they are down or open the blind will look different to them and they pick up on that immediately.
I have a box blind with wooden windows that I close to keep the birds out when I'm not there so I paint them black, and the deer don't seem to know the difference when they are open.
They do pick up on differences, but will usually just stare out of curiosity and then go about their business.....An old momma doe, all bets are off.


Smart right there with the black paint. Old does are heathens and not only will they not participate they don’t want anyone else to either.

Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344954 11/11/18 02:15 PM
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I'm sitting in my deer stand (Window of my cabin outside of Moody), haven't seen anything this morning. Last year I snuck in the kitchen to get some coffee and there was a doe standing between our pickup trucks. (Usually we park up behind the she'd, I don't know why we didn't that night) Right now, like many, we are plagued with monsters on the feeders at night and nothing during the day.

Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344976 11/11/18 02:38 PM
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If the stand has been out several months and the deer still come out it prob. dosent bother them. More than likely the doe noticed your movement or your scent.

Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344977 11/11/18 02:47 PM
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The last few years because of physical disabilities I've been hunting at times out of my pickup.
I park off to the side of the sendero with some brush behind me to break up my outline of my blind, but the deer do notice but usually go back to feeding.
I've had deer feeding and then walk up toward me within 20 yards checking me out and then just turn around and go back to feeding where I scattered the corn.
Yes, they know when something isn't right or looks out of place, but any movement or scent, and they are gone, so just keep that in mind.

Last edited by Jimbo; 11/11/18 02:50 PM.


Thursday at 12:45 PM
#33
Once i learned that i didn't "NEED" to kill something, and that if i did kill something all the fun stopped and work began, i was a much better hunter.
Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7344993 11/11/18 03:17 PM
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I do not think a deer can tell the difference between a fence post and a dead tree, but they can notice the smallest change in their environment.
When hunting a sendero with my daughter we put a rock at 100 yards (about softball size), 2 rocks at 200, and 3 at 300. Every deer out out saw them and skedaddled.
On another hunt on the same road we broke off a dead oak limb that interfered with a 150 yard shot. The deer did the same as they did with the rocks.
We also learned how well trained they are. We put a brand new feeder south of our blind (we had one north already). It was brand new from the feed store and never had corn in it, we were to fill it later. We had deer milling around under it looking for corn the first day, before we ever put corn in it.


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Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7345044 11/11/18 04:28 PM
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IMO when a blind is put up it becomes part of the landscape. Deer that were born after it was put up only know it as landscape...it might have your odor or stench grin you leave behind but they that would the same as you walking down a trail and stopping to pop a squat. flush
I have a blind that faces east and has been in that location for a few year now. The deer walk right past it on the ROW and I had a buck jump the fence about 15' from the base of it this week. What they do notice is the plexiglass window has a shine or reflection from the morning sun. They are close 10 months out of the year and when I start hunting I leave them shut if the sun is coming up. They see that reflection and if it is not their they stare at the blind for a couple of weeks. After that it does not matter to them.


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Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7345802 11/12/18 03:02 PM
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My blind has been up for over 2 years and every deer that walks out still stops and checks me before they start crunching corn


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"Life's complicated, man, like a dang ol' Rubik's cube, man. Talkin' 'bout blue and red, man. Dang ol' get one side, dang ol' messed up th' other side, man."

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Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7345936 11/12/18 04:59 PM
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On the first property I hunted on we had a blind and feeder set up about 80 yard shot. The first thing deer would do is stick their head out of the brush and look at the blind. On so many occasions if the windows were open they would leave and you wouldn't see anything. If they were closed the deer would stare for a sec then go eat corn. You could quietly open the windows after they had eaten a few minutes and they would stay then.

I think in general enough deer get shot under feeders in front of blinds that they start to associate the two with danger. We let our place sit for 3 years without shooting anything on it to build population up. The deer were stupid, on many occasions I would shoot a hog standing next to a deer at the feeder and the deer would just look at the dead hog and I would have to run them off, shot many deer where the only deer that ran off the sendero was the one that was shot. After a few years of hunting them that is a thing of the past. Occasionally I think about giving it a rest for 2 to 3 years again just to get the stupidity back.


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Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7345951 11/12/18 05:14 PM
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I've shot a lot of deer out of a truck that were feeding in the road, so I don't know how much they "know" or not


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: They know [Re: Texas Dan] #7345959 11/12/18 05:23 PM
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Years ago a guy on was on a lease with, his brother built our blinds and I laughed once i saw them set up as on the wood windows he had painted a silhouette of a guy with a ball cap on it. He swore that was there to make them feel comfortable once a real person was there and the windows were down. Not sure i believed it, but always made folks laugh when they saw it.

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