I've got a question for you deer houndsmen

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I have several bear on our farm that I have run so much that I consider them to be hound smart. Do big bucks get hound smart ? I've been to my hunting camp several times this year an seen some nice bucks cross out of the blocks way ahead of the hounds , I'm talkin like even before I hear a hound bark I know they were running these deer because I watched the hounds cross on them. Can you run a big buck enough that the minute he hears a truck pull up and a hound bark in the box that he gets up and starts moving?
 

Treetall

Twelve Pointer
Oh it’s night and day difference in running a deer that’s hound smart and one that’s not . Not just bucks
 
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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yes, and they get on to your regular routine. At times we change up the way we put out or the side we put out from or how we line up and it will throw them off and have a dramatic impact on the outcome. They will pattern you in a heartbeat.
 

Bluedogman

Six Pointer
I’ve saw that in coons that have been run to much too. I’d imagine about any critter can get hound smart and figure what’s going on
 
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ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Deer(and bears) have a calender in their bedding area and have all the season dates marked. They know when they're gonna be hunted before you do, and take precautions ahead of time. That's how they get old, and get those big racks
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
I don’t know about dog hunted bucks, but I know from hunting Midwest public land, and a property I had here locally, mature bucks won’t think twice about letting you walk all over them, in a spot they can see you coming.
I had one here locally that I got in camera and couldn’t figure out where he was coming from. When the leaves started falling, I could see rubs in some pines right beside where I parked on this farm. I followed them in, and not 10yds from the farm road, I busted him. He bedded right inside the line thicket 15 yards from where I parked my truck. Knew when I came, knew when I left. I walked by him every time I hunted that place and never knew it.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
I’ve saw that in coons that have been run to much too. I’d imagine about any critter can get hound smart and figure what’s going on
Hell, I've got a rabbit in the yard that makes a beeline for the driveway culvert, any time a beagle even hits his track. They know what worked in the past, and stick with the plan
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
On a public land muzzleloader hunt I watched from my stand as a hunter walked down the path with a good buck watching less than 6 steps away in the brush beside the trail. As the hunter walked one way the buck put his head down and slipped the other. Ended up in the path behind him, watching the hunter amble on down the path, none the wiser.
My biggest buck to date had been bedded in a narrow strip of woods no more than 40 yards wide. 10 dogs on the ground went right past him, hot on a wad of doe tails. He ambled out 15 minutes later, sniffing the rump of a little doe when I got him.....
 

PG2

Ten Pointer
On my first dog hunt down at Savannah River Nuclear site an old gentlemen struck up an conversation with me and told me when I heard the trucks let their tailgate down start looking for the big bucks because they know what is coming and they sneak away. And of course he was right, as soon as I heard the first truck stop in my section here comes 2 sneaking away together.. And I hate buckshot!!
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I've taken a few bucks in front of hounds on the clubs I belong to downeast when I have been down there scouting before bear season comes most of the time its been by accident I try to find a place out of their way just so I can hear the chase and end up getting into the hunt. My middle daughter and her husband love it along with my youngest daughter guess I'm going to have to go with them a couple times this year and see what its about.
 

silvertip

Six Pointer
We used to have a stand on a farm on the Roanoke River that if you were lucky enough to draw it you better get to it before the trucks with the dogs ever came on the property, lots of times would have deer sneaking out before they ever turned loose.
 

bshobbs

Old Mossy Horns
I have seen the dogs running and a nice buck pops out, runs 100 yards down the field and back into the woods. When the dogs come out and down the field , into the woods, they come back out scattered chasing a herd of does. He knows where the does are and uses them to his advantage.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
After 40 plus years of dog hunting I have come to the conclusion..............they are either awful lucky or pretty dog on smart. You pick!

I personally believe it is a lot of smarts mixed in with some luck.
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
If buck is on his home ground he is hard to kill. He will slip out or even hold tight. They bounce around in water, do tight circles and more than likely take the hounds thought a doe bedding area. If a buck comes from somewhere else, he is likely to go out in a straight line or run the area different than the deer that are at home. IMO, there are two ways to kill a mature buck when he is in his home range. One is catching him slipping out, the other is to have some heat so tight up on him so he makes a mistake. The ones away from home are easier, that is if you can get in front of him. LOL Experienced does, know how to throw the dogs too. I once read a study that stated the average chase on a specific deer averaged a little over 20 minutes.
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I honestly think deer heavily pressured with hounds, stick
really tight when they hear the trucks. Once the hounds are up and running and leaving the immediate area they resume doing deer things. Seen this first hand too many times when I was in a stand, when the guys left the club house going to cast.
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
IME, they’ll lay as long as possible. Then they go straight for a bath if they can, and put some serious distance on the dogs.

ETA I ain’t a houndsman...I just try to be in front of em and help catch em up(y)
 
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rodman

Ten Pointer
One of the nicest bucks I seen was laying behind the club house. Had 7 dog lots in the yard. Trucks in and out all week. Woman kept telling us she seen him crossing the road going in there on a weekly basis. We took 2 dogs one evening and they jumped him right behind the club house
 
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