Two Question for the Brain Trust

Larry Eckart

Four Pointer
Guys,
Thanks again for your help and encouragement this past year as I began to earn my wings as a deer hunter.

Two questions as season closes:

1) What affect does the shooting of nearby duck hunters have on the movement of deer? Do they move away to quieter ground or ignore it?


2) What affect does leaving the innards after field dressing have on the movement of deer in that immediate area. I'm particularly curious about the affect of the smell of the field dressing and presence of coyotes on deer over the next few days.

Appreciate your feedback and knowledge.

Larry
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I’ve watched deer in front of me while people are target shooting across the river and they don’t seem effected by it. But I guess it depends on how close.
I’ve shot deer got down field dressed them drug the deer to the base of the stand, got back in the stand and have deer come within 10’ of gut pile and dead deer without batting an eye.
 

Dick

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
gut piles do not last long enough to matter imo

people target practice constantly all around where I hunt. Plenty of other noise from homes around. I still see deer and sign. Just not when I'm in the box...🤣
 
I had the displeasure of trying to hunt an area where the neighbors on either side of the fifty acres would periodically shoot pistols and AR’s for 30 minutes to an hour right around sundown. It definitely had a negative impact on the number of deer I would see on those evenings.
 

Lowg08

Ten Pointer
I have no clue about duck hunters. Gut piles on the other hand. Don’t seem to bother them. Dad killed a 4 point opening day of rifle. Left guys where we found it. Next day. Spike came right be them in front of dad. He got a pass
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Guys,
Thanks again for your help and encouragement this past year as I began to earn my wings as a deer hunter.

Two questions as season closes:

1) What affect does the shooting of nearby duck hunters have on the movement of deer? Do they move away to quieter ground or ignore it?


2) What affect does leaving the innards after field dressing have on the movement of deer in that immediate area. I'm particularly curious about the affect of the smell of the field dressing and presence of coyotes on deer over the next few days.

Appreciate your feedback and knowledge.

Larry
None and none

they don’t seem to care about either
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
None and none

they don’t seem to care about either
Agree that both don't matter, but distance of the shots matter. Deer have the ability to tell how far away sounds are, and if outside their range of concern they ignore them. Their range of concern is different for different sounds, ex. dog bark -vs- gun shot. In rural areas like where I live there is a lot of target shooting. After a hundred or so encounters watching deer with shooting in the background, I think it has to be within about 200 yards for them to care. .
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Many years ago was sitting in a stand less than 100 yds from a house with dogs barking ,kids playing in yard, people talking outside….was bow hunting edge of bean field and nice buck feeding less than 30 yds from my stand in this field…ignored all this noise because it poised no harm to him… they hear this all the time and know when they being hunted and when not.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
I've watched deer on the berm of the Cold Mountain gamelands range while people were shooting, but never during gun season. IMHO, they are more afraid of the calender, than gunfire:D:p
 

haywoodhunter

Eight Pointer
I've watched deer on the berm of the Cold Mountain gamelands range while people were shooting, but never during gun season. IMHO, they are more afraid of the calender, than gunfire:D:p
I’ve been there shooting before and had to stop shooting because deer were crossing the lane
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
Deer are wild creatures. Food , water and cover control almost every aspect of their everyday lives.

They gravitate to areas where they feel safe , they also get accustomed to things. Like the noises / smells of humans. As well as what goes on around them

There is ( like all of us know very well ) a level of perceived intrusion / danger they will not tolerate.

We all also know that the level varies from each individual animal it seems.

I've found that the more you think you've got 'em figured out ......

The more they fool you.

That's what keeps us chasing them.
 

Lowg08

Ten Pointer
I’ve been there shooting before and had to stop shooting because deer were crossing the lane
We had two does there on doe day about 3 years ago. Range official wouldn’t let my boy shoot one. BUT there are no deer up there. None at all
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
good questions- unanswerable
the fact we see deer that arent spooked doesnt give us any idea on how many are- the ones we dont see.
same on scent- missing one, pressure on a stand, etc etc.
You just hunt what you can and see what happens- listening to the next man's version may be useless in your situation.
 

Aaron H

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Deer can react differently in similar situations. A shooting range is different from rifle shots in the hunting woods. In my own experience I've found that a shot from a muzzleloader is often regarded much like a clap of thunder but a shot from my .308 can scatter all of the deer close by. I've watched deer approach a dead deer and react with fear. I've never seen a deer pass closely to a deer that I've shot and not react to it- they know something has happened and it's not good. NOW.... that's not a gut pile and I can't speak to that as I never gut a deer right at a spot that I plan to hunt again. This has as much to do with drawing scavengers to my hunt which I think can have a negative effect on deer. I want the place that I hunt to show as little disturbance as possible so dragging a killed deer at least 100 yards before field dressing makes good sense to me.
 

Larry Eckart

Four Pointer
Deer can react differently in similar situations. A shooting range is different from rifle shots in the hunting woods. In my own experience I've found that a shot from a muzzleloader is often regarded much like a clap of thunder but a shot from my .308 can scatter all of the deer close by. I've watched deer approach a dead deer and react with fear. I've never seen a deer pass closely to a deer that I've shot and not react to it- they know something has happened and it's not good. NOW.... that's not a gut pile and I can't speak to that as I never gut a deer right at a spot that I plan to hunt again. This has as much to do with drawing scavengers to my hunt which I think can have a negative effect on deer. I want the place that I hunt to show as little disturbance as possible so dragging a killed deer at least 100 yards before field dressing makes good sense to me.
Aaron,
About a day after I field dressed my second deer I asked myself, "why did you do that right where you saw other deer?" I think your point is well taken about dragging the dear a bit away from an area you want to continue hunting. Thank you for your good advice.
Larry
 

Zombie

Old Mossy Horns
Unless it's close enough for the the people them selves to affect the deer, then the gun shots won't bother them much. I've shot deer and the other deer just stand there then go back to eating. Just depends on the deer, and the area.

Animals live and die in the woods. They have seen many dead animals where they live, and they don't know how they died. Plus, yotes, vultures and other critters will have it cleaned up in 24 hours.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Aaron,
About a day after I field dressed my second deer I asked myself, "why did you do that right where you saw other deer?" I think your point is well taken about dragging the dear a bit away from an area you want to continue hunting. Thank you for your good advice.
Larry

One guy I know likes to do the gutting near some sort of running water/creek bottom. His theory is that coons/possums travel these anyway, turtles/crayfish/fish will eat the guts, and a rainfall with rising water will wash them away.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I generally (unless in NC and "doing as the natives do" as I was taught by my SF senseis) drop the guts wherever the critter dropped,,, why drag an extra 40-100+ pounds any dang where???
 

dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Guts, if I gutted it in the woods, I would leave them there. Possums and Coyotes will clean them up quickly.

Duck Hunters? If they are shooting down the branch from my land, I will not see a deer most likely. If I hear them before I get to the stand, I'll usually go somewhere else.
 
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