cows and deer
 

I'm certain that this topic has been reviewed, but I sat in a stand for 4 hrs last Friday evening in a likely spot...Pinched funnel between fields, hardwoods and thicket (bedding)...lots of trails, rubs etc...didn't see a deer (saw 3 bucks driving in- but nothing on stand) Cows were pretty active in an adjacent field...they were never closer than 75 yards and were not near where I was likely to see deer in front of my stand...Do deer avoid areas where cows are working? My inclination would be to say no, but I'm not sure..thx for advice/ help

RE: cows and deer
 

they dont care about cows at all

RE: cows and deer
 

Just like horses, other livestock and/or other people/things in their surroundings...if they get used to them as being "natural" in that area I don't believe they mind them at all. Good friends of mine have deer mingling with their horses in the same pasture all the time. No big deal.

RE: cows and deer
 

I don't have any experience myself but a hunting friend of mine, who farms, told me once that his cows will run deer off. I was surprised. Possibly it depends on the particular herd, or one crazy cow!

RE: cows and deer
 

yeah the deer dont mind the cows at all..not in my area anyways..proof of that is a couple days ago i went into get a trail cam from one of my setups and about 50 head of cattle were eating with a doe and her young on some corn not more than 25 yards apart from each other..

RE: cows and deer
 

On my lease I see deer and cows in the same pasture on a regular basis. They don't seem to mind one another.

RE: cows and deer
 

From my experience, i wont see the deer to the cows move.

RE: cows and deer
 

I've also hunted a farm where the cattle were allowed to roam the entire farm, and IMO the deer do not see cows as a reason to avoid a particular area or find a different route to their destination. Granted I'm sure that a lot of deer don't really want to be really close to the cows, but that kind of goes without saying. Cows are typically a lot bigger!

RE: cows and deer
 

Nope, deer don't have any problems with cattle at all. This is a picture that one of our landowners took this summer.

RE: cows and deer
 

I hunted a farm owned by my cousins and about this time of year they would turn steers in on the rye. It pretty much ended the deer hunting. The steers will follow you to your stand and then hang around there. The deer aren't afraid of cattle, but will steer clear of them. If you have cattle on one side of the fence and no cattle on the other, the deer will definitely favor the side with no cattle.

RE: cows and deer
 

I get deer in grtazing with my horses and cows all the time. Horses and deer are related ya know :D

RE: cows and deer
 

Where I hunt there are about 40 head of cattle. They mostly stay in the fields below where I hunt and the deer stay on the ridges. Rarely do the deer venture into the paster even at night. I know that I have watched cows in mississippi right in front of my stand and after they moved off thats when the deer started coming out.

RE: cows and deer
 

the thing i dont get is why aredeer scared of us, if we ate in the feild everyday like cows did would they not be scared of us anymore?

RE: cows and deer
 

Once I had a good lease in Texas kinda close to the panhandle that had alot of big deer. The rancher planted rye in one of his fields and wouldnt put the cattle on it till late november early dec. We would see probably 10-40 deer at a time in the field prior to the cattle. It was nice to look out there with a spotting scope from a distance and see a 10 point or two, 4 or 5 small and big 8 points and on down the ladder just grazing in heards in the rye fields. It was easy to fill tags,, nevergot any of the big ones BTW,,however after he let the cattle on the property we would only see a few does and yearlings here and there around the edges and corners of the field. And no bucks at all. It was weird but thats how it was. The big bucks seemed to have alot of problems with the cattle for some reason.

RE: cows and deer
 

Well I'm sure if something started opening fire on you with rifles for a month out of the year you would try and avoid that creature too lol.