THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

It's a liitle surreal to me.....chasing these animals, still. Whenever I sit down and think about it.....I think the thing that amazes me MOST about them is their size. Now don't get me wrong....I haven't taken a truckload of huge deer. I'm talking about the sheer size of a "typical" whitetail in my area.

I see them coming, from stand....and I wonder, later, how in the world an animal that size is so gifted and stealthy.....that it can elude human eyes (and other "predators") as well as it does.

They are a worthy adversary.....and simply amazing creatures. God gets an "A+" on this design!

I am alone in this thought? Anybody ever think about this???? It stands out as THE thing that intrigues me about these deer.....in my short time hunting them.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Magestic comes to mind.

I saw a study once, even in nonhunters the heart rate increases with the mere sighting of a whitetail.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I agree....it also amazes me how a simple brown and white paint job can hide them in it seems like any type of terrain. They just seem to blend in perfect.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I try to figure out how they get into such dense thickets with those large bodies and large crowns..... We have some nasty thick around here....

I cant get thru a lot of it on my hands and knees.......

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

And on top of that....relatively quietly.....how in the world???

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

It is their world we only live in it.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Exactly...........even though the crowns around here are a little smaller it still amazes me some of thebrush they mover through with relative ease.

What I find unreal is that you can be out there withyour sole purpose being finding them andyettheySTILL can sneak up on you.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

If you're not 100% on top of your game, they can appear (and disappear) without you even noticing. I cannot count how many times I've looked behind a tree, and then back to the front of it and had deer right in front of me on the game trail I was set up on.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Another thing .....

Joe Brooks says a big deer makes a lot of noise coming through the woods. Do you guys that shoot really big deer notice this to be true?

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I can't say I have noticed big bucks making any more noise than that ofyounger buckswith all things being equal....

Want to hear noisy.... Try a yearling buck in dry woods during the rut.... They absolutely throw all caution to the wind as they travel.

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RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Big bucks are noisy. They always seem to step on and break a branch giving themselves away. I never hear a mature doe. I think the main reason is that does are mostly on worn paths where bucks make there own.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

MOHO......I think you're right. I see it in a LOT of TV shows. The bucks make their own paths....and they're typically not very stealthy about it.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Only if they are chasing a doe.

Otherwise I believe the move thru the woods in slowmotion most of the time, checking everything out and making sure it's safebefore they move on. I have seen big bucks stand perfectly still except for maybe a flick of an ear for 10 minutes or more. Just trying to make sure there is no danger ahead. And then sometimes they will go back the way they came anyhow.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

As I put a little thought to it.... The noise is really a product of their environment... Here where I live the land is basically featureless.... Just flat land.... Here deer trails are basically non existent.... Only deer trails you may find are brief, usually foundat a ditch or small creek crossing or a low area on a fence etc etc and quicklydisappear....

Not many deertotally sneak up on you here unless it is early season or if the ground is wet.

I also think the amount of pressure on a deer dictates how it travels thru its homerange..... read your comparison to what you saw on those TV shows..... Not many of us hunt under those conditions.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I find bucks making more noise than does. Bucks walk with a purpose, does tip toe.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Hey Scott.....Not sure what you mean???? I know the deer here aren't pressured, terribly. They move about around here pretty much without a care. I know exactly what you mean about hearing them though. I posted a while back that I likely hear 90% of the deer that come into my sets before I see them.

Rob....You and I have talked about this. I, too, think I can tell a buck coming through the woods vs. a doe. I think they walk more "deliberate", too.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I was saying that a deer in a high pressure area like most all of us hunt wouldn't normallyhaphazardly move about its homerange like they do on the TV shows.

*Edit*
My comments are all directed towardsbehavior outside the rut, as they are totally unpredicatable for a few weeks ayear.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Not for long anyways ;)

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Absolutely off the wall shameless dog photo.....

Sorry...:D

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I either have really bad hearing, or am deaf to the frequency of the noise a deer omits when it's walking in the woods......But I just rarely hear them. Unless it's a really dry day, w/ a fresh coat of leaves on the ground. Or ice. Or gravel. But under NORMAL conditions, I simply rarely hear a deer walking in the woods. I look up, BAM! THere they are.

I BELIEVE that to be because they have such a small surface area on their "feet." How many square inches is touching ground? Not much.

Now, if they're running full out, or something along those lines....Oh yeah, I hear 'em very well. I'm talking under normal, every day travel conditions. Just don't hear them, and it amazes me.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Ive seen one deer cahsing one other deer through the woods in 2+ years hunting. Other than that.....every deer I've ever seen was walking.

Again....I hear them 90%+ of the time before I see them.....unless (as Scott eluded to) it's been raining. Even early season I hear them, first.

Dunno......I've never known anything different. Also, though....I hunt NO fields. I can rarely see over 40 yds or so.....so there might be deer that other people see in their setups that I would NEVER see because of the foliage where I hunt.

That's why it's so cool to see how other people hunt. It's probably VERY different than we likely think it to be.;)

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

If deer amaze you that much, wait till you get up close with an elk.

They blow my mind.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Jeff, ive thought about that VERY thing too many times.

how can an animal that weighs over 100lbs and walk on 4 legs "appear" out of nowhere on a dry forest floor, covered in DRY leaves and go unnoticed until its practically underneath of you??

how can you WALK right by the same animal while its bedded and not even notice it??

Monday me and 2 other people were walking a trail talking as we made our way from the fields to the woods to put on a drive...laughing, talking, and walking. the 1 guy stopped and backed up 10 yards...said "come here...i think theres one laying here" me and the girl backed up 10yds, looked, sure enough, a perfectly healthy deer laid there..we were ALL looking in there for deer and didnt notice it...we know deer often lay in there and were looking hard...we all said it was a log...till it got up and bolted. how that guy noticed it is beyond me...he said he thought it was a log as well, but thought he caught movement..thats why he backed up. it was hardly brushed in...it was just laying under a crab apple tree...let us walk and talk right by it...

mannnnnny times i have jumped them from places you would glance at and say "nope! cant be a deer in there!" dad and i jumped a nice buck one rifle season walking back to camp one morning in a blueberry field...stuff aint higher than your knees with a few shrubs here and there...he jumped up not 10yards infront of us out of nowhere...

"if its big enough to hide a rabbit, it will hide a deer" nothing is too small to hide a deer...youd think a brown blob would stand out like a sore thumb...when in reality, they got some pretty awesome camo....exspecially the fawns!

amazing animals for sure...

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I would love to do it one time, Rybo. I have a buddy who guides in CO every year. He has offered to let me come out with him.....but the timing has never been right. I WILL go one day, though;).

He's been "mildly" successful on his own, too.;)

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I'm amazed by their sense of smell and their survival instinct.

Sometimes a deer will just know something isn't right, and leave even though they didn't smell you, see you, or hear you. They have a sixth sense that keeps them alive. And it's equally amazing how this sixth sense doesn't apply to cars and highways! As smart, wily, and elusive as they are, they still stand in the middle of a road while cars are coming! [:@]

I'm also amazed at their ability to hide during the day time. I've spent alot of time in the woods and I've yet to see a "bedded deer". I see them after they bust out of their beds, tails waving as they run away. But I've never actually seen a bedded deer, even though I know where the bedding areas are!

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Rob, Kurt and I walked up on the same 4 does bedded in the same area on our way out of the woods one day (10-15yds).....and on our way back in. It was really cool.

I've had 'em bed down around me on a few occasions. That's something special, too.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Depends on what you call a big deer I guess.Our mature bucks will generally weigh 175-200# before dressing, 130-140" bucks are fairly common on mature deer andthe area usually produces a couple of 170" plusracks each year. I realize these may not necessarily be considered big deer in other areas, butthese deer do not make anymore noise than other deer unless they are chasing during the rut.

As matter of fact, one of the neatest things I have experienced first hand while hunting was when a mature buck followed in the tracks of a 4 point by about 5 minutes on a crusty icy day that you could hear anything walking and crunchingon the ice pack a quarter of a mile away. The mature buck walked exactly in the same tracks as the 4 point and made no noise at all.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

That darn sixth senseis killer qzq!! It cannot even be explained. I've seen them turn around on a dime to go the other way when I KNOW they didn't wind me.

As smart as they are most of the time, I bet everyone who has hunted over a few years has seen them do really dumb things to. You know like letting you take another shot when you missed the first ect.. I sorta like dumb deer on occasion

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

My last buck I heard the stick break he step on, my first thought was "That is not a squirrel":D

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RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

You want to experience coming from no where kind of quiet.Try hunting in Troy's part of the country where there are no hard wood tree's.It is so quiet that if you are sitting for an extended period of time your ears will start to ring.Two day old beard scruff on a fleece collar will sound very loud to you.I have had deer come right under a tree stand out there and never heard them coming.Deer will be within your field of vision and if you are not paying attention you can easily miss them.
I havn't witnessed big bucks being louder than other deer with the exception of tending grunts and their antlers hitting brush in thick area's.All to often they can be like ghosts in the woods,where they came and went and you second guess whether you actually saw them or not.
Some of the loudest commotion I have ever had is while still hunting for whitetails kicking up bedded elk,they don't go around brush or saplings they go through them.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

IF that diddnt happen i would be making a lot better shots on deer im thinking.

you deffinatley (sp) said it right Magestic is one word to describe white-tails. I usually call them Ever-illusive-white-tails... but thats just for fun while im on the radio

Ryan.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I think that is part of what drives us as hunters. Not only the thrill and adrenaline of the hunt but the curiousity of the animal and how they can be so elusive to human life and predators. Its superior challenge that not all game animals offer and no matter where you hunt them they are just as difficult and elusive

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

It amazes me as well....i have often thought a bout it!

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

:eek:

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

They sometimes can be so dumb.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

I cannot find anything about a deer that does not amaze me. From there majestic racks to there stealth in the woods they are magnificent animals.

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Yeah they are careful buggars...

Last night while on my stand, I was bowhunting...I glassed a little buck about 350 yards out following a doe down the ridge, I would get glimpses of them from my perch... I was a little worried for this buck as he was making his way into some open ground that is exposed to the county road. Sure enough I hear a pickup stop way down on the road. I can't see it but I was sure he could see the little buck an doe. I went back to glassing my immediate area for any approaching does since I am set up in a well travels doe area. I glass around and about 800 yards up on a ridge to the east of me, I see a nice buck coming down the mountain. He looks like a 3.5 year old 5x5, probably a 130 class buck.

About that time, BOOOM! a shot goes off from down the road. Sure enough that little buck that I had seen before probably got shot at. I immediatly looked back to my east in my binocs up on the mountain and found the nice 5x5, he was standing stone still staring in the direction of the shot. Now this shot is close to 1 mile by foot away from this 5x5 buck. For 1/2 an hour he locks down right there and will not move, I kept my eye on him the rest of the evening just to see his reaction to a distant gun shot. It was amazing how cautious he was being...

Just before dark I had one doe come by and I hoped shes would have a good buck in tow.. no dice.. I walked out, and saw the guy that had shot at the little buck and IHOLLARED to him ..did you kill him? Heyelled back.."no blood no hit".. and he then walked out about 700 yards from me...to his pickup and left...

I didnt kill a thing last night but once again got to watch the behavior of a semi-mature whitetail buck play out in regards to pressure..

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

My first thought was that you are dead on with your assessment, GMMAT. They are truly agile creatures for the size. If you put a 150# or 200# man in the same environment, he will never match the stealth. Then, I started thinking about the fact that these creatures live in this environment 24/7. I think back to the submariners I taught and how these guys (some well over 200 #) could move around the equipment in such a cramped space with such ease. I think it is largely about environment and conditioning. (I will state, however, that there is nothing "majestic" or "elegant" about submariners!)

RE: THE main thing that amazes me about a Whitetail Deer
 

Just when you think you have seen everything they always throw in a new wrinkle and surprise you. I had onezip across the road in front of my vehicle the other day. Moving at a high rate of speed when she got to the fence I expected the normal Majestic leap over the five strand barbed wire fencebefore performing a disappearing act into the timber.

No biggy, we have all seen it a thousand times right? Without missing a step or slowing down she went through the fence and hardly made the wire jiggle. How she squeezed her self through that space without getting hung up and doing it at that speed was really a wonder to behold. It was one of the most athletic maneuvers I have ever beheld in any field of endeavor.