GMMAT

I agree with this statement 100%. They're a wild animal that's learned what it takes to survive. Nothing more.

Their brain is about the size of a small pear......and if we spent more time in the woods.....we'd kill more of them.

Although hunting smarts is requiredto kill them "most of the time"....we see and hear stories every year of some 12yr old shlub who takes a brute.

Your odds go up exponentially if you hunt in an area where a lot of "them" live. "Them" being the operative term. People pass on MULTIPLE deer every year that, for here, would be "trophies".

They've adapted into survival specialists. The reason 4.5yr old+ deer are harder to kil is.....we kill most of them as 1.5 and 2.5 yr olds.

My .02

Germ

There are two issues IMO that make them tougher to Kill.

Number, plain and simple there are more mature does than bucks
Pressure, if one hunts a pressured area the odds are not good in your favor.

Give me good numbers of mature bucks and low pressure and look out. The issue is areas like this do not exist, which makes them tougher. Now add in a few years of getting shot at to a mature buck, you have one tough critter to kill

rybohunter

They aren't smart in the way we think of intelligence measured for humans, but they are dang hard to kill.Thier whole life is built around surviving, and a combination of instinct, innate behavior & some learned behavior in reaction to stimulus, makes them very tough to kill at times.

mcagney014

I think an old, mature deer is extremely difficult to kill. As some others have said they have great instincts. Their senses are very good and they can sense when something is "up." Sure they don't have great intelligence but their reactions and instincts are what make them difficult.

Hoytail Hunter

I don't think they're very intelligent at all. Afterall, they do go plowing into speeding cars all the time.Dogs are probably smarter by this measure because I can't remember the last time I seen one dead on the side of the roadfrom picking a fight with a semi. However,deer probably have as much survival instinct as we do brains.

I have 1 p&y and 1 very very close hanging on the wall but they were killed during the rut when they were high on drugs anyway. I'd like to be able to bring one down far outside of the rut. Hmmm... almost makes me want to start a new thread... "is it really a true accomplishment of outwitting a mature buck if you stick him during the rut?"

EDIT: I think I just might.

Matt / PA

I wouldn't call an animal that attempts to mount a plastic deer decoy "smart".........they simply live the life of a prey animal and have senses that we as humans really can't relate to.
Everything in their make-up is designed to elude predators from their sense of smell and hearing, to their speed and agility.
They are simply far more in tune with their surroundings than weunderstand.
When we think they are smart is when we throw something into their environment that is different or perceived as a threat. Then they adapt and move on with life trying to avoid whatever that stimulus was.

What we interpret as being "Smart" is nothing more than the inherent actions of super paranoid prey animal.

StruttinGobbler3

right now i have three big ones on the wall, only one about 4 years old though. he's my biggest.i have abouteight decentbucks in the 115-120 class range that i didn't have mounted.i'm only nineteen, so hopefully i'll add to that collection before its over. i'm not trying to imply that i'ma greathunter because i'm not. i just happen to be fortunate enough to have access to a thousand acres of privately owned land with decent quality deer. i was just curious about other people's opinions. by the way, all my bucks have been gun kills, this is only my first year bowhunting and i've only killed one doe with a bow.

jackflap

It may be more instinctive rather than intelligence as we define it. But they certainly become more instinctive as they get older, doe or buck.


If the only reason 4.5+ are harder to kill is because they are fewer of them, then why are they more of a trophy, regardless of antler size, than their younger peers?

Schultzy

I 100% agree Jack!! Why Is It people on this forum can not admit that these older mature bucks are that damn good at what there doing?? Come on people, give these 4.5+ bucks some credit here already!!

Matt / PA

It actually simply is true that the number of 4.5yr olds available cut down on the odds significantly that you're going to kill one, its just a game of math and numbers........however the thing that makes it doubly tough in many cases is that a 4.5 or older buck that feels ANY pressure may never come out to play in the daylight.
So unless you have a state that allows night vision scopes your odds go down even further.

They are vulnerable for a very short window of time, at the very start of the season and again if they really get the itch during the rut........pressure them and you might never see a buck that you have a million game cam pics of on his feet in the daylight.

Apply that hypersensitivity toa state like PA or MI that doesn't have many of that age class to begin with and it quickly becomes the holy grail rather than a realistic chance.