I disagree with you VERY much. I've seen it too many times on heavily and even moderately pressured areas. They do and will learn to look up. I've seen it too many times personally. Usually it's triggered by something else, they smell something, or something isn't quite right......but they can and will learn to scan the trees when they have been educated to do so.

I know it's not a tree, but just a perfect example of how they do have the cognizant ability to learn...........and an example that I know another member here will back me up on.

At my camp, I have a food plot 320 yards in front of the cabin. We watch and observe the deer in there quite a bit. Last season, on the first two weekends in a row I had a certain mature doe with twin fawns bust me in the blind that sits on the edge of that plot. First time was due to the wind shifting, and the second time I honestly have no idea what put her on alert because wind was perfect, and there was no way she saw me in there. On the Sunday of that second weekend, I remember sitting at my cabin 320 yards away (can't hunt Sundays) the day after she busted me there, and watching her come out into the plot,on pins and needles.........staring a hole through that blind. No one was in it, but she was looking and after she had a stare down with the empty blind for several minutes....she bounded off with her tail up in the air, stopping to look back at the blind several times. The next weekend (3rd of the season) found Rob and I in that blind. Same thing, wind was completely in our favor and she had nothing to lead her to believe something bad was about to happen, but she was on pins and needles again staring directly at Rob and I in that blind (wearing all black in a blacked out blind). That doe had without a doubt "learned" that something was in that blind and checked it out thoroughly every time she went into that plot. My father watched her all season long as well and said that she would stare at the blind before entering the plot and actually eating. She almost got away with it a 3rd time that weekend,but Rob managed to let the air out of her before she got another lesson in how to outsmart a hunter.

Then I think we agree more than you think.

As far as your other scenarios.....I think they can learn to look for danger in an area......a certain tree.....certain trees in a certain area. The blind is a prime example.

But to wander through the woods looking up for hunters? I'm just not buying it. I don't think they're capable of that type of thought process.

I respectfully disagree. I've seen them look up many times. I have two stands that are in view of each other. I was in one one night when the leading heard doe came thru. From about thirty yards away I saw her stop litterally look up into the empty stand. She moved forward looked up and did this several times. There is no doubt in my mind that she was looking to see if all as clear. Thats just one that really stuck out at me of many ocassions of deer looking up.

Chris, Matt....you guys have been at this longer than I. Disagreeing is fine. You both may be right.

I see a LOT of deer most years.....and I get to observe a lot, too. Maybe my deer aren't pressured? I just don't know.

My thing is....I don't give them much credit in the "smarts" dept. Extremely good at surviving? Given. I just think they'd have to learn to do the looking up thing.....and I don't think they're capable of such. Heck they haven' tlearned to look at two headlights and avoid them, yet.

You might change your mind when we hook up and hunt ole buddy. These sum bitches look up here.

I have only had deer look up when they see movement in the tree, I have never seen a deer walk thru the woods looking up in the trees unless they were alerted first....I agree Jeff.

I got pegged by a doe on a hunt about two weeks ago, she never blew, never ran, yet she did not like th fact I was there and you stare me down. Tonight I was Upwind of her, sitting down, when I watched here walk to my lane looking at my tree the ENTIRE time. I believe if they are known to have seen something unusual once, they will continue to look for it again and again.

Not on this one.Remember my smart deer thread?Deer "learned" over time that man represents trouble didn't they? Deer learnmostly from association. Man = trouble. Man/blob has been seen up in trees. Blobs in trees = trouble. Learn? They sure do, and fast.

not neccessarily. Deer learn anything foreign or out of place = trouble. Deer are reclusive by nature, they dont "learn" anything, imo. It's what sets humans apart from animals. Deer are conditioned to do things. Kind of like Pavlov's dogs...the dogs dont know what a dinner bell is, they are just conditioned to react to a bell with salivation because a bell always rang as food was presented.

That said, I have seen deer do crazy things. For them to walk around looking up, I dont think so IMO....for them to sense something wrong, and then look around INCLUDING in the trees, heck yes.


Has anyone here had a deer look up and peg them, without something being out of place for them to detect something is wrong, such as scent, movement, noise, lack of cover making you stick out, hunting too close to ground, etc....?

Like Matt and Jeff said, something sets them off and they look around including up IMO. Could be dead wrong, but one thing is for sure, no one will ever be certainly right on any topic involving what goes on in a deer's head...not even the brightest scientist in the world could touch that.

I don't know about looking up. But they can tell the difference in a hunters 4 wheeler and a kid running up the ridges.

I was hunting last weekend and had a group of does out in my food plot. There was someone racing up and down the road on a 4 wheeler a couple hundred yards away. They paid it no attention. Then right at dark I heard another 4 wheeler start up on the farm behind me. I guess a hunter was leaving his stand. When that 4 wheeler started putting down the trail slowly,all 4 does went on alert and threw their tails up and left the plot in a hurry. I think they knew the difference in the sounds of thetwo 4 wheelers. The one racing was no danger to them. But the slow moving one set off their alarms.

THEY MOST CERTAINLY DO LEARN!!!