crutch

I called a doe out of the timber last year. She came over to my stand a sniffed around a little bit. I had a good wind so I know she didn't scent me. Anyway as I was watching her walk away she turns her head around and looked right up at me. Looks back the other way and then does it again...it was actually kind of weirdhow she did it, but she did.Then she trotted off....of course I let her

fingerz42

I'm going to have to disagree to an extent as well. While I dont believe a deer that is walking through is as alert, when I call a deer in he will look all over the ground for what made that sound and if nothing is present his eyes go to the trees. I would say this happened to me this year ATLEAST 3 or 4 times. They got called in with a rattling sequence or a grunt and they came to the vicinity and looked for a few minutes. When they saw nothing on the ground they started to scan the skyline. And everytime they picked me out (it was actually most likely the tree stand) and stared for a second. Did they bolt and go off the other way? Once, the others no. But did they know something was up? (Pun intended) Yes they did.

ButchA

Deer most certainly look up. They have that weird "6th sense" and just seem to know when something bad is about to go down.

I nailed a small 4 pointer a few weeks ago with my bow from up in my treestand. The little guy looked right at me and did the little "bobbin' head doll" move, and stomped his hoof. I stood there frozen and even shut my eyes (deer can even see the whites of your eyes too!), thinking that it's game over, and I'm busted. But the little guy put his head down to eat more acorns and looked away - that's when I went to full draw and nailed him.

But I will never forget the moment when he looked right up at me. I swear, it was like he didn't just look at me, he looked right into my soul! [&:]

Trust me, deer do look up. They are very wary and very intelligent animals. Anyone who thinks otherwise, well... maybe they haven't been in the woods that much.

Schultzy

Well I hate to break It to ya Trevor but I've seen It countless times myself as well. I've watched doe's and fawns come walking down the trail and look up Into tree's. Years ago I never seen them do It and I hunted 10 times more then, then I do now. I swear It's bred In them now. I know for a fact that we have 3 times the hunters where I live and hunt then we had before, that's the reason IMO they now look up. It's pretty sad when you see a fawn walking by herself and she's also looking up In the tree's, she learned It from her mother, I know that much.l

125py

i think they look up sometimes at a stand if they have encountered something they did not like there in the past....but i dont think they walk around the woods looking up...or at least i have never observed them doing this

2 Lunger

I extend and invitation to you to come hunt mature bucks in IL. It will take you only2 to 3 seasons for you to change your mind.

I think this has a lot to do with pressure in your area. I have observed does with fawns in early season 50-60 yards downwind working their way down a trail and the does would be looking in tree tops as well as ground level the whole way. With that being said,I've hunted some woods and have had deer wind me and they never even thought the sourceof the human scent was coming from above them. I really feel it has to do with pressure, but to say that deer are not smart and can not learn is crazy talk!

tremolo

I think that deer just look up when there is a reason to. Like they smell somthing or something looks out of place. i could be wrong though. If they learned to look up for hunters why doesnt someone teach them to look both ways before crossing the street?

GMMAT

There's a difference between a learned behavior and a conditioned response. I'll bite on the conditioned response. I think a LOT of people give these animals (esp. "mature bucks") these "mystical" powers that I just don't feel they're capable of posessing.

Are they extremely good at survival? One of the best. Do they have the innate ability to "learn of people wanna give them credit for)? Highly doubt it.

LouisianaTomkat

How does anyone ever teach/train any animal to do anything? It is called repetitive action. Action either causes discipline(unwanted consequences) or reward (comfort/desired result). Pretty elementary.

LT

XzyluM

I think it really comes down to how much hunting pressure an area has. More often than that not, if a mature doe busts you in a stand, you can bet they will be looking up the next time they come through. Now throughout a mature buck or doe's life they are more than likely going to bust at least a few people. Just as they associate humans with danger, they are going to associate that same blob twenty feet up in that tree with danger. If a herd usually patterns the lead doe. It's possible that they will learn to scan "certain" trees for danger by following the lead doe. But do I feel like they somehow pass it down through genetics and all deer will look up and scan trees for danger? No, I don't. But I do believe if a mature doe has been alerted to danger in a certain tree(s), they will learn to scan that tree(s) for danger.