Russ otten

Well, our Miss. gun season is history. But 3 days before it ended I had a chance to see a doe put on quite a performance. Sitting in my ladder stand about 50 yards from a ridge, A doe ran down this ridge toward our lake, moving to fast for me to lock sights on her. I put my safety back on, leaned back and, surprise, she came back up the ridge from the lake still running. She then cut right, and leaped off the ridge to a high spot on the other side and continued on to a cutover. In a few minutes two dogs come barreling along on her trail, bawling up a storm. They reached the lake and stopped. They then came back up the hill sweeping the area for her scent. Not finding any, they went back over the hill. I had noticed that she almost ran in her same footsteps coming back, thus leaveing only one scent trail. Has anyone ever experienced such a scene as this? That doe showed a high level of intellect. Dumb animals? NO WAY!

rem7400

Several years ago I was hunting a field edge that backed up to a swamp, that morning before daylight I heard a dog trailing a deer thru the swamp headed my way, I heard the deer cross a creek in the swamp onto a high piece of land about 70 yards away, a few minutes later I heard the dog cross the creek and continue the trail. Next thing you know I heard the deer cross the creek in what sounded like the same spot she crossed the first time and head back up the swamp the way she came from. That dang dog spent the next 30 minutes running circles on that high piece of land trying to pick up the deer again.
A few weeks later I was hunting down in the swamp out of my climber, it was about 11:30 and I was on the way out of the swamp and had just crossed the same creek when I heard some dogs running deer thru the swamp my way.
I eased over and stood by a tree when 2 doe appeared, crossed the creek and took a hard left, I was able to watch them the whole time since the little island was only about 2 acres in size. Anyhow, the deer ran to the left and followed the edge around to the far side and stopped, they were looking up the swamp when the dogs crossed the creek and took a left also. The deer then continued their clockwise movement around the little island and next thing you know they were running straight at me, they crossed the creek in the exact same spot about 20 yrds away from me, next comes the dogs. Now I'm sitting there with this great big 'ol grin on my face because I knew what was about to happen, the dogs came on around the little island, got to the spot where the deer had crossed the creek and keep right on running, started their 2nd lap of the island right there in front of me barking the whole time. I turned to walk out of the swamp and I heard them dang dogs running circles and barking their fool heads off on that little island all the way to the truck.
Yes sir, some of them deer can be pretty crafty.

Mark in SC

buckhunter3

I know my dad use to track deer when we use to have snow all the time,and he always went slow and watched for the deer to back track especially a buck or run into other tracks.

Tazman

I was hunting an overgrown old graveyard years back that was right next to this field, when I heard dogs running a deer in the distance coming towards me, well after a few minutes 4 doe bust out of the woods on the other side of the field and ran right by me after crossing the field. I heard the dogs coming hard and looked back where the does had just came out of the woods and one of the biggest bucks I have ever seen came out of the woods into the field about 20 feet, turned around heading right back to the dogs and disappeared into the woods he had just come from. In less than a minute the dogs busted out of the woods right where that bug buck had gone in at and proceeded to run across the field chasing the does that had crossed before the buck. I never heard of anyone shooting that big old buck, that was the one and only time I ever saw him, yet I know he was around that area for several years after that.

The Tazman

Crowpecker

Right you are Taz. I've seen similar things like you mentioned many times while hunting in SE Virgina with dogs. A lot of times, I'd be hiking the dogs through the woods, trying to jump deer or get on hot tracks, and the dogs would take off ahead of me. From experience, I stayed put and watched, knowing a wise old buck will sneak back out behind the dogs and head the opposite direction (right towards me). What they do is run with the does a little to make sure the dogs are on their tracks good. Then he'll find a place to hop off the trail and stand there until the dogs go on by. Then he quietly sneaks back in the opposite direction. Pretty slick huh?

Tazman

crowpecker the guy who owns one of the properties I hunted this last year actually uses bird dogs for deer hunting. He swears by them, he said the best thing about them is they do not run the deer, they push them, just like they would a bird. They swing out in front and make wide circles to the left, the right and the middle, he says they won't even bark unless they actually see the deer and will stop barking once they are out of sight. This guy a a bunch of wall hangers to back up what he is saying. He said the best thing about bird dogs on deer is they never really run, they just kind of avoid the dog.

The Tazman

HHaisten

HAD THE XACT SAME THING HAPPEN SUNDAY
Well, our Miss. gun season is history. But 3 days before it ended I had a chance to see a doe put on quite a performance. Sitting in my ladder stand about 50 yards from a ridge, A doe ran down this ridge toward our lake, moving to fast for me to lock sights on her. I put my safety back on, leaned back and, surprise, she came back up the ridge from the lake still running. She then cut right, and leaped off the ridge to a high spot on the other side and continued on to a cutover. In a few minutes two dogs come barreling along on her trail, bawling up a storm. They reached the lake and stopped. They then came back up the hill sweeping the area for her scent. Not finding any, they went back over the hill. I had noticed that she almost ran in her same footsteps coming back, thus leaveing only one scent trail. Has anyone ever experienced such a scene as this? That doe showed a high level of intellect. Dumb animals? NO WAY!
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Allen Denton

I have seen in the past deer who are being run by dogs circle back and do all kinds of things to make the doge miss the track. I was in the low grounds near a river up a tree when a small 6 point came by. I could hear the dogs in the distance and they were on this deer. the deer got down in the edge of the water and walked about 20 yards and sat down in the water. The dogs came right to the place where the deer entered the weater and swam across looking for the deer on the other side. The deer was in sight of the dogs the whole time and just sat there until they left. If a young buck does that just think what a wise old buck will do!!!