Signals deer give
 

Yesterday, a hunter on TV noticed a doe extend her head down and out and interpreted it to mean a buck was coming in. Sure enough, he appeared a few seconds later. I immmediately realized this could be very useful information, but I know very little about it.

My questions:

1.What/how can you learn from a deer's movements to tell you it's communicating or indicating an unseen deer?

2. What exactly does foot stomping thing do or say? I understand it means a deer has seen something to make it ansty, but is it a form of communication?

3. I've heard of young bucks acting submissively in the presence of dominant ones. What do I look for?

I am novice hunter but have learned a lot seeing and watching deer, what they do and when. I guess to answer the questions would be to look at what happened prior to the behavior. I have seen does stomp while standing by a deer I had just shot. I also saw one stomp when it caught me drawing my bow. I had a buck stomp when I grunted to try and get him in bow range. So would it be fair to assume that does and bucks stomp for different reasons? During apprehension or anticipation? A buddy of mine said he had a buck stomp when he used a doe estrus can. What has been the experience?

Forkhorn, yes deer communicate in countless ways, some vocal, some physical, some chemical, but they communicate in many ways. Watching deer over many years will teach you some of the methods they communicate but it is a never ending learning process.

Yes, foot stomping is a way to communicate different things. In my experience it is used to "alert" other deer, seen or unseen, that may be nearby to a potential threat. They will foot stomp to visual and odorous clues. It may be a sign that they have smelled or seen you or something else. I've seen them footstomp when seeing a coyote to alert other deer nearby.
A subordinate buck will always keep its attention on a dominate buck. It could face attack if it does not percieve the dominate bucks warning signs. So always watch a subordinate buck coming in to see if he is preoccupied with something behind him or off to one side, it may be a larger buck.
Years of hunting will eventually teach you some of the signs. Always keep your eyes and ears "tuned" to the sounds of the woods. Deer are very communicative, but very subtle in there ways.

I have always thought the foot stomp was a warning to other deer something wasn't quite right. As far as other deer being around almost always a doe will look back every now and then to see what is behind them. Also, they will flick their tail back and forth quick to let other deer know its ok to carry on. Their ears will turn back behind them too if something is following. I have learned the hard way to always assume something is behind them. I had a doe walking away from me one day and assumed it was safe to move a little, heard a deer blow behind me, lookend back just in time to see a nice buck turn and run.

This is all very interesting. Aside from a deer looking backward along its travel route or sticking its tail up, I really hadn't given this much thought. I appreciate the answers.


Hunter 59, is it just a matter of seeing the subdominant buck act like its got something to be leery about standing bearby, or are there specific things it does?

If your stalking a feeding deer, it'll useally always flick its tail before she raises her head.

I was hunting a stand over a field several years ago, on a foggy morning.
A small herd of deer came in front of me, real close, grazing.
I watched them for about an hour, scratching the ground, flicking their tails, etc.
I could hear just a faint "coo" like grunt every now and then from various
members.
Sort of like they were just keeping tabs on each other, while they were eating. Just keeping the herd together.


I've imitated that sound many times since, and swear to have pulled deer in.
Just about as soft as you can make a deer bleat call make a sound.

some neat things their guys and stuff i have never paid attention to i do no the run when u shoot at them and thats about it but after reading this i will be paying attention while in the woods this week

As far as foot stomping goes I believe they do use it to communicate.

Yesterday my dad shot a little buck from his stand and it ran towards my stand (we aren't very far apart) which frightened this monster buck that was standing in the thicket 20 yards away from me and he did the stoming thing(I never got a shot he trotted off and it was too thick to see him). I suppose it was to try and communicate with the deer that was shot. Maybe he was "asking" what that boom was. :)

Your first sentence is spot on. Notice that when a deer stomps its foot it's STILL standing there and hasn't (yet) bolted. My theory is it's a bit of a poker play with them--a game of chicken, if you will: they have a "suspicion" and they're trying to get you to "blink" or move and bust yourself.

In this situation, stay calm and cool! You aren't busted YET! I had a doe do that to me this fall. She stood there looking at the blind stomping her foot. She then turned and bolted about 15 feet, stopped suddenly, and looked back at the blind (again, trying to get me to move and bust myself). AFTER all that, she let her guard down and walked in broadside and I took her out.

While she "suspected" something she didn't bust me--but she tried to get me to bust me for her (if that makes sense).

No matter what kind of bluff and bluster and show they put on, you're still in the game up to the point they SNORT and turn up tail and bolt out of there. THEN the game is over--but not until then.

ha ha...yes I know deer signals pretty well...had the craziest thing happen to me ever...some people dont even believe me when I tell this story but it is 100 percent true. I was 16 and hunting alone, and hiddden just right blending in with the woods the deer didn't even see me. 3 doe were about 60 yards out in front of me in a very small patch of timber that is touching a several hundred acre cut down corn field. The only way the deer can hide is to run back at me where I know they bed in day time. Well, a nice 8pt was circling the does and he stopped adbruptedly and I took a shot at him so nervous and excited I missed and when i stood up he and the does saw me. Figuring they would take off into the corn field I was wrong...way wrong. They stared at me then started to zig zag closer and closer to me the buck had his antlers down headed straight at me..I shot two more times while he was running dead on from sixty yards...and missed both time i ran out of his way and had to swing my rifle at him to get him to get away from me while running past me to the woods...I walked home amazed at both the threatening situation that just happened and at the fact that it really just happened my Dad didnt even believe me until later that day when I said I think Ill hunt from my stand this time haha! Never had a similar situation happen but I carry a handgun in the woods for same situation just incase. It was instinct and i was just in the way.

Sometimes those misses make for better deer stories than the hits! My most haunting memory is emptying my gun at a running 8-pt in a field one time and never scratching it.

I wonder if the deer didn't know where the shot came from? Even though they apparently saw you, I wonder if they thought the shot came from somewhere else--hence them almost running you over (i.e. the biggest danger seemed to be coming from behind them and not you).

I've shot several bucks over the years where I missed the first shot and they stopped and offered a perfect still shot because they were confused about the initial shot sound and where it came from.

Michlw39 i agree with what you said with the doe trying to bust you. before i bought my climber i spent alot of time hunting from the ground and had does stomp and act like they were looking away and snapped back to see if i moved. they will do this several times to try and get a reaction and as long as you freeze they will typically calm down and get back to eating. any sort of movement and she will be out of there blowing all the way.

Why deer foot stomp




We all know deer have several glands on their body. Between the hooves is a gland called the interdigital gland. This gland helps deer smell where another deer walked. It is also used to warn other deer of danger.


When a deer stomps its foot, it releases an extra amount of scent. This extra amount of scent warns other deer that there may be danger in this area.


If a deer stomps its foot by your stand and then runs or walks away, this scent is left behind. Whenever another deer approaches this same spot, even if it is hours later, it will know there is something wrong in this spot. It will be extra alert.


That is why a deer stomps its foot.

Interesting.

I did have an interesting encounter where a doe stomped her foot and eventually snorted and bolted...but two days later when hunting the same stand this same deer came back in (I knew it was the same deer because she was with the same yearling as before). So another question becomes how long an area remains "busted"...I'm sure it would depend on the type of deer (doe/young buck vs. and older buck).

I agree that they leave a warning scent, and after two does stomped, snorted and took off, two more ran up from below. Ran right to the same spot, sniffed, looked down, and right at me. Not up the hill, to my left, but right at me. It was if she left an arrow pointing to where I was. But later two different bucks came by and couldn't care if I was there or not, didn't even look in my direction. Didn't they smell the same thing. I don't know. It's amazing, you think you've seen it all, and there's always something new to make you wonder.
I've gotten to the point where I'm always looking behind em and watching each doe to see if she's signaling a buck behind her. You can tell when they're loaners cause they're really not looking around worried what the others are doing. When that happens, I look for the buck to come out of the same area with his head down, and a full set of steam, but doesn't always work. Just wishful thinking, but it puts you on full alert that anything can happen quickly and get ready.

Naturally it depends on the situation. The subdominate buck will act different in the presence of a hot doe. He still wants to breed but he knows he is playing with fire with a dominate buck close by. Body posture is everything in a bucks world. Usually the subordinate buck will always be on alert. Ears forward,eyes always scanning. If he is preoccupied with something in a certain direction, I would be on high alert.

I was under the impression that when a deer stomp's its not communication, she or he is trying to get you to move. Watch as they move their head quick, bobbing up and down. Predators love chase and that is what she mimicing, she is pretending to bolt hence trying to get you to move. Their name Whitetail say's it all. That is the warning flag, a nice bright white flag. I have had does pretend to be eating staring me down the whole time waiting for me to move.

Very good point, something I forgot about but have witnessed the results many times.

So what happens when deer run or jump logs? They leaving warning scent all over. I would like to believe this but Im not. Your telling me they are releasing this scent on command?

I do know they do a variety of things to try to get you to move, yes. I wonder if the foot-stomping could serve two purposes? Perhaps it releases a scent and it's an attempt to get you to move (?)

Something I observed a week ago was a Doe communicating with her fawn who froze when her mom got a little of my sent getting upwind of me. She did her high hoofing steps and halfway raised her tail and also blew a half hearted alarm. She stood there looking at the direction I was in but was not sure where I was,it was almost dark. After about a couple of minutes she made a quick soft sound and the fawn trotted over to her and they moved on. It was interesting to observe the communication between them.:wave:

Yep, that's what I'm telling you.

What makes a deer run?

They prefer to go under or around obstacles but will jump them too.

Probably does release scent then also.


Deer have those glands between their hooves and they serve a purpose.

Deer have several glands. We all know about the tarsal. They also have the meta tarsal. They got glands on their forehead, near eyes and in their nose too. They all serve a purpose.

You don't have to believe me, I'm just telling you what happens when they stomp their foot.

Do some research. It may help you become a better hunter. This website is just the first one I came across but it explains the different glands and there functions.
http://deerfever.com/archives/86

Haven't seen this site before, thank you.