Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I have been watching deer when a close by gun goes off. It scares me completely out of my skin, but doesn' t even phase the deer. My buddy has unloaded his six-shooter on a deer at 60 yards missing every shot - deer didn' t flich until a bullet hit the dirt in front of him. So I' m convinced they can' t hear a gun shot for some odd reason, what do you think? (if this is already out here, sorry to post again, just couldn' t find it).

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

are you serious, they hear a bow, why wouldnt they hear a gun, think about it

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Deer can certainly hear gunfire. Whether they move or not depends on how threatening they perceive it to be. Mature deer are certainly a lot more skittish than a lot of the younger ones.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I have thought about it and it has been a source of conversation with my hunting buddy for years. I really don' t think they can hear the crack of a gun - it may be beyond their range or something wierd...??? I don' t have a clue, or maybe I' m just nuts. My dad shot a buck a while back that he shot at 4 times. The buck stood there and didn' t even look his way. (The crosshairs in his scope got knocked around so he compensated and put a bullet through his heart on the 4th shot). Is it a sound they hear, but really don' t think any danger is associated with this sound?

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

If they can hear a fart from 30 yards away they can definately hear a gun shot. :DThe deer your buddy was shooting at was either deaf or just plain dumb. :eek:I know of people who have shot at deer and they just stand there. They will do this especially if they can not really tell where the noise came from. That way they won' t be running into danger. This happens alot in clear cuts and fields.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I dont think the question should be...Can deer hear gunshots.
The question should be...should your buddy have possession of a wepon;)

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I would tend to agree that deer can hear gun shots. I watched two yearlings jump at the sound of my buddy' s shot (he was about 200 yards away). However, I have also seen older deer pay little attention to close shots other than look the way the shot came from. Those deer appeared more cool and tried to sneak through the woods after hearing the shot.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

44 mag with a scope. He sold it shortly after and bought a slug gun.:D Hits em in the heart now.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

i agree with Hardluck71, i recently shot one doe in a group of five and two took off and two other ones stuck around. i was hunting out of a tree stand and shot my .30-06 at the deer at about 55 yards. not only did the two other deer run away, they kinda ran towards me. then i shot on of the two that didnt run away. i think they may have not run because i dropped the first doe with one shot in her tracks. i shot both of these deer within 5 minutes. i think they can definitely hear the gunshot, but if they dont know where it came from, they dont know where to run.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Yes they can hear a gun shot!
I think the two things that affect their reaction are one, they didn' t feel threatened by the sound, or two they could not tell where it came from, so they stayed put. A confused deer will be very alert, but may not run off for some reason or another.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

They can hear but how they react is a mystery. A few weeks back while rattling with another guy I was watching a young buck come cautiously in looking for the fight, unknown to me the other guy was eyeing up another buck coming in from the backdoor when he shot the young buck & I jumped out of our skin(we were about 100-150 yards apart). That sucker hit the ground running and was out of there. On the flip side I have seen deer just stand their and yet others run directly toward the shots fired. One theory I have is the sound bouncing back caused deer to think the noise came from the rear not the front and start to run toward the shooter on the flip side when they stand there they heard the shot but just are not sure where it is and just hang tight for a moment or two. Distance shots I have seen them pick up their heads and others just keep about the business like nothing had happened. Again just another mystery of deer hunting why they chose to react or not is only known by that deer at that time, but you' ll never convince me they can' t hear a gun shot.:)

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I beleive they can hear gun shots, the deer i shot using 7mm mag this year just stood there, so i thought i missed, shot again -then he died. but ya they hear it.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I don`t know about gun shots , but if a tree falls in the woods does a deer hear it ......[8D]

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

they can hear it but sometimes they just dont think its a threat so they dont run, mature bucks almost always run though;)

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Of course they hear shots, there are alot of variables involved regards to their reaction to the shot. One thing I' ve learned over the years is that after the shot you should always be ready. There could be unknown deer close by that are startled enought to get up and move. This happened to me many times after firing my rifle.
On several of these occasions I' ve been on the property and not shooting at a deer but checking zero on the scope. Busted 2 rounds off on a piece of paper, left my rifle on the tailgate and went to retreive the target, got halfway back to the truck and there' s a deer stepped out just on the other side of the truck. I' m convinced they were moving as a result of the shot. It has happened too many times to be coincidence.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

:D:D Gotta love it

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Two years ago I was about to shoot a 6 point when a bigger 7 literally stepped in front of him. So I waited until I had a better shot at the larger deer and finally fired (.30-06). The 7 went left the 6 went right both into the woods. Not ten minutes later the 6 showed back up acting a little tense but also curious about what had happened. Thought about shootin him to but let him pass. Strange though how they sometimes act at the sound of a gun.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Of course they HEAR gunshots, it' s just a question of whether they KNOW it' s a gunshot. If we' re talking about a deer that doesn' t have a lot of experience with gunfire or hunters, then they have no idea what it is, it' s just a really loud sound. And in nature, the really loud sounds don' t hurt you, i.e. thunder, falling trees, that kind of thing. It' s the quiet noises like approaching predators ruffling leaves and breaking twigs that get deer in low hunting pressure areas nervous. That' s why deer spook at a bowstring or a snapped twig but continue to feed unphased by a rifle blast under certain conditions.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

They definantly hear it, but every deer reacts differently at different times, I have dropped a doe with 5 others near her in a field and they all just froze and looked around for 30-40 seconds and went right back to feeding, I have shot deer, missed them and had them stand there, I have also shot at deer and had them haul booty! Usually a deer wants to know where the danger is before they run, if they don' t know where the shot came from sometimes they will just stand there, hunting with a smoke pole you can bet money they will be running the second they see the smoke from the shot.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I think they can hear it too, but obviously they don't hear it the way we do. I shot at a doe with my muzzleloader a few years back. She was thirty yards away and I missed her. She was feeding, and she didn't even pick her head up when I shot.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

Of course they can hear it. As stated by several above, every deer will react differently.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

gkferis said "And in nature, the really loud sounds don' t hurt you, i.e. thunder, falling trees, that kind of thing."


Sorry gk, can't resist this one. What you said is sort of like the fall don't hurt ya....... but the sudden stop will dang sure kill ya. Falling trees and lightning will kill ya grave yard dead therefore the noises that accompany these events can definately be associated with danger. Anyhow, sorry for the nit picking.:)

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

I'm sure they hear them, but it is certainly a mystery how they react. I don't think they are freaked out by the loud bang that we hear. I think maybe it's more of the sound of the bullet whiping by them?? Some foreign noise close to them may send them running. Same in bowhunting. They hear the whistle of the arrow. It definitely is strange how and why they react. I have noticed deer not care about shots. Turkey hunters shooting during bowseason close by me and deer never pick up their heads. It may be related to amount of pressure too at the time they're shot at. Late gun after they've been shot and pushed all over, it may only take a fart to get them flying.

RE: Can deer hear gunshots?
 

has anybody ever been in front of a bullet fired from over 100 yards away??

on an antelope hunt, my friend saw a rabbit fourty yards away get blasted with a rifle. he was ducking behind a truck and the last person in the convoy shot the rabbit.

he says he was watching the rabbit and it just exploded!!! then you heard a sorta buzzing, whistling sound. then you heard the gun shot.

he said it was the weirdest thing he has ever seen. it was like in reverse. he also said for some reason the shot sounded like it came from the other way. that is why a deer may freeze (trying to find out where the shot came from) or run directly towards you thinking the shot came from behind.