Deer Senses vs Humans

[nybuckboy]

I think we all agree without a doubt a deer has a sense of smell far superior to a humans.

My question is: do they see and hear better than humans. Consider that we are talking about someonewith perfect 20/20 vision and excellent hearing.

IMO,they don't see quite as well as we do because they don't see colors, other wise I think we see about the same. I'm not so sure they really hear that much better than we do. They can move their ears so they have better directionality but as far as actually hearing, I'm not sure they hear better than a human.

Your thoughts?

[NYbuck50]

I've always figured that aside from their sense of smell, their ears were there 2nd best line of defense. I've seen bucks respond to calls from a long way out, further than i think most humans would here. I had a small buck last year come into a rattle and he literally ran right to the base of my tree. I dont know a human who could pinpoint a noise to a 5 foot area from over 100 yards away. I also agree with their eyes being the weakest, but i also think they trust their eyes 2nd to their nose.   You can get away with a little noise it they dont pick you off. If a deer sees you and realizes your a human, its generally out of there, but if it heres a single noise and cant pin in to you you may still get a crack at him.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Their vision is pretty different than a human, and its more than just colors. Read up on some of it here:

 

http://www.qdma.com/articles/can-deer-see-blaze-orange

 

As far as hearing goes, they have a better ability to pin point the sound because they can rotate the ears. They do seemingly hear a bit better over longer range than we do.

[shawnhu]

They may not be able to see in a single direction as good as humans, but their field of view is incredibly large for their shorter range of vision. It's debatable as far as range vs field of view.

The other two senses we are not even close to their level.

[phade]

Deer Defenses:

 

1. Smell

2. Sound

3. Vision

 

I don't any qualification is needed on a deer's sense of smell. With sound, deer have been proven to hear approximately in the same range and capability as humans. The biggest difference is the design of their ears and the ability to rotate those ears independently of one another. They act like big satelite dishes. Upon picking up sound, they can focus direction much better than we can, and can pinpoint sounds pretty quickly and to the spot.

 

The saying about bringing a buck in on a string while calling or rattling is misleading...off course they'll come in on a string, they know where the sound came from. The smart ones just somehow KNOW to approach slightly downwind of the sound location to confirm a second sense (sight and/or smell).

 

I've found triggering #1 is a done deal on most deer. Sometimes you'll get one over on a younger deer. In cases where people state mature bucks walk in downwind, it's most cases the hunter doesn't understand scent dispersal. It's not a line...it's more like an invisible flowing 3-d river. Thermals come into play. A morning hunt with a buck walking in downwind just like means your thermals pulled your scent stream above that buck's nose is all. Some people also say less pressured deer can be fooled. Maybe so, but I'm not lucky enough to hunt those deer farms.

 

You can sometimes fool a deer over on #2. But, I've found older bucks to be super wary when they hear a sound they associate with danger or don't know. I can think of a handful of times where sounds I made appearingly brought in bucks (such as peeing out of the stand onto leaves). But, for the most part, I've seen deer steer off course after hearing a tink of metal, a cough, etc. Younger deer are a mixed-bag...sometimes they pay no mind.

 

#3 is the hardest to get a read on. I've had mature bucks look right through me- into my soul it feels like - and I've gone on to kill them. Other times, I've had bucks get that "half-alert" posture, not being able to pick up on #1 or #2 defenses. And, I've had a few bucks run for the next county, but nowhere near as often. I think visual cues rank much lower from my experience. They may pick you up in a tree or blind, but for some reason, it doesn't always immediately result in an overt negative reaction.

[Elmo]

Deer only needs to smell you and its gone.  If smell is not available (due to wind, etc) they need to both, hear and see, to flee.  When the deer hears a break of a twig, it'll pop its head up to look in the direction of the sound to confirm.  It doesn't run right away.  Same with seeing something move.  When it sees something out of place, it turns both ears towards the object to confirm as well.

 

As far as hearing, they do hear better than human but I don't think they can hear a larger range of frequency like a dog can but they can pick up fainter sounds since they shape of their ear acts like a funnel and channels sound waves into their ear better than humans.  As others already said, the fact that the ears can turn independently means the can pin point direction much better.

 

As far as vision goes, deer vision is geared differently than humans so it's not a matter of better or worst, its different.  Deer's eyes are spaced out apart on each side of the head so it has almost a 270 degree range of vision.  In doing so, it sacrificed their depth of view.  It sacrificed one of its color rods for better night vision.  It also sacrificed detailed focus to better pick up movement.  Since we see so much detail, the slightest movements are harder to pick up because we're focusing so much on each detail.  Deer main focus is clear (and main focus area is small) but the peripheral vision will see everything hazy and foggy but once the slight movement occurs, it's like a black spot all of a suddenly appears in a white background.

 

You can run this test on yourself actually.  If you hold your arms straight out in from of you, palms together, and thumbs sticking up and look straight ahead.  Then spread your arms apart slowly while still looking straight ahead till you arms are spread out like a wing and your thumbs are just at the edge of your peripheral view (half your thumb is still visible and half out of your visual range).  If done correctly, after like 10 seconds, your thumbs will completely disappear.  The moment you wiggle your thumbs again, they magically reappear.  This is the same with the deer except their focus area is (area where the visual range of both eyes overlap) is only right in front of the deer.  Everything else is peripheral so if you can stand like a statue and your silhouette is broken up...you will literally be completely invisible to the deer.

[phade]

Elmo, while I think you make your points clear, I disagree that a deer needs to both see and hear you before changing its course. It may be more common with younger deer, but deer with any experience of a hunting season learn pretty quickly.

 

I've seen more than my fair share of mature bucks and does veer off course, flee, or abprubtly stop, assess a situation, and move around the potential danger with only one danger cue. Remember they are wired for flight. Sometimes you can fool them on one aspect, but other times, all it takes if one mistep. Alot of it depends on the deer and its disposition/experience.

Edited September 9, 2013 by phade

[Elmo]

I think there's also a difference between deep wood deer and suburban deer which is accustomed to car door slamming, lawn mowers, and Harley Davidson's roaring.

[Sogaard]

Huge difference.  I walked up to within 30 feet of two beautiful 8 pointers the other night, with my dog.  The difference? Staten Island deer can't be hunted, and they know it.   

Edited September 9, 2013 by Sogaard

[crappyice]

Hell I've walked up on deer three days before the season and on opening day been in the same woods with no deer to be found! Back to that 6th sense that they seems to senseless are a threat during season

[Doc]

I just drove 5 deer out of the flowers in the front yard, and I had all kinds of different reactions. I just barely got the front door open and one of them took off like a ruptured duck. So next I started yelling at them and another two begrudgingly walked out of the yard. The last two stood there looking at me and finally one of them started scratching its face with a rear hoof like I wasn't even there, even though I was continuing to yell at them the other one just continued to look at me. Finally I stepped out onto the front step and waved my arms and gave them one last yell, and they trotted out of the yard looking pretty irritated that I had interrupted their intended feast. In the center of the flower bed is a pear tree. So we might add to scent, sound and sight a fourth one of "persistent nagging" to the list of things that can eventually get deer moving .... lol.