Dumb or Smart

[the blur]

Deer are smart enough, 

They can sniff you out 500 yards away.

They can jump a bow string.

They can hear you crunching leaves 1000 yards away.

But they'll stand in front of my 6000 lb truck, and watch me getting closer and closer until I run them over.

[biggamefish]

How bad is the damage?  It is like guys staring at boobs something about it makes us stair.

[HectorBuckBuster]

Well my opening day of deer seasons started out with two does running in front of my car, I missed the first one, but the second on ran right into my headlight area. Knocked her down and she got up and ran away. I was kind of bummed she ran away, as she was a all white doe except for her head was brown. So I look around for a few to see if she died off the road, but nothing.So running late, I pull into where I park on my farm, and there is a buck and a doe 30 yards away. I get to my stand and never seen a deer. For some reason the deer seem to like me little 3000 lb Avenger.

[the blur]

opening day,  4 small doe stood in front of my truck at 5:30 am. 

I was 1/2 hour away from the state land I hunt.

Not going to fast.  35 MPH or so.

I slammed on the brakes, locked em up. 3 cleanly made it by,  the 4th brushed my bumper.

Last deer I saw all day.  None in the woods,  None on any cars driving home.

[Cabin Fever]

It amazes me how they haven't learned/evolved that roads are dangerous!?!? A creature that is so leery, spooky, cautious, quick to react, yet they act so dumb crossing roads!

[fasteddie]

And ........ they don't cross at the Deer Crossing signs like they are supposed to !  : ... : .... :

[MuzzyLoader]

And ........ they don't cross at the Deer Crossing signs like they are supposed to !  : ... : .... :

That's because they keep moving them at night to fake us out where they really cross. 

The best year I ever had hunting with the ole F-150 (I called it my Ford-ought-six) was 3 in 5 weeks - dumb deer.

[First-light]

OMG! We dropped off my father-in-law at his sons house 11:00 pm Friday night. It is a 50 min drive to the cabin in Howard, we had 3 almost car deer collisions! One doe actually was running right into the side of my car, one sick puppy!

[Bleitten04]

It amazes me how they haven't learned/evolved that roads are dangerous!?!? A creature that is so leery, spooky, cautious, quick to react, yet they act so dumb crossing roads!

I know what you mean.  You would think an animal that is so "smart" would realize that roads are bad.  However have you ever noticed that a deer never really just walks across a road like they would walk through the woods.  (Atleast with my encounters)  They are always in some what a hurry like they do know it is bad.  Must be something good on the other side!!!

[gundeck]

Almost hit a nice (eight point, at least) buck on the way to work yesterday, but this morning I had to stop to allow five jakes to cross in front of me.  Do they not understand the implecations of Turkey Day??

[bubba]

the things mentioned that make deer smart is actually instinct.  They are creatures of habit.  They do not think, they react to the things mentioned.  If they thought, they would all go check into the holiday inn for the fall. 

[Doc]

I'm not sure just where deer rank on a scale of intelligence. I suspect they are probably on the same level as a goat. We used to have a couple of goats. They watched me go in and out of a gate to their pasture. I had a hook up about chest high that kept the gate closed and locked. One day I looked back and saw one of the goats with her front feet up on the gate, picking away at the hook with its mouth. I remember thinking that that took quite a bit of observation, and interpretation and actual logic on their part to figure out that the hook was what was actually keeping them in there. That's pretty darn smart for an animal. So is a deer as smart as a goat? ....... maybe .... probably. They may very well have the ability to figure some things out that we don't give them credit for.

[the blur]

2nd day of hunting.  Saw NOTHING in the woods.  The leaves were crisp and dry, so every foot step was heard load and clear.

Driving home, 5 miles from camp;  9 DOE on the side of the road waiting to do something.  They wanted to cross, but the car in front of me saw them and blasted the horn,  so they froze on the side of the road.  Then I blasted the horn, and they reversed direction.  Never seen a heard of 9 before.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ive seen deer stand in the middle of the road, calmy walj across, run, jump, etc depending on what the situation at the time is. I do not think deer are very smart at all, they are creatures of habit, but will change patterns if they precieve danger in an area, especially if that danger ocurrs with regularity, or is patterned. Could they learn to open a latch on a gate? Probably not. Like bubba said, if they were smart, they would disapear long before season starts, not once the heavy pressure already starts.

[Doc]

Ive seen deer stand in the middle of the road, calmy walj across, run, jump, etc depending on what the situation at the time is. I do not think deer are very smart at all, they are creatures of habit, but will change patterns if they precieve danger in an area, especially if that danger ocurrs with regularity, or is patterned. Could they learn to open a latch on a gate? Probably not. Like bubba said, if they were smart, they would disapear long before season starts, not once the heavy pressure already starts.

And yet today, in NYS thousands of hunters are wandering around the woods asking each other where all the deer went ..... lol. They do seem to learn something when those first shots go off opening morning, and many of them seem to be quite adept at making fools of us all.    I suspect that boils down to something beyond just instinct.

Doc

[WNYBuckHunter]

They just have the ability to hide. They get into the thickest stuff around, sneak through or out of it as needed and stay out of the open. If you are unable to or too lazy to go into those areas, you wont find them. They also do a good job of hiding in more open places as well. The deer I saw this mornjng would have gone undetected if I had stayed sitting in my blind all day.

[the blur]

smart enough to hide from me all day yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

[WNYBuckHunter]

HAHAHA, get out of the stand and try some still hunting if you can.I should say, if you have the room.

[Bleitten04]

I think there is a little more to deer then just instinct.  Most deer action goes nocturnal after opening day.  Not all but most.  You say that if deer were smart they would be gone well before deer season.  Well deer don't have calendars like we do and do know when the opening day of deer season begins.  I feel that they know what is coming when they here an abundance of shots.  I could be very wrong but I feel they are smarter then we think and then you mix that with a little instinct and you have an animal that is really hard to kill. 

[Fantail]

How bad is the damage?  It is like guys staring at boobs something about it makes us stair.

Interesting perspective. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I  always wonder how much they actually process and "learn". here is a video you all have probably seen. It is a squirrel...and I have to believe that on an intellegence meter deer have to rate higher than a squirrel.

  [table]    [tr][td]      This takes place in England - the owners of the yard added each piece of the Rube Goldberg contraption slowly, so that when the squirrel learned one section and got the nuts, they then added the next section. Finally it ended with what you see on the clip!  It took place over 2 weeks to get to this point.

Either way this is pretty cool to watch.[/t][/t][/td][/tr][/table]

Mission_Impossible_Squirrel.WMV

[cynthiafu]

deer are smart . i was hunting with a friend and he went in to a field of high gras  to scare deer out of it . some came out and ran to the right but i saw 4 deer double back into the field of high grass to go right back were they were . i think they are very smart , they can smell you , and they know when something looks out of place . they are smart

[Doc]

I  always wonder how much they actually process and "learn". here is a video you all have probably seen. It is a squirrel...and I have to believe that on an intellegence meter deer have to rate higher than a squirrel.

  [table]    [tr][td]      This takes place in England - the owners of the yard added each piece of the Rube Goldberg contraption slowly, so that when the squirrel learned one section and got the nuts, they then added the next section. Finally it ended with what you see on the clip!  It took place over 2 weeks to get to this point.

Either way this is pretty cool to watch.[/t][/t][/td][/tr][/table]

That is amazing. No instinct at work there ...... just simply intelligent learned behavior (by an animal with a brain the size of a peanut..... lol). That's got my "pasture gate hook" example with the goat beat all to heck.

Doc

[First-light]

One funny video!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I think there is a little more to deer then just instinct.  Most deer action goes nocturnal after opening day.  Not all but most.  You say that if deer were smart they would be gone well before deer season.  Well deer don't have calendars like we do and do know when the opening day of deer season begins.  I feel that they know what is coming when they here an abundance of shots.  I could be very wrong but I feel they are smarter then we think and then you mix that with a little instinct and you have an animal that is really hard to kill.

They catch on because of the increase in pressure. Remember, every time you go into the woods before season starts to put up your treestand, scout, check trail cams, etc etc, you put pressure on the deer that wasnt there before. They start to notice patterns and make themselves scarce.