They won't believe this in NY...

[Nomad]

The young man is my friends son in Seattle. My friend is a traditional bow hunter and has killed deer, elk, caribou and a mountain lion with his recurve all from the ground, well the mountain lion was in a tree ! Although his son uses a compound he claims to still love him. How he killed this doe is a remarkable tale.

My buddy has a friend who is a professional wildlife photographer , who's work has been in National Geographic along with countless other magazines , books, wildlife journals , he also bow hunts.

He told my buddy that to get close to animals to photograph he doesnt act like a hunter ! When they see you don't try to hide or stalk , stay in the open and act disinterested . It may take hours but they get used to,you and move closer.

So they are out in the open barren rolling land when they spot a small herd 200 yards out, so the hunters stand up straight even moving and stretching , the deer just watch. They stand there for and hour and a half, then as the deer move the two hunters parallel them.

This goes on for hours, finally coming around a knoll they find the deer 60 yards away ,again wide open land. My buddy and his son turn away not paying any attention. Then my buddy walks directly away from the deer while his son stays put. Two deer break off the herd and follow !!! They come to 20 yards from the son who drills this doe !

I told him if I stepped into a field in NY with deer 200 yards away , they'd still be running ......

Edited December 14, 2015 by Larry302

[ApexerER]

About 2 or 3 hours in the stand I get disinterested, play on my phone, take a nap etc.....I have tried that numerous times. Hasn't worked out very well for me.....

[dbHunterNY]

I've done this a lot but usually only get within 30-40 yards.  maybe it's because I don't take hours to do it.  weirdest tactic I've used is mirroring a doe's actions acting like I was spooked from her.  just didn't make so many sudden movements as her.  never taken a shot because they're a little on edge still.  I could've probably made it work though.  seems it's always mid day heading back to the truck.  to do that with a recurve and at 20 yards is crazy.

[growalot]

Not news to me...been doing this for years here, as I have mentioned...I routinely walk with in yards of deer..even during hunting season and as long as I keep my eyes averted ..no face to face and a steady pace they could care less.

[the blur]

Mule deer have different personalities than whitetails. Mule deer when spooked will run 50 yards, then turn around and just look at you forever. They access the danger level.

Whitetails.. they run to the next county. Maybe ones that have gotten accustom to people & civilization will change their behavior. But their natural behavior is to run miles.

[upstate]

Mule deer have different personalities than whitetails. Mule deer when spooked will run 50 yards, then turn around and just look at you forever. They access the danger level.

Whitetails.. they run to the next county. Maybe ones that have gotten accustom to people & civilization will change their behavior. But their natural behavior is to run miles.

 

My experience has been a little different with whitetails. Sure, if they're pressured or have been pressured they'll run like hell. But in the Adirondacks and Tughill I've seen them spook and run, but not very far, usually 40-50 yards and typically trying to get downwind in order to assess. These deer rarely see humans.. 

[jmg343]

If I am not mistaken, this is the same method that the Native Americans used for generations to capture their horses.  They would often times "push" the horses on purpose and then turn their backs on them.  Often times they did this over several days.  Each time the did this little "push then ignore" the horses would return a little closer to investigate just what was pushing them and why.  Eventually they would get so close that the Indians would be able to wrangle them and begin breaking them. 

 

I have no factual information to back this up but read it somewhere and have been told the story by many an old horseman in the hill country of Texas.