KLEMZ wrote:kenn1320 wrote:Lou, good topic. It has me wondering if the decible level is as important as the frequency? Ive had 2 occations where I have shot my longbow at deer with little to no reaction. The noise is more of a dull thud, then a high pitch crack, similar to the compound. Ive had compounds that my friends said they knew I got a deer, cause they heard the shot.
I would guess different frequencys travel faster/further then others?
Good observations Kenn. I have no scientific proof but I would think low frequency sounds are more natural background sounds that a deer hears everyday (stick falling to the ground with a thud). A traditional bow with its much longer string moving at 200' per second will make a low frequency thud. The compound bow with its much shorter string moving 300' per second is going to make a higher pitched sharper sound.
With the compound bows super fast arrow the sharp noise probably doesn't matter much. But, I'm feeling better about lobbing slower heavy arrows with my longbow, thinking that the sound of the release isn't alarming the deer as much?
Reread the piece this morning and wanted to hit on this study. The article I read was in an issue of Field & Stream July 2008. It covered Deer Vision, Hearing, Movement, Density, and Breeding.
On deer hearing it cited the work of Dr. Karl V. Miller and other researchers at the University of GA.
It started by saying deer hearing is quite similar to ours. On frequency it stated, " although deer hear into the ultrasonic range, their hearing is most sensitive to moderate frequencies, between 4,000 and 8,000 Hz. Humans hear best at roughly equivalent frequencies, between 2,000 and 5,000 Hz. And a deer's optimum hearing zone happens to overlap with the frequencies of human speech- levels comparable with those of many deer calls, especially grunts."
The article stated that the study only tested the inner properties, without taking into account the sound gathering capacity of the whitetails large outer ear.
Under What this means, it said the strongest frequency for virtually every grunt call was in the range of 3,000-4,000 Hz. It went on to say if your using a high-pitched call (one with a high frequency) like a fawn bleat, you probably really need to call loudly. Above that it said you need to rattle louder than you previously thought.
It ended by saying that deer are quite attuned to, and alarmed by, low-pitched sounds. The study said they can pick those up at considerable distances. The writer then said "in other words, your truck door going thunk! may well clear out the woods before you've even shouldered your pack.
Sorry if this overview of the article is a disappointment, but I think we can take some things away from it. A side bar says a deer doesn't hear much better than you but can pinpoint the source of the sounds. This kinda speaks to the comments about cupping your ears. I can hear much better when I focus and do this.
So maybe comparing our hearing to theirs and understanding theirs is a little better is what we can take away.
Makes me wonder how much a silencer takes off the scale?
It would be interesting usin it throughout the season.