Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


mheichelbech
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:00 am
Facebook: mheichelbech@gmail.com
Location: Charlestown, IN
Status: Offline

Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby mheichelbech » Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:04 am

Curious to see what experience or thoughts everyone had on the impact that other animals may have for deer while a hunter is on stand. What I mean is, does anyone think or have experience that a squirrel barking, bird squawking, or even more subtle sounds or actions of animals in reaction to spotting a hunter that may alert a buck that something is awry?

While I know that scent is the primary defense, I am sure that deer (or other prey and predators) use every means at their disposal to sense the surroundings. I think this may play a role in that mysterious "6th sense) that bucks sometimes seem to have. I have a mounted squirrel (because I shot it out of a tree with my bow about 60 feet away while moving down a creek in a boat)....I have thought of attaching it to my stands in an effort to look more "naturalized" in the woods.

I look at it this way, the woods is the deer's home. I know how I am with my home....I know where every little thing is, what it looks like, sounds like, smells like, etc. when anything is different that I am not adjusted to being different, it puts me on alert. I just wonder how much of that is the same for mature deer and how it impacts the hunter on stand.


"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
User avatar
Terry
500 Club
Posts: 748
Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:43 am
Location: Central NY
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Terry » Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:27 am

I have never witnessed a deer get turned off by another animals reaction. I think small animals react negatively to so many different things that deer don't pay too much attention to them. For example, I don't think a whitetail has much to worry about when an owl flies overhead.

[ Post made via Android ] Image
dreaming bucks
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:59 am

I don't think they help the deer in that regard, but the other way around it sure does..... I love it when the bluejays start yelping, it can mean deer are coming your way for sure....
User avatar
C&T Archery
500 Club
Posts: 776
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 1:28 pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctarchery?ref=hl
Location: Appleton, WI
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby C&T Archery » Sat Sep 13, 2014 2:16 am

My uncle don, has a lot of nice deer on his wall. and when he was younger, my dad, said he would crawl back into the swamps and sit all day long. He said he always took bread with him. He would crush ed bread into pieces and throw it out around his stand, to keep the birds and squirrels active around him, as to not spook a deer when they came by, being he was sitting on the ground and the movement of birds and stuff around him would allow him the get away with some movement before getting picked off by the deer.

I don't know if it really worked or not, or the point that he put a lot time in the woods for the reason of his bucks on the wall, but it's interesting what the older guys would come up with. They didn't have all the gimmicks sold today :)
http://www.ctarchery.com
email: sales@ctarchery.com

[glow=red]Farmers Insurance -- Chad Ratzburg Agency
FOR A FREE LOOK AT YOUR AUTO, HOME, ATV, BOAT, LIFE OR BUSINESS INSURANCE NEEDS. PM ME OR EMAIL ME
Email: cratzburg@farmersagent.com
[/glow]
User avatar
Bigburner
Posts: 2097
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:41 am
Location: Delaware?
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Bigburner » Sat Sep 13, 2014 2:21 am

It's not Bambi where all the furry woodland creatures have a meeting before you get there and when you leave :D . I see what you mean though. I would often use crow decoys when laying out a spread for hunting doves as a confidence decoy. Once you settle in so does everything else. I have birds land on my arrow shaft when hanging in the tree and squirrels and turkeys at eye level. Owls, hawks all kinds of stuff. If you want to see everything in the entire woods to go silents and go on high alert have an owl fly through or land in proximaty of your stand. Everything goes on lockdown.
Montani Semper Liberi
Instagram @formationoutdoors
User avatar
hoyt
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:45 am
Location: Illinois
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby hoyt » Sat Sep 13, 2014 2:38 pm

I try not to let blue jays, squirrels or chipmunks get alerted by me and start squawking. I know I can tell some difference in a squirrel's barking as to what has it alarmed. Especially when a bobcat walks by. Every squirrel in the neighborhood down the line will raise cane, really loud barks and in the south the whine or cat like sound that gives grey squirrels the nickname of cat squirrels in some parts of the south.

Don't know if I'm right or wrong, just don't like other animals giving an alarm call when I'm deer hunting.
mauser06
500 Club
Posts: 2074
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:11 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby mauser06 » Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:43 pm

i never thought much of it...but early on in my bow hunting learning i was in a stand on the edge of an apple orchard one early season morning at prime apple season...


2 young 1.5yo bucks stepped out and were munching on apples...i sat there watching...hoping their grand daddy would step out..


a squirrel in a walnut tree next to me picked me off and started barking...that squirrel barked one time and they went right on alert and quickly turned around and trotted out of there pretty quick...i never moved a muscle...the wind was more than perfect...the only alert they had was that squirrel...


ive also seen the same with turkeys...get busted by a pesky flock of turkeys and have them alarm putt and start running and the deer are gone...



call me crazy...call me what you want...but for a while i regularly had a couple GOOD bucks for here that regularly were always near a flock of turkeys...it never failed...they stayed with that flock nearly at all times...if i saw the turkeys the bucks were around...i honestly think it is a means of their survival...they learned the turkeys will spot danger and they can hear and see the turkeys reaction...


i had a flock of turkeys and some deer around me last season or the season before...the turkeys busted hard...i had no idea why...i knew they didnt see me...the deer took off with them...here came 2 yotes chasing turkeys...did the deer wind the yotes? or did they spook from the turkeys spooking?? i dont know..but if they smelled the yotes they would have smelled me...so my guess is they spooked from the turkeys spooking...


i definitely believe that deer use their fellow forest dwelling critters to help them survive...honestly it only makes sense....



oh one more story....i knew where a buck was bedding...it was rifle season and snowing and snow on the ground...super quiet stalking conditions...i had his HOT tracks going right to his bed...i was crawling down the old dead end logging road he was bedding at the end of...something moved to my right just on the bank of the logging road..it was a wounded blue jay..it was JUST on top of the last small knoll in the logging road where i planned to shoot from (provided the buck was laying there) i kept my eyes trained down the road knowing that i was a mere inches from being able to see the buck that was hopefully laying there...i laid still..the blue jay kept flopping around...it fell onto the road and was now infront of me...it then let out a squawk and the brush exploded down infront of me...snow fell off...i knew what just happened...it was my last hunt there...so i snuck down and sure enough he was bedded right where he was supposed to be...

i am 95% confident had the bluejay now squawked that i would likely had a shot...and i am certain that the bluejay was the bucks reason for getting out of there...

yes he was probably laying there watching his back trail that i was crawling down...not my ideal approach...but, i couldnt get to him from below because he was on the top edge of a cliffed creek bank and couldnt get to him from above because he could see well and had the wind funneling right down a cut right to him...i still think i could have got the drop on him if it werent for that dang bluejay...i will never know..but ive snuck up on a number of bucks hunting like that..


turkeys are by far the worst IMO...i learned the best tactic is to get a bit higher and try to get into more limbs/cover and try to stay out of their line of sight...i swear they pick off my fletching color and/or my orange when i have to have it in the tree...once i started getting higher i started having less issues with them busting me...and started seeing more deer...and started shooting turkeys from the tree which i thought was nearly impossible until i started getting higher..funny youd think the turkeys would learn to avoid the area where one of their own was smoked...but they arent the smartest critter in the forest...i shot a hen 3 seasons ago..flock of 50 or so went absolutely nuts...a dozen long beards walked into the field and started feeding right where mine was flopping lol....i was mad i only get 1 fall tag!
dan
Site Owner
Posts: 41588
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
Location: S.E. Wisconsin
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby dan » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:46 pm

While I do think deer pay attention to other animals distress calls, I think reaction is minimal. But, I think it makes them more alert themselves and an odor or movement that would not of bothered them previously might in combination with the distress call. Mausers observations were interesting. I like to hear direct observations rather than what people "think"... Not that either is a bad thing, just actual observations are for sure real rather than perceived.

I can hear squirrels and jays alert all over the woods all day while hunting. So, I don't think its that big a deal, but I have watched deer stair in the direction of a jay or squirrel.

One thing I have observed is when on stand the woods is alive... But while moving to the stand and setting up all goes silent... Same when a deer comes out of the bedding area, more often than not just before the buck comes out all the animals around him go silent... I would think deer would key in on that area that goes silent, especially if they hear footsteps or a branch snap, or a clank associated with the silent area just as I perk to attention when all goes silent towards the bedding area.
User avatar
BigHunt
Posts: 12159
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:50 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby BigHunt » Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:02 pm

I think it can both ways ..like dan said when a deer or buck comes out of the bedding area a lot of times every thing go's quiet


then again last year on the day I killed my bow buck, the woods was pretty scilent.....as the deer came in you can hear the blue jays start acting up ....as soon as I released my arrowed and it ripped through the deer's vitals the blue jays went CRAZY! you can clearly hear it on the footage
HUNT LIKE A BEAST
User avatar
Terry
500 Club
Posts: 748
Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:43 am
Location: Central NY
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Terry » Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:29 pm

dan wrote:... Same when a deer comes out of the bedding area, more often than not just before the buck comes out all the animals around him go silent...


I have witnessed this as well. Not as they come out of a bedding area, but as they are sneaking through the woods. Just for a moment though, then everything picks back up.
User avatar
Southern Man
500 Club
Posts: 3827
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:04 am
Location: Extreme Western Kentucky
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Southern Man » Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:33 am

mauser06 wrote:
ive also seen the same with turkeys...get busted by a pesky flock of turkeys and have them alarm putt and start running and the deer are gone...



Me too.
You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind
Choupic
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:56 am
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Choupic » Sun Sep 14, 2014 2:55 am

I've noticed a lot of times when I get on a stand before daylight and am there when the woods awaken . Birds and squirrels are all about their normal routine when either a deer or another hunter approaches , it disrupts everything and all shits down for a moment .

Also the old timers used to say when you hear a lone hoot owl , that usually means the owl has spotted an animal moving like a deer or even a human . So what it meant to them were that game were on the move when you hear a lone hoot owl .

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
User avatar
Sam Ubl
500 Club
Posts: 1647
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:38 am
Facebook: https://www.carbontv.com/shows/chase-na ... red-slider
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:52 am

I noticed the coyotes really halted activity this morning :/ I was filmin for a buddy.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
Chase Nation | Reality Hunting TV | http://www.chasenation.tv
Watch Chase Nation on Carbon TV: https://www.carbontv.com/shows/chase-na ... red-slider
Huntmore | http://www.huntmore.io/
User avatar
Dewey
Moderator
Posts: 36727
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Dewey » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:34 am

mauser06 wrote:i never thought much of it...but early on in my bow hunting learning i was in a stand on the edge of an apple orchard one early season morning at prime apple season...


2 young 1.5yo bucks stepped out and were munching on apples...i sat there watching...hoping their grand daddy would step out..


a squirrel in a walnut tree next to me picked me off and started barking...that squirrel barked one time and they went right on alert and quickly turned around and trotted out of there pretty quick...i never moved a muscle...the wind was more than perfect...the only alert they had was that squirrel...


ive also seen the same with turkeys...get busted by a pesky flock of turkeys and have them alarm putt and start running and the deer are gone...



call me crazy...call me what you want...but for a while i regularly had a couple GOOD bucks for here that regularly were always near a flock of turkeys...it never failed...they stayed with that flock nearly at all times...if i saw the turkeys the bucks were around...i honestly think it is a means of their survival...they learned the turkeys will spot danger and they can hear and see the turkeys reaction...


i had a flock of turkeys and some deer around me last season or the season before...the turkeys busted hard...i had no idea why...i knew they didnt see me...the deer took off with them...here came 2 yotes chasing turkeys...did the deer wind the yotes? or did they spook from the turkeys spooking?? i dont know..but if they smelled the yotes they would have smelled me...so my guess is they spooked from the turkeys spooking...


i definitely believe that deer use their fellow forest dwelling critters to help them survive...honestly it only makes sense....



oh one more story....i knew where a buck was bedding...it was rifle season and snowing and snow on the ground...super quiet stalking conditions...i had his HOT tracks going right to his bed...i was crawling down the old dead end logging road he was bedding at the end of...something moved to my right just on the bank of the logging road..it was a wounded blue jay..it was JUST on top of the last small knoll in the logging road where i planned to shoot from (provided the buck was laying there) i kept my eyes trained down the road knowing that i was a mere inches from being able to see the buck that was hopefully laying there...i laid still..the blue jay kept flopping around...it fell onto the road and was now infront of me...it then let out a squawk and the brush exploded down infront of me...snow fell off...i knew what just happened...it was my last hunt there...so i snuck down and sure enough he was bedded right where he was supposed to be...

i am 95% confident had the bluejay now squawked that i would likely had a shot...and i am certain that the bluejay was the bucks reason for getting out of there...

yes he was probably laying there watching his back trail that i was crawling down...not my ideal approach...but, i couldnt get to him from below because he was on the top edge of a cliffed creek bank and couldnt get to him from above because he could see well and had the wind funneling right down a cut right to him...i still think i could have got the drop on him if it werent for that dang bluejay...i will never know..but ive snuck up on a number of bucks hunting like that..


turkeys are by far the worst IMO...i learned the best tactic is to get a bit higher and try to get into more limbs/cover and try to stay out of their line of sight...i swear they pick off my fletching color and/or my orange when i have to have it in the tree...once i started getting higher i started having less issues with them busting me...and started seeing more deer...and started shooting turkeys from the tree which i thought was nearly impossible until i started getting higher..funny youd think the turkeys would learn to avoid the area where one of their own was smoked...but they arent the smartest critter in the forest...i shot a hen 3 seasons ago..flock of 50 or so went absolutely nuts...a dozen long beards walked into the field and started feeding right where mine was flopping lol....i was mad i only get 1 fall tag!

Excellent observations. I have seen many of those myself. 8-)

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
User avatar
Jphunter
500 Club
Posts: 771
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 5:04 am
Location: East Texas
Status: Offline

Re: Impact of other animals, birds while in stand???

Unread postby Jphunter » Sun Sep 14, 2014 11:07 am

Last season I tried to sneak to a bedding area by wading through the flooded timber because it was the best route I had without blowing my scent towards it and both times I flushed ducks up not far from the bed. I wounder if that would warn the deer?

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 78 guests