Big bucks and cows

[Matt6506]

I scouted a piece of land today that I know has had some big bucks on it in the past but it's mostly cattle pasture in the fields and woods also. It's in a hill country big woods type setting so I naturally started scouting the military crest and points but wasn't able to find much old sign due to all the cattle sign. So my question is what's everyone's experiences with deer and how they bed in correlation with livestock? Do the deer bed in spots where the cows aren't or are they ok with the a cows being there in a there bedroom so to speak? I know there are bucks on this property I have seen them in previous years and the influence of cows hasn't changed since then.

[Stanley]

Once the cattle knock down the understory and they will. The cover is diminished and the bucks don't have as good of places to hide.

[Kybowhunter]

I have a part of my farm I use to wean heifers from about december to mid june. Then plant fall food plots in parts of the pasture. Usually have about 10-15 deer in those fields every evening when the cows arent in there no matter the time of year or if plots are planted. When I move my heifers in the deer disappear. I moved my heifers out this year mid June and within a week and a half I had a doe group move back in. After about a month I had two good bucks move in as well. If cows are on the property year round it's probably no good. Big bucks just dont seem to tolerate it at all.

[Matt6506]

Huh, maybe the bucks i seen in there last year were just passing thru and not actually living on the property.

[Kybowhunter]

Im sure it's different in every area. We have alot of places we cycle cattle in and out of. When we move cattle in the deer move out. There are no absolutes with deer! They could be bedding in an overlooked corner. I also had a spot a really good bachelor group of bucks were bedding on a thick pond damn. The farmer moved cattle in to that spot and sightings and cameras went cold. The same group of bucks moved to a back part of the property where there were no cows.

[Matt6506]

I'll keep an eye on it and might go back in there after our season starts and do seem scouting with the stand on my back.

[Whitetailaddict]

If the cover is gone the bucks were likely passing through. Something to make note of this year

[bowfreak8]

One of the farms i hunt has cows on it. The deer still use the farm but avoid the cows like the plague. If the cows move in to the area i'm hunting the deer don't come through. They will go visit a different pasture that evening. As soon as the cows move on the deer move right back in.

[pilgrimhunter]

One of my better hunting spots is a cow pasture that has a section of cut over in it. It has some very thick brier parches and the deer use this for bedding and cover. I have pics through my rifle scope of a 110-120" buck I passed last year in there. I saw a buck there last night that I think may be him and has got me excited. I would tend to agree that if there is no under story the bucks will not be bedding in there but they may pass through. In my case there are spots the cows hardly go because it is so thick.

[Mschmeiske]

On some private land I've hunt the deer will definitely hang in the pasture, but usually when cows are at another end. The pasture does have apple and acorns that bring them around as well. I should mention in the winter I found doe beds in the snow too. Makes me wonder how often they bed there?

[BA-IV]

We free range cows on a pretty decent size piece of private land, and I haven't ever looked at a trail cam picture of deer and cows eating together.

They aren't scared of em I would say as much as I'd say they act skittish and seem to get in high alert. I threw feed and cameras out for inventory purposes the other day and have cows come through milling around the corn and 10 mins later two mature bucks were feeding on the same pile. They tend to keep their distance in my opinion.

I have rode a horse right up on quite a few deer over the years. The horses scent overpowers mine or maybe they don't recognize the mixture, or it's not deemed a threat by em, but they will stand there and look at you trying to figure me out.

[blueKYstream]

We rotate cattle in different pastures on a farm. It's not often that I will see bucks in the fields with cows. However there are times I'll see does feeding in the fields with cows. If the cows get within their "safe" zone, the does will move off. With that said, a friend of mine has a cattle farm on the other side of the county where there is a very heavy deer concentration. It's not unusual for us to see nice bucks in his fields along with the cattle. While I think they prefer not to be around cattle, they do tolerate them to an extent. It's not always a ghost town with cattle around.