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How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:27:06 PM   
Musicmystery


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Status: offline 		It's the same every year.

Last night, and for night after night previously, I saw dozens and dozens of deer everywhere on my way back from the daily romp through the woods with my dog.

Tonight, on the eve of bow season--not a single deer to be seen anywhere.

How do they know? No one's got off a shot yet. People camp and hike around here year round (so it can't just be that they smell people). Yet, like every year, with the hunters camped out (I don't count the idiots cruising in their pickups looking for where the deer might be when they are in fact everywhere--and the deer previously ignored the traffic), ready for dawn, literally thousands of deer (here) have vanished (yes, I know they're really still here).

How do they know?

Theories? Anybody know of any reliable research?
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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:47:57 PM   
soul2share


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Status: offline 		MM, I have no idea how they know, but I DO think it's rather amusing that they do!

Animals can sense seasons and the passage of time, it's called instinct.  Being the country girl that I am, I have seen it just as the seasons change.  Actaully, the safest time for drivers on the road is deer season.....unless some jackass hunters flush them out on the road and then proceed to open fire.....not noticing the oncoming car that just jammed on their brakes to miss said deer....yes, this actually happened to me one deer season....shotgun.  Imbeciles.....

One more ausing hunting story......I was working as a uniformed police dispatcher in Lake Ozark, MO..which is surrounded by the Mark Twain forest, ie federal land.  I happened to see this HUGE tom turkey sitting on the fence line on the side of the road just as the vehicle in front of me saw him to and started to pull over...the guy saw me in his rear view mirror, saw the badge and  figured it'd be in his best interest to continue on.  What was funny was where the turkey was sitting.....right under a big "POSTED - NO HUNTING" sign....sort of like "neener-neener-neener"!  I thought it was funny, anyway!

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:50:26 PM   
Muttling


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Status: offline 		The season coincides with the start of the rut so they change their patterns in search of some action.  They actually get a bit more active and bucks often don't sleep during the height of rut.  They will start to feel the hunting pressure by the end of bow season and will get more skittish.  Whatch the moon cycles and the wind.   A bright moon means more night activity and less daytime activity.  A heavy wind means more laying down and less roaming.   A calm day and a dark night are the best times to hunt (especially a cold day.)

Also, be wary of hunting feeding areas this time of year.  The does will still come to feeding areas, but the bucks will often go for days without feeding.  (They've only got one thing on their mind.)

< Message edited by Muttling -- 10/17/2009 6:53:18 PM >

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:52:45 PM   
ThatDamnedPanda


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Seriously, I've noticed that many years too. And I've never been able to account for it. I'm sure it's possible that  over several years, some animals could learn just what part of the year it is that people start chasing them, and even get it down to a pretty narrow range of time - but not to the very day, and even if they could, I doubt deer could do it because their life span just isn't that long. In heavily hunted areas, a buck will be lucky to make it to his third year. I don't know if that would be enough time for them to learn that there's a certain time of year when man is in the forest.


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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:55:17 PM   
sub4hire


Posts: 6775
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Status: offline 		They check their calendars?  I don't know..around here I don't believe they know as I saw a group of four hunters with 4 deer heads.

Also saw two run in front of the car on the way home this evening.

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 6:59:52 PM   
VampiresLair


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Status: offline 		One of my customers is a hunter and he has a great picture of a doe eatting his hunting buddy's sandwich right out of their cooler while his bud is completely focused in the other direction trying to sight a deer. This was last year during Doe season too, which made it even funnier. He had it blown up and he is having it framed and presenting it at his buddy's birthday party at the hunting lodge.

DV


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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 7:22:46 PM   
Moloch


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Status: offline 		The deer are busy drumming up buisness for bodyshops...

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 7:35:24 PM   
kiwisub12


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Status: offline 		Its not just deer. Last time i was in New Zealand it was duck season. There were ducks swimming beyond the breakers, swimming on the sea. Just during duck season. and in the local city parks the lakes are loaded with ducks. They really do know!!!! Of course, they get fed by the locals - all except the hunters who sit there , looking at the ducks and wondering if they could get away with firing a gun in city limits.
I swear you tell the hunters because they are the ones with tears in their eyes.

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 8:13:48 PM   
DarkSteven


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Status: offline 		It's not only time.  It's also space.

There was a restricted area in Colorado, Rocky Flats, where nuclear work was being done and guns were forbidden.  The deer were aware enough to hang out there, unmolested.


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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 8:23:51 PM   
Muttling


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Status: offline 		But it was GREAT for poaching because the deer glowed in the dark. 


Of course, the FBI changed all that in 1989 when they raided the place and arrested several Department of Energy big wigs.

http://www.isis-online.org/publications/usfacilities/Rfpbrf.html

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 8:24:22 PM   
Missokyst


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Status: offline 		YAY DEER!!

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 8:37:54 PM   
Musicmystery


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quote:

It's not only time.  It's also space.


Well, there's certainly lots of corn fields along with forest. Maybe like in "Field of Dreams...."

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 8:46:08 PM   
DarkSteven


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Muttling


Of course, the FBI changed all that in 1989 when they raided the place and arrested several Department of Energy big wigs.

http://www.isis-online.org/publications/usfacilities/Rfpbrf.html


Don't get me started!

The FBI raid was conducted due to reports that an incinerator was being used in violation of the rules under which the Department of Energy (DOE) was constrained to operate.  The FBI actually took infrared photos which it misinterpreted as showing that the incinerator was operating.  Once the raid was underway, the FBI realized that the incinerator was NOT working and proceeded to find any violations it could, to justify the raid's purpose.

There's a lot more that I could say and won't.  Suffice it to say that the people who worked at Rocky Flats and saw the mess firsthand considered the FBI's actions to lead to unsafe conditions.

The terms "dangerous" and "large amounts of plutonium" are used liberally throughout the article, which contradicts the safety studies performed at Rocky Flats.  I did some of them myself.

Finally, I heard of no 1989 arrests at Rocky Flats, and see no mention of them in the linked article.


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RE: How do deer know? - 10/17/2009 11:52:58 PM   
DesFIP


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Status: offline 		There are a lot more hunters out right before season scouting for the big day. Two of the guys who hunt my land showed up today. They haven't been scouting all summer getting to know where they bed. No, they wait till right before to go tramp all over, not bothering yet to disguise their smell.

But I haven't seen anything with an antler this year and that's odd. Usually by now I would have spotted a 4 or 6 pointer and innumerable spikes. Nada.

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 12:07:33 AM   
Termyn8or


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Status: offline 		FR

None of you seem to have any idea just how much an animal can learn. We have taught dogs to talk, they don't have quite perfect diction, but talk they do, and I am not talking a like parrot. They actually do understand the meaning.

Of course to do this you need an animal with the capacity, and a hell of alot of time. I know people who were intimately involved with animals (and I don't mean it THAT way, get your head out your ass you dirty minded MFs)

T

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 12:29:10 AM   
soul2share


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Status: offline 		Excuse me, Termy, but I do know how much animals can learn......I've had enough different ones to know that contrary to popular belief, animals are much smarter than most people give them credit for!

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 2:47:59 AM   
housesub4you


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Status: offline 		Well, it is simple...Deer are busy trying to get laid, while the hunters are leaving their loved ones behind to dress in funny clothes and sit in a tree all day.

I know on my land, they tend to move into the deeper forested area during the rut, then move into open pasture once things settle down.  Also the grasses/feed in the forest area generally are still available while the open area is either covered in snow or blown down by the change in weather.



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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 2:54:11 AM   
sirsholly


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Status: offline 		why wouldn't they be aware of hunting season. I swear those lil fuckers are geniuses! They can calculate the exact time to run out onto the road to cause the most damage to your car. 

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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 2:59:58 AM   
BKSir


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From: Salt Lake City, UT
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quote:

ORIGINAL: DarkSteven

It's not only time.  It's also space.

There was a restricted area in Colorado, Rocky Flats, where nuclear work was being done and guns were forbidden.  The deer were aware enough to hang out there, unmolested.



LOL, no doubt.  When we lived out in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota (yes, you may feel bad for me now) there were always deer everywhere, except near the roads in general.  Well, come hunting season, the day of, you would drive down the highway and lo and behold, there are dozens and dozens of deer in the ditches, where you aren't allowed to shoot them.  Or even within city limits... although, I use the term "city" loosely, since the entire state barely has 1 million people.  Smarter than we give them credit for, that's for sure.  But still damn tasty. ;)


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RE: How do deer know? - 10/18/2009 5:08:51 AM   
LaTigresse


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Status: offline 		The deer that the neighbour was shoveling off the road yesterday must have been the mentally challenged member of the family. Stupid thing just jumped right out in front of a tractor trailer full of hogs going 65 mph down the hill.

This time of year, being dark longer, rut and harvest, means a lot more deer carnage on our roadways.

Around here, you would have to be hunting without a weapon, automobiles included, to not get a deer, they are that thick. I think that for most areas, they have evolved seasonal routines, routes and paths, that have instinctually been passed from generation to generation. It would make sense that those seasonal routines would take them away from the noise and ruckus that are humans. Except of course, our roadways.........

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