Deer habits

[Spark]

Me and a freind are thinking of going out to try and spot some deer in our local woods as we have seen them when driving past. I am unsure what type of deer they are as I only caught a quick glance.
What are their habits, do they come out in the open? Is the best time to see them dawn or dusk?
I assume dark clothes would be best as we have no DPM.
Any other useful info on tracking deer would be most appreciated.

Thanks

 

[leon-b]

just make sure you are downwind of the deer as they have a very good sence of smell
leon

 

[led]

There's some comprehensive information about deer that might help. The link is to fallow deer, just follow the links for other species.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I used to live in Bath and we had roe deer in the woods there. I would expect that that is what you saw.

All deer will spend time in the open. Roe are more secretive than fallow and prefer sheltered glades and quiet fields bordering cover, at least that is where I have seen them.

Dark clothing may not be best. Deer see in black and white, so contrast is the big factor. When you look at the woods, it is surprising how light they really can be. Lighter OG, khaki, mid grey, sage, and shades of brown will all work.

Movement is another big give-away. If you are moving through a wood at the right time, take a leaf from the "still-hunter's" book. Move slow and stop often to look and listen. You can even be stopped more than you move, if the area is good. Move from one piece of cover to another, cover can be anything that breaks up your outline, shields you a bit from where you expect to see the deer. If you are moving slowly though, don't forget to check behind you every-so-often, deer can move in behind you too.

Wind can do odd things, particularly early and late in the day. Hills and woods will cause big eddies that can reverse the direction of the prevailing wind. In some cases the cooling air on a slope will flow down the hill in the evening, then reverse in the morning as the air warms.

In hot weather I have always seen more animals very early in the morning. Deer do a lot of moving and feeding at night, so dusk or dawn you are trying to catch them on their way from bedding areas to feeding areas. If you aren't seeing them in the open, it might do to try earlier or later, and position yourself inside the tree line to see them in transit.

Best of luck, hope you get some good views

 

[leon-b]

just wondering spark will you be taking a camera as we would love to see photos
leon

 

[Spark]

I was thinking of it but I wasn't sure whether the noise of the camera will scare the deer, even with a digital camera. You know with the lens extending or the film winding on.

 

[Buckshot]

Chris has it pretty much spot on.
The biggest problem most people suffer from to start with is enthusiasum (SP?).
That is, they want to get out and see the deer so set off much too quickly making loads of noise and movement - only to be dissapointed.
Take your time, move slowly. Aim for one step every 40 - 60 seconds or so when not looking around ! It's really difficult to walk that slowly - it's against everything we've been brought up to value in this country (time is money etc!) but it's worth it. I don't expect you'll get that slow (in truth I rarely walk at that pace unless I'm know I'm close and then it can be much slower than that even !) but if you get half way there it'll help.
Deer will spot movement far outside of hearing distance. Just as we do. If someone across the valley stands still it can be quite difficult to spot them but if they move - even with full camo on - they can be spotted easliy.
Deer see the same thing. By walking slowly you can remove alot of the problem.
The idea is to see the deer before they see you, the best way you can do that is to use binos or a decent camera - some sort of optical device.

Don't worry about the camera making a noise, you'll have time to take a piccie with no problem at all. Often they wont move anyway with sort of noise. Your movement will scare them away much more.

Be aware of all the wildlife around you For instance, how other birds react to one birds alarm call.
I don't think deer react too much to other wildlife as there aren't any natural predators in the Uk apart from us but they do take a bit of notice and the game can be up before it's started !

Good luck and I look forward to seeing the results...

Mark

 

[leon-1]

Find tracks that are frequently used by deer, then find yourself a nice little spot off the track, sit down, stay alert and wait. As long as the wind is with you then you'll have them just walk right by you.

 

[andyn]

Some other things to bare in mind that deer's vision is sensitive to the lower frequencies of the spectrum so can see UV. So going out in freshly washed clothes covered in UV brighteners will make you stand out like a bright glowing blue thing.

I can only reiterate the walking slowly comments, take your time and be patient. If you dont see anything come back and try again. In my woods I have worked out the boundaries that the deer will be in now and I will often stalk in to one area and just sit and watch and more often than not, so long as the wind doesnt change direction, they just come walking in and can end up getting very close before they almost stumble on top of you. I was out in the woods this lunch time and was wearing black trousers and a white shirt was sat on a log and a stag wondered over and only when he was within 20 metres or so of me did he look up and see me he then just lent down and carried on munching his lunch.

Don't be shy with the camera, turn the sounds off, the shutter on non SLR's are very quiet really and the motor on the zoom won't spook them too much unless something has already alerted them. You'll only regret not taking your camera if you don't.
I know i'd have been gutted if i'd missed these shots: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=14049

Best of luck with it, hope you get some good views.

Andy

 

[Spark]

Thanks for the help everyone it is very helpful. Hopefully I will get some good views.
Is it better to stay in one place or move about slowly?
Do deer (I think they are roe or fallow) stay in the cover of the woodland to feed or do the come out to the edges of the wood where the wood meets the field?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Fallow are more herd animals and are more comfortable in the open. Roe are woodland deer. Both will move out to the edges, the main differences being the places they choose, and the time of day with which they are comfortable. Both will browse in woodland.

As for moving or staying still, it depends. If you have a good spot, overlooking a trail, with a favourable wind, and you know the deer will be moving though soon, take a stand and stay put. If you haven't identified such a spot, the wind is swirling a bit, or you are a little late, or early for deer to be moving on clear travel routes, try stalking through the cover.

 

[directdrive]

Hi: Deer (ungulates) are much the same the same the world over. You must practice woodcraft and stalking techniques in order to observe these animals. If you are in an area with high human traffic, it is likely the creatures will go nocturnal. On the other hand, if no one is hunting them, they may very well be accustomed to people and not be alarmed by them.
Years ago, I was bowhunting along a remote river during a rainstorm. As I was easing along, I saw a fawn whitetail deer ahead of me. I intended to spook it off and started making some clucking sounds such as a scolding squirrel might make. The fawn looked up and ran towards me. When it got within a foot or so, it started sniffing me and wagging it's little tail as though I was a long lost friend. I stood stock still and it looked up at my eyes, wagged it's tail again and went about it's business. I am sure it's mother was turning inside out nearby!
Deer does are the scouts and lookouts for the herd. They are incredibly spooky. Oftentimes, they will spook themselves and take off in a complete panic over absolutely nothing.
Be quiet. Walk into the wind. A rainy day is best as it softens your steps. Move very, very slowly. Most people move far too fast. Walk into an area where you know deer are and sit down. Stay there with the wind in your face for twenty or more minutes. Get up slowly. Move 15 or 20 yards........SLOWLY...... Sit down. Repeat. Over the course of a day, you may only move a few hundred yards. However, if deer frequent the area, you will cross them. Shoot with camera or gun........... This technique has enabled me to harvest over 130 buck deer since 1965.

Best, Bruce

 

[Spark]

Well we went out last night to see them but had no luck. We went out just before it started to get dark and found a spot near the edge of the woods in the field, near where we have seen them before. So we just sat there waiting quietly but nothing except bats. There was no wind either last night so they might have smelled our sweaty stench.

Apparently there is a small track in the woods that the deer frequent so we might have to find that and watch that area. Although we have also seen the deer by the roadside. We will just have to keep trying our luck in different areas.

 

[pierre girard]

Me and a freind are thinking of going out to try and spot some deer in our local woods as we have seen them when driving past. I am unsure what type of deer they are as I only caught a quick glance.
What are their habits, do they come out in the open? Is the best time to see them dawn or dusk?
I assume dark clothes would be best as we have no DPM.
Any other useful info on tracking deer would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Things may work a bit different here in the US, but if I want to get a close look at deer, in our heavily wooded area, I usually track one until I jump it (it realizes I'm tracking it and takes off). Then I stand, upwind, for about 20 minutes, watching my back trail. The deer often circle to see what is following them.

If you are downwind and stand stalk still, the deer can't get wind of you and will approach you, sometimes as close as 25 feet. They can tell you are not natural, but if you don't move and stand like a stump, they are not quite sure what to make of you. Like moose, they key on movement. You can even talk, if you are with someone, as long as you talk in a low murmur, which is harder to pick up (don't whisper - it carries further).

The deer will quarter back and forth in front of you, trying to get your scent, and stomp its front hoofs at you, trying to make you move. Eventually they will quarter to where they get your scent and take off. I've had deer keep this up for over half an hour. Quite interesting to see.

Other times, I've been able to smell the deer, before I've seen them, when I'm downwind of them. Moving very slowly, I have been able to get sight of them and watch them for an hour at a time while they graze. It is very important while moving up on them to make no quick movement and especially, no noise. If it takes you 20 minutes to move 20 feet - that's o.k. If you observe their ears, they are constantly swiveling like radar and it takes very little noise to spook them.

Both of these methods work best when there is a steady wind. A strong wind, where there is a lot of forest noise, is not good as it spooks the deer.

I don't use any special clothing. I've done both of the above while wearing florescent orange hunting clothing. Some people use fox urine as a cover scent.