Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Arwin on June 17, 2011, 05:10:00 PM
-
They say dogs can smell fear, I was wondering if we humans give off some pheromones if we are tense or nervous when deer approach?
Funny, some of the monsters I've seen were when I was most relaxed.
I know part of that is due to being still but seems like a deer's "6th sense" kicks in more when the nerves start going. Seems like they pick up on it and they too start getting edgy.
If I'm calm and relaxed, so are the deer and usually that is when everything seems to come together perfectly.
It's summer and I'm getting deer season jitters.... :bigsmyl:
-
I dunno, but, horses sure can.
-
Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Maybe we're onto something here. :D
-
Ok, you asked, lol
I dont believe they can "smell" such but am PURELY convinced, and there are some articles around stating other examples, when they can "tell" things...like you are after them LOL.
Somehow, someway...if I am not hunting them, I have often had REALLY close encounters with them and never understood how they could NOT have seen me. It was only after several years of repeats that I realized they DID see me but were just not alarmed.
Off the wall that it may seem to many, this process even seems to be apparent to me when I am "only buck hunting" on certain days of the year or when I "think" I have a certain buck nailed down.
Other bucks and does just dont give me much attention, even downwind when I'm sitting on a bucket in the woods! See me? Maybe not. Smell me? oh yeah. Sometimes I've even had em come looking FOR me...and finding me of course but never really do the full stampeded exit but rather just walk off repeatedly looking back at me.
Sit me in that same spot later on TO shoot one of the does.......har har har. I git er done but it isnt a no brainer, "automatic" hunt....but we don't like them anyway. lol
For me, I'm convinced they can sense "something" when the hunter is about and many whom hunt with a camera have repeated many such stories as my own over the decades that "something changed" with the camera was traded in for a weapon of choice".
2 cents
God Bless
(PS......"think happy thoughts, Think happy thoughts!" lol)
-
http://zebra.sc.edu/smell/ann/myth5.html
Interesting reading :cool:
-
Animals pick up on all kinds of things we humans are too dull to notice. Whether it's smell or non-verbal visual cues my dogs and horses can tell my mood. The cat probably can too, just doesn't care...
If you are tense, nervous, or other wise "wound up" you probably make lots of small unconscious twitches and movements. Interesting question.
-
Tension makes you sweat...and sweat gives off scent...so logically, being tense is more likely to give you away to deer than being calm and relaxed.
-
Originally posted by Easykeeper:
Whether it's smell or non-verbal visual cues my dogs and horses can tell my mood. The cat probably can too, just doesn't care...
Spot on and too funny, Easykeeper!
I have no explanation but it seems that, at times, deer can read my intent. When my "fangs come out" and I am seeking to pick THE spot, sometimes they act like they've picked it up like radar. When I decide to watch and let them walk, we all stay calm!
I don't know, but it is just one more facet of hunting that makes me love it so.
-
If so, surely they smelled you before they smelled tension. That being said, sometimes it appears they become aware of something, somehow.
-
I agree with some others that have said that the deer can't smell tension but they can tell. I have noticed that if I am undecided about whether I'm going to shoot a deer or if I flat out know that I'm not going to shoot a deer that they are much more relaxed when they come in. It really makes sense if you think about it though, how many times have you been able to "feel the tension in the air" when you walk into a room.
-
I agree that animals detect many things that our senses have become too dull to notice. We have dogs trained to warn people of impending seizures and even blood glucose problems. From a scientific standpoint, we do not always have to be able to explain something to know that it is so. My gut says that much oc what we call "ESP" is biochemical or electrical impulses that some can detect.
My experiences in the woods are the same as you guys. Deer sense danger and anxiety - not sure how, but they do. Positive self talk and calm nerves do more than help you shoot straight in my opinion!
I never lock eyes with a deer... they will bust you every time. Anybody else notice that?!
J
-
Originally posted by Easykeeper:
The cat probably can too, just doesn't care...
:biglaugh:
-
The whole eye contact things works with anything - even humans. If you look at someone's eyes when they're walking down the street, even if they're looking at their feet, nine times out of ten they'll look back at you...and probably be a little freaked out.
I think a lot of the mysterious behaviour of deer can be attributed to the fact that they live and die by their senses - all of them - and their brains must get really good at filtering through all that information, picking up even tiny things they're barely conscious of. I think humans have this too - ever get a 'bad feeling about this'? -but deer must be so much more tuned in to that. They have to be to survive in their world.
-
I think they can sense things we are usually not aware of........one time I was playing basketball alone behind a school. I got a very nervous feeling and started getting really jittery. Turned around and two guys jumped me, one caught me in the back of the neck with something heavy.
Same sense????? Pretty interesting for sure.....
-
i believe they hava 6th sense of "somethin ain't right" .. on the other hand, DONT look them in the eye when they give you the bug eye look or the infamous stomp/head bob trick
-
I think you maybe onto something. humans give off odor when they are many states (in the mood). It would make sense that under the adrenaline of the hunting experience we may have an odor that deer pick up. I can get really close to animals with out a bow in my hands. But change that to the hunting with a weapon and they are more hypervigilent to everything!
-
You hear a noise, and then catch a glimpse of legs moving...you stare...yep, they are coming your way. You begin to get ready. Your heart pounds.
For some unknown reason, FULL ALERT! The wind is good, and you didn`t move, yet you recognize the body language...FULL ALERT!
I hope we never figure it out. :D
-
Originally posted by Bonebuster:
You hear a noise, and then catch a glimpse of legs moving...you stare...yep, they are coming your way. You begin to get ready. Your heart pounds.
For some unknown reason, FULL ALERT! The wind is good, and you didn`t move, yet you recognize the body language...FULL ALERT!
I hope we never figure it out. :D
:cool:
This is why the whitetail is by far my favorite animal. Not just to hunt, but I admire every aspect about them.
Check this video for 6th sense!! :scared: Now granted there is some movement but for all purposes I should have been able to let an arrow fly.
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/videos/th_MyMovie.jpg) (http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/videos/?action=view¤t=MyMovie.mp4)
-
You ever "feel" something and turn around and see someone staring at you.
You can't tell me that we don't sometimes cast that same aura at deer.
Billy
-
I came to seriously believe that deer sense tension about 20 yrs ago. A hunting buddy and I would set-up and share ten stands. He was a far better woodsman and hunter than me. He is extremely wired and can sit thru cold seemingly unphased with the lightest of clothing- so light, infact, that I have know idea how he makes it an hour on one of those cold days.
The perplexing outcomes would be that I always was the one to take the nice buck. If he chose one stand and we were w/i 100 yards, the deer would seem to end up in my area. Even harvested a very nice 8 from a stand that he had hunted hard the previous week where he saw virtually nothing. I had 7 bucks w/i bow range, my 1st time in, one morning the week following and harvested a nice eight.
Coinsedence - Maybe..However,I have taken at least five more bucks in a similar manner and one was a nice symetrical 12. I never could take the fullest pleasure of accomplishment knowing that he was by far the better hunter and extablished most of these strategies.
I picked up on this pattern early on and would intentionally hunt the nearest stand to him if conditions were right. I never told him the reason for this strategy. He may not have appreciated it.
-
Interesting Friend, was he a smoker? :D
A nice deer can get the breathing going to (I almost hyperventilated a few times). Don't think it's as mysterious as some make it out to be though - sixth sense and all. Seems like if there were some adrenline "smell" and the wind weren't right they would be on to me anyway.
Just a thought, but a lot of it could be great peripheral vision and them picking up on us when we think they can't see us, or them being on edge because they sense something is out of place in their world.
-
I have a 1 year old son and as far as observation goes he can and will find anything that is out of place.It really amazes me how nothing gets past him even the stuff I try to hide.I think maybe since his other senses are deprived his eyes and observation are heightend or maybe he is just plain good at getting in to things because thats all he does all day.I see alot of that in a deer.
-
I believe they have a survival instinct that makes them exstremely aware of their surroundings,if they have been hunted hard they are more alert.
-
Try this, walk past your cat or dog....nothing happens they are totally calm. Now go into "hyper stalk mode" and act like you're stalking them, they will turn inside out!! I don't know if it's the stalking movement or if we'actually do project brain waves but it's sure a fun activity.
-
Until animals can talk and speak a language we can understand, we won't know answers to question like that.
-
If the high pressured deer I sometimes hunt get just a wiff of "tension", bad breath, a popcorn fart, or anything else human they are "GONE,GONE,GONE"...... other deer in more urban areas seem to know what are the "safe zones" in the open around houses and roads and will often let you get in easy bow range before taking off......I think its more conditioned response than ESP........
-
Call it whatever you want to, deer seem to be able to tell when something is up. I do believe they feel us watching them or staring at them. If you try it on humans after awhile the person you are staring at will usually feel it and look at you. I definitely agree with not looking them in the eyes. They freak right out! I hope we never figure out what makes deer tick, that would take some of the excitement out of hunting.
-
Once a deer knows you're there, I don't think they care if you are tense or not. As for discovering your presence because you are tense, I doubt it. I do know the staring / eye contact thing is real though, and for me, thats freaky enough.
Who knows? Have you ever watched a bobcat or couger stalk? They will often doze off briefly (cat naps?) while watching their potential prey. - John
-
I think you are giving deer too much credit. When you're relaxed and in the zone you hunt better.
-
I think the ol' mature doe's are harder to kill in most cases than a mature buck. I have been after a certain nanny now for 3yrs with a bow. I have named her "The Queen" and she seems to get by or not give a shot. I always get tons of pics of her but everytime I have seen her, she beats me. I had gun in hand once determined to kill her and she stayed amongst the group of deer with no shot. she will prolly die of old age cause no tellin how old she really is, I doubt she has any teeth anyhow!!lol Maybe this year I will beat "The Queen"
-
A really interesting question.
I did some digging and found this article (Bowhunter magazine, September 2010, page 62) that suggests that deer are very sensitive to the electromagnetic fields given off by other animals. A sixth sense, if you will.
I'm not saying that it's true, but if it is, then along with their other senses of smell, sight and hearing, this "extra sense" would make deer hyper-tuned to their surroundings. And very hard to hunt.
Here's a link that downloads the article as a PDF file. (I hope this is OK to post.)
"Do Deer Have a Sixth Sense?" Bowhunter, Sept. 2010 (http://www.hecsllc.com/images/PBH_article.pdf)
-
LimBender-- My partner then and still great friend detests smoking and is a clean and organization fantic. He always went to the extremes to be scent free. His craftsmanship is quite admirable and his perfectionism is tough to take unless you become immune to it. He would always go the extra mile- far more than most hunters. One deer season he hunted 58 out of 60 days and still managed to work 50+ hours a week. His internal drive kept him going. He was always taking extra precauions in his stand approaches and exits.
He is just so hi wired that tension is easily and readily sensed even when he is calm for him.
-
Thanks Yeoman, good read.
:thumbsup: