Cattle and Whitetails

[goldflinger]

Ok Guys, give me your feelings about whether Cattle on a 180 acre property affect deer movement. The property I hunt just got 60 head of cattle judging by trail cam picks they arrived on Tuesday Oct. 22nd. Me and my boys have been bow hunting 7 times since season opened Oct. 1st. We have seen deer every sit except one. The cows appear last week and all three of us sat for 4 hours at different locations both Saturday and Sunday morning and no one saw a single deer. Just coincidence? I have felt in the past that the deer would be used to the moo cows and it would not be a problem, but this last weekend has me questioning that philosophy. The place is so thick with all the rain we received this year, the cows are welcome in a way to help improve visibility, but yesterday morning, at 37 degrees with no wind (very rare in Western Ok.)We were just perplexed at not seeing any deer and having cattle tromping around our stands, all 3 of us. Perhaps things will settle down as the cows settle into the property. Thoughts on cows and hunting please?

[D.J. Carr]

I hunt among dairy cows all the time, and see no impact.  I would say in your situation it may take a bit for the deer to get settled into the idea of the cows being there.

[TxAg]

A few cows is no big deal but 60 head on 180 acres seems like a lot. I could see that bothering the deer a little bit.

[TaterHill Archer]

I've hunted on a dairy ranch and a cattle ranch all my life. My observations have been that once the deer get used to he cows, the deer will normalize. They may not return to their previous patterns, but they will develop a pattern. They will be more affected by how often people are in there messing with the cattle.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen deer feeding amongst or walking through the cattle. I've had to let several go to keep from shooting a cow in rifle season.

[Ladams]

We have cows on our lease  and the deer do seem to keep their distance, but that being said the cows dont seem to have an adverse affect on deer movement on our place,I think the deer keep their distance because cattle make so much noise that it makes the deer nervious.
Larry

[centaur]

My whitetail spot got leased for cattle this spring, and the deer numbers are way down over years past. I am waiting to see if numbers of deer are better when the rut begins. I have had similar experiences on other land where the deer were thick before moo cows showed up.

[Paul/KS]

I hunt a wooded pasture,1/4 section plus, and the owner tends to run a lot of cattle on it. I have noticed that the deer tend to go to the surrounding lands where there is less cattle commotion and cow stink.
YMMV...

[amicus]

If your deer are not used to seeing cattle it will have an impact. Thats been my experience.

[KentuckyTJ]

My uncle has a cattle farm. Our deer do no hang with the cows at all ever. Cattle also ruin habitat which is bad for the deer hunter. Good thing about my uncles farm is the cattle are fenced in the pastures and the deer stay out of that and in the woods around the pastures. The fences make for good barriers to hunt as well. There are some nut trees on the edge of the fence and when they are falling its a great place to hunt when you get the wind blowing at the fence into the cattle fields.

But as far as the deer mixing in with the cows ours do not as a whole.

A positive is cow doo makes for good cover scent on your boots.

[Jerry Russell]

I have a 200 acre tract that is loaded with cattle and it is also loaded with deer. I also manage the adjacent 500 acre tract that has no cattle and there does not seem to be a difference between the two. Things will settle down where you are pretty soon I am sure. I have hunted around cows for 40 years and had never noticed any impact on the deer hunting.

I do agree that cows alter the landscape but you will quickly figure out that the deer and cows bed in different types of cover and this can be a big plus when you establish patterns. My 15 year old son arrowed this buck on our "cow farm" as it exited his bedding area and crossed a creek on a cattle trail.
You will get it figured out.

Good luck to you.    

[goldflinger]

Thanks for your replies fella's. The property to our south has had cows for a while, so I am sure it is not a new thing for the deer. The property has had cows on and off for many years. We just got lucky that none were present early in the season and disappointed when we showed up and they were there this weekend! Keep the comments coming and thanks for your input

[Fritz]

In my opinion, deer and cattle don't mix, well. I am not saying that cattle run deer off, but it definitely changes their movement patterns.

[Mark Baker]

I've hunted deer around cattle my whole life, and around here, anyway, cattle cause deer (whitetails) to move off.   They will hang in an area, but the whitey's need secure cover to bed in, free of cows.   Cows also destroy the deer cover.  Just my opinion and observations.  They will tolerate cows in a shared pasture, or if they are passing through an area between feeding and bedding that has cows, but they won't bed in an area with cows.  

Mule deer are a whole different animal, seemingly more tolerant.  Same with elk.   Whitey's won't tolerate elk for that matter in the same bedroom either....they are (cattle and elk) just too large, noisy, and gregarious.

There is nothing more frustrating than setting up, weeks ahead of time, to hunt a certain area at a certain time....and have cows move in just before you hunt it, and scare all the deer away.  You may "see" deer, but "seeing" ain't "shooting".

[Spinealigner]

Cows are hell on ground blinds.  Spoken from experience.

[akaboomer]

I drive by a pretty good size cattle ranch every day, about 4500 acres. I always look because there are some really big deer there also. I watched a bachelor group of bucks all summer there, one eight point the rancher killed last week that scored 142 and one that is a much larger 10 point. The deer liked to spend time in one area but when the cows are within 400 yards or so the deer are never there. Keep in mind these are literally just my passing observations.

Chris