Stories of listening to the animals talk

[SKITCH]

Up late and was reading a piece in an older TBM about listening to the animals in the woods while hunting and how it can help. Obviously wisdom that's been around for ages but not talked about often.  I love to listen to the squirrels yell and the birds scold. It's fun to sit still and see what they are trying to communicate.  
Thought I might see if anyone out there had any stories about success or interesting events after listening to our friends in the woods!

[Birdbow]

Skitch,

  Having animals give away the presence/movement of game has happened to me more times than I can recall - hunting bears, moose, deer, etc.

  Many years ago I had my 8 yr old daughter with me in the woods, not on a hunt but to relocate a tree stand, when we heard a flock of bluejays about 100 yds distant scolding something.

  That became a 'teaching moment' as I explained that the birds will scold predators such as owls, hawks, fox, coyote and even large critters moving through.

  On a whim, I cow moose called and got an immediate response - a bull! Within 2 minutes the moose was standing 20' away grunting. When he looked like he would continue our way (hidden behind a large tree), I yelled and waved him off. Hannah is grown now but still talks about that encounter.

  Yeah, it can pay big time to pay attention to the chatter.

  Cool thread. Todd

[ron w]

Blue Jays are famous for letting you know something is around......sometime it's you.....lol

[Birdbow]

Ron,
  So true! In our neck of the woods, the red squirrels too can either be boon or bane!
                                   Todd

[ron w]

LOL, speaking of Reds.......I was still hunting in the Adirondacks, in a thick Evergreen swamp. I came to small opening that looked like a spot to pause.....to look and listen. Three or for minutes into the stop a big red squirrel came down the spruce I was leaning against. About 4 feet over my head he sat on a limb and began to chatter. He went on and on until I couldn't stand it any more.......I took my bow and wacked him. Man did he take off. I laughed to my self and decide to forge on. I took one step into the opening and up jumped a 150 class buck that had been laying 15 yards away in the low seedlings. I saw that buck 2 more times in the next few years but never got a crack at him.

[Eric Krewson]

I saw some deer communication on a hunt that still has me baffled as to its complexity.

I pulled my wife's and my treestand to food plot at the end of a huge hollow on a deer cart. I got her set up overlooking the plot, left the deer cart in an old field road behind the plot and climbed a tree overlooking a honeysuckle patch about 50 yards from the plot.

Later I herd deer coming down the hollow toward the plot, there were seven of them if I remember correctly. The deer stopped on the back side of the honeysuckle patch, they sent a sacrificial fawn ahead to check for danger.

The fawn walked down a well worn deer trail and stepped out into the field road near my deer cart. It instantly spied the cart and stood there looking at the it, flicking it's ears and bobbing it's head. It turned and walked back to the main group of deer.

When the fawn got back to the group they formed a circle around it, it proceeded to go through the same head bobbing ear flicking motions.

A big alpha doe left the group and walked down the same trail the fawn had walked back to the field road. She stuck her head out of the honeysuckle thicket, looked at the deer cart then turned and went back to the group.

When the doe got back to the group they formed another circle with their heads facing each other. The big doe went through the same head bobbing, ear flicking routine as the fawn had. In a moment, with a loud WOOF, she led the rest of the deer back up the hollow at breakneck speed.

These deer were communicating on a level I had previously thought to be impossible, pretty strange.......

[beaunaro]

Very interesting thread.

I hope more chime in and keep it going.

The only hunting communication story I can think of is when my ex used to indicate that I shouldn't hunt so much.

Just Kidding...like Larry the Cable Guy...I just made that up.

LOL

[Sam McMichael]

Part of good woodscraft is paying attention to the sounds of animals in the woods. In my area it is mostly squirrels and birds. They have alerted me to numerous deer. Likewise, they have announced me to numerous deer. It is a really interesting and informative aspect of hunting.

[reddogge]

Christmas Eve all the animals talk. That's why I never hunted Christmas Eve.

[Dale in Pa]

Last season I was watching a couple does as they meandered away from me along the edge of a corn field. a squirrel started scolding down hill in the woods bordering the corn.

It was interesting to watch how much that bothered those does. From head down feeding, to full alert with heads up, ears pivoting around. They turned around and started back my way, but eventually turned and walked deeper into the corn.

[RAGHORN 3]

This day was cold and quiet until the sun came up and started to warm the tops of the trees.. The squirrels were romping and working the tops. Their work and play turned serious and warning barks and chatters put me on alert, thinking something was coming into my setup???

 

It turned out there was more the one hunter in the trees!

 

[Birdbow]

This season past I was in a treestand when a gray squirrel started his alarm bark. I could see through the timber to a stand of oak trees where the squirrel perched. Suddenly, a fisher sprinted into the scene and up the oak. The squirrel went suddenly quiet but I couldn't see the outcome.

This ain't the Disney channel.

[CoachBGriff]

One evening late in the year I was hunting a ladder stand back in the woods - we had a ton of acorns that year, and the deer were still mopping them up late.

In the last 30 minutes of light, a group of does started working by, and I had no intentions of shooting one that night.  So I just leaned back against the tree and tried to hold still.

As the does got within about 20 yards of me, I started hearing really quite "maa - pause - maa."  It was a cold quiet night, and the deer started feeding right under me.
 
For the next 10-15 minutes, they crunched on acorns and bleated ever so softly back and forth to each other.

To top it off, one them audibly let out some gas as a parting shot!

[Fattony77]

Great thread, Patrick!

The only thing I have to offer (besides about a half a million times the squirrels or tweety birds tellin' on me) on this subject:

I believe it was Saxton Pope's book "Hunting With the Bow & Arrow" where he was talking about hunting with Ishi. (Someone, please, correct me where I get parts wrong) He said that they had paused their still-hunting to listen to a squirrel (or a bird, I can't remember which) making a fuss. Pope asks Ishi what the commotion is about. Ishi replies with something to effect of "Our friend the squirrel is scolding a fox, for being too close to his tree." Pope didn't believe that Ishi knew exactly what the squirrel was saying, so they stalked over to the tree in question, and sure enough, there was a fox near it's base. I thought this story was pretty awesome.

My own personal story, that stands out the most is:

Before I had switched full-time to trad equipment I was still-hunting through an area of a local military installation, and spotted a group of does moving leisurely west about 100 yds. to my south. I noticed the the wind was coming from a mostly south direction, so I decided to give a stalk a try. I don't think I had even moved 10 yds. when the does blew the alarm 2 or 3 times and then exploded out of there to the southwest. I was baffled! I stood there for a long time thinking, "What the hell did I do wrong THIS time?!?!?! The wind was in my face, and there was NO WAY they saw me yet!" I gave up trying to figure out how I screwed up and started to head back west, when I heard a squirrel raising a ruckus just 30-ish yds. ahead. Again, frustrated, I threw my hands up and thought, "I might as well give up today! I can't do anything right!" Then I noticed that the squirrel was in plain view, but facing his vicious bark toward the base of his tree, and NOT towards me. So I sat tight waiting to see what it was that had the little fella so wound up. In short order, I spied one of the fattest bobcats I have ever seen (how he got to be so fat, I really don't know because he seemed to be an even worse hunter than me! LOL), making his way north. I did my best to judge the distance and raised my (unmentionable) bow. Then I realized that I wasn't sure if bobcat was in season, so he got a pass. When I got back to my vehicle, I looked in the reg. book and found that the season had just recently opened....
If only I had been better studied in what critters were legal to kill, and had the skills that Ishi possessed, I would have known what the deal was all along and would have gotten a fine pelt that day.....

[Fattony77]

Originally posted by CoachBGriff:
To top it off, one them audibly let out some gas as a parting shot!

   

[Barry Wensel]

Most people might not believe this but I've got it all on video. A couple years ago I passed up a giant buck in late October at 15 yards. Even though he was likely B&C I knew for a fact he was only 4.5 yrs. old. I'd passed him up the year before too and recognized him because he had a broken back/left leg. In fact, I nicknamed him Clubfoot. As big as he was at 4.5, I knew how much antler he put on between 3.5 and 4.5. So I pretty much knew he was really going to be something special when he fully matured at 5.5. So I reluctantly let him walk and just video taped him. He was broadside at 15 yds., kind of flexed his hips, lifted his tail slightly and let one rip and I got it all on tape clear as a bell. I think all animals pass gas but I think this is probably the first time anyone was lucky enough to get it on video both visually and audibly. I plan on sharing the footage someday so hopefully you'll all get to see it. BW    p.s. I haven't seen the buck since, so I guess he got the last laugh.

[ron w]

Are you sure it was the deer Barry or is it like blaming the dog......      

[meathead]

I think I would have fell out of the tree laughing.

[RJonesRCRV]

Eric, your account of the head bobbibg does is almost creepy.  I wonder how they chose the fawn to be point.

Fatyony, I too remember the accounts regarding Ishi understanding the animals.  That would take some serious time in the woods to get that good!

[SKITCH]

Great stories guys!