Can deer smell tension?

[Arwin]

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....    

[Spectre]

I dunno, but, horses sure can.

[Arwin]

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?  Maybe we're onto something here.   :D

[SlowBowke]

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)

[JohnnyWayne]

http://zebra.sc.edu/smell/ann/myth5.html

Interesting reading    :cool:

[Easykeeper]

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.

[Jake Diebolt]

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.

[Hawkeye]

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.

[BWD]

If so, surely they smelled you before they smelled tension. That being said, sometimes it appears they become aware of something, somehow.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

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.

[pickaspot]

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

[K. Mogensen]

Originally posted by Easykeeper:
The cat probably can too, just doesn't care...
 

[Jake Diebolt]

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.

[YORNOC]

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.....

[graybarkhunter]

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

[dragonheart]

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!

[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

[Arwin]

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!!      Now granted there is some movement but for all purposes I should have been able to let an arrow fly.
   

[LA Trapper]

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

[Friend]

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.