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Post by duckdolan on Nov 10, 2007 9:22:11 GMT -5
If there are cattle in a guy's deer hunting hole, will they spook the deer if they are disturbed by the human's presence? Any advice for hunting this type of situation besides don't shoot the cows?  |
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Post by jackc99 on Nov 10, 2007 9:29:51 GMT -5
Watch your step especially in the dark.
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Post by tenring on Nov 10, 2007 20:20:32 GMT -5
If the cattle get spooked, deer will immediately recognize that something is not normal. Couple of years ago, I watched a nice 2 1/2 year old buck walk through a bunch of cattle, then disappear. Next morning, same buck came walking through on same path, no cattle, just boom/flop. Had to stop field dressing him to rinse off hands, bang/flopped a doe. Step in some fresh cow piles, cheap scent blockers, makes deer think you are on four legs.
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yaz
Full Member
Posts: 67
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Post by yaz on Nov 10, 2007 21:04:10 GMT -5
I turn my cows out in the corn stalks every fall. The deer don't seem to mind. If you pay close attention to the cows, they will give a deer, or coyote away before you see them. Like jackc99 said, step in a fresh "pie", makes good cover scent.
Yaz
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Post by M4Madness on Nov 10, 2007 21:18:21 GMT -5
Funny that you should mention this. I hunt a large cattle farm behind my home. Sometimes the cows are on one side of the property, and sometimes they are on the other. It's always a gamble. I use a climber exclusively, but did set a lock-on this year on a funnel for ease of hunting in this spot. I haven't been to this location since setting the stand Labor Day weekend.
Fast forward to this morning. I was running late, and after climbing the huge pasture hill in record time, I arrived at the top and my stand at exactly 7:00 AM. There were cows all around! I'm talking at least 50 of them. I climbed up into my stand, and the cows crowded right up against my tree. I finally got fed up, unhooked my harness, and climbed down. I'm not kidding, I actually stepped onto one of their backs while hanging onto the tree. A couple of foot taps got it running, and I went after them. I tried to circle them, but they kept trying to keep me from flanking them. I finally did, and ran them back towards the highway. Somehow in the commotion, my harness strap got tangled in my legs, and I fell while running, and my right hand went right in a fresh cow pie! I wiped my hand off the best I could in the grass. Everytime I would walk back towards my stand, they would all start following me. I'd chase them again, then they'd follow me back. I started throwing sticks at them, and it would only spook them for a minute, then they'd be right back.
I finally just went around to the back side of the tree and climbed right up. The cows looked around dumbfounded -- they couldn't figure out where I'd went. They came up and smelled around, and finally left around 7:45 AM. At 8:45 AM, I had a 2 1/2 year old 8-pointer come past.
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Post by gillgrabber on Nov 11, 2007 9:57:27 GMT -5
I've been hunting a farmer's cow pasture for years. I've also had them follow my Son and I to our stands, watch us climb, and hang around for a few minutes out of curiousity. They eventually leave and wander away. The farmer told me cows are actually a LOT more intelligent and observant than people give them credit for. I think they were looking to see if I was going to feed them as the farmer walks out on foot with buckets of feed come feeding time. I would imagine they saw me carrying my bow, stand, etc and thought maybe I was going to feed them as well. I've seen deer walk amongst the cows without paying them any mind at all. At least they give me something to watch when the deer hunting is slow.
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