The Sixth Sense of game animals

jjohnwm

jjohnwm

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On another thread I started recently, one of the responses (thanks, nowarningshot) mentioned the "predator vibe"; some sort of energy or aura that game animals could sense and be affected by. I found that interesting. We've all probably experienced something that would be easily explained by this concept. We come upon a game animal, either out of season, or when we are unarmed, or perhaps immediately after filling our tag on another animal and therefore "no longer in the market" for a kill. The critter stands and looks at us, totally unconcerned, and we just know that if we were still hunting, that animal would be gone in a flash, or never would have revealed himself at all.

It's a phenomenon often seen in wildlife films made in Africa. A herd of zebra feeds and waters while watching a pride of lions lounging nearby. The zebras are fully aware that the lions are there, and yet due to the attitude or body language or "vibe" of the lions, the striped horses sense that they are not in imminent danger. The next scene shows a hunting lion cautiously stalking the herd of zebras...one of them spots the cat, and immediately the whole bunch of them are gone!

I know that personally I won't stare too long or too hard at a game animal that I am hoping or planning to take. Way too often I have intently watched a potential prey like that, from concealment and/or from a great distance, only to have the animal eventually begin to get fidgety or nervous with no change in wind or other apparent explanation for their unease. I don't think that I'm superstitious, but...

Magic is just science we don't understand yet. Supernatural things are merely things whose nature we cannot, or refuse to, explain.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Any other superstitious types out there?
 
It's not superstition, it's real, although not explainable by "classical" physics, which is still the viewpoint of the biological sciences.

When sitting bored in traffic, I play a game where I position myself just behind the field of view of an adjacent driver and stare at them and think about them intensely. Most people do not react, as to get the attention of the oblivious average Joe you would have to throw a brick at them. But some will turn quickly and give a dirty look.
 
Bring the wrong ammo and watch the kritters.
Bring a fishing rod and watch the kritters.
Have the wrong species tag and wartch the kritters.
Drop yer drawers and have your shooter out of reach
and watch the kritters.
Go out for feathers and wartch the kritters.
 
When hunting whitetails in bush, I've found that when I spot one at close distance to not make eye contact with it. I raise my rifle away from it and slowly swing towards the deer, this has work several times in the past. :)
 
Eye contact is a big one. How do you know if someone is looking at you? They make eye contact.
That being said I do believe some animals develop a sixth sense...especially big old white tail bucks. I haven't experienced it personally but have had a lot of stories told to me regarding this. Stories about giant bucks that were heading towards the stand with perfect wind and nothing out of the ordinary that suddenly snap to attention like they get a bad vibe and backpedal outta harms way. Ever had the feeling your being watched only to turn around and confirm it...game animals run first and ask questions later, humans tend to analyze things and brush them off as nothing ( maybe we are suppressing our sixth sense)
 
There are only two reasons for holding eye contact in the wild. ### or food.
I'm not that good looking and the deer/moose know it!
 
+1 hawk-i - I have done the same with several deer. The technique also works with my sheep if I need to grab one for hoof trimming or to grab a lamb candidate for slaughter. Also, if you are stomping around they pick up on the increased energy instantly and makes it a lot harder to do what you want to do.
 
Dave_G said:
It's not superstition, it's real, although not explainable by "classical" physics, which is still the viewpoint of the biological sciences.

When sitting bored in traffic, I play a game where I position myself just behind the field of view of an adjacent driver and stare at them and think about them intensely. Most people do not react, as to get the attention of the oblivious average Joe you would have to throw a brick at them. But some will turn quickly and give a dirty look.
Click to expand...

Maybe it is different powers in different people. I have often sat in a restaurant, purposely stared at a head and very often the head turns and looks at me. I have told the person sitting with me to watch me make some person look at me, and been successful.
I have quite an active ESP, much more intense when I was younger. When I was a teenager I knew for a month that something was going to happen to me and it did, got my arm broke.
In my thirties I forecast for ten days that something was going to happen to a certain relative. And every morning I told my wife what was going on in my head. Then the son of the sister and her family that I had all the visions about, was killed in an accident. The family was living 300 miles from us, but less than a month previous, the nephew who was killed had visited with us for a few days.
I think animals have far, far better ESP than people and many dogs, especially, have demonstrated it many times to observant owners.
 
swinginberrys said:
Eye contact is a big one. How do you know if someone is looking at you? They make eye contact...Ever had the feeling your being watched only to turn around and confirm it...game animals run first and ask questions later, humans tend to analyze things and brush them off as nothing ( maybe we are suppressing our sixth sense)
Click to expand...

Eye contact is a guaranteed deal-breaker, I doubt anyone would deny that. I was actually referring to cases where there is no eye contact, and no other way for the animal to be aware of your presence; an animal is grazing a hundred yards away, upwind, and after being observed for several minutes becomes nervous. Dave G described it exactly.
 
Is it Pounder that lives up north and did a thread, "Waking old grumpy"?
If he wasn't packing that firearm, that bear would of had other thoughts.
Could very well be they smell the adrenalin in us.
 
The whole watching a driver in traffic, the concept is called "face vision" some people, notably blind people can sense being watched. I swear that animals can sense the vibe, it is almost the more you dont give a shot, the more likely you see a animal.

Out and to your hunting area before dawn, big walk....nothing. Coming back or dead tired, driving back for lunch. There is the 10:30 moose, standing up from his bed.
 
I find that if you hunt with a care free, relaxed and don't give a chit attitude that you seem to give off less of the bad vibes.
Locking your eyes on a game animal and trying to line up for the shot combined with the excitement (some times hard to control) definetly gives off vibes that game seem to sense. A lot of hunters in this instance don't realize that there movements become faster/jerky. They almost seem to lose touch with their surroundings and can even not notice a second animal moving into the area resulting in spooking.
Being in touch with, and part of the surroundings is key in working with games sixth sense.
 
I'm not superstitious... I deal with my quarry's "five" senses and do ok... the sixth sense doesn't appear to help them much.
 
its real enough to have Canadian Forces field manual actually mention that you should avoid starring at a person you try to stalk close too
(I cant remember the name of publication, will give a proper name when I dig it out from the basement)
 
I believe people and animals can tell when they are being watched, even if they can't see the watcher.

How many times have you been walking in the bush when you got the 'feeling' something was watching you? and you slowly turned around and there was a deer or moose or whatever standing there looking at you.
 
I remember learning of a researcher (in England I believe) who looked into this phenomenon; but in people not animals.

People could tell when someone was looking at them in this study, not consistently but well beyond what could be attributed to statistical chance. Children in the study were far superior in this knowledge of being watched (which makes sense as they are more vulnerable to predators of both two and four legged varieties).

Sadly, because this was outside of the scope of classical physics and biology, he lost his teaching/research position and is a pariah in the world of academia. In some ways, what should be science has become as dogmatic and closed as religion.


All I know is that I don't stare at a gopher very long through the scope
 
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