White tail and gunshots

powdergun

powdergun

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Just wondering what your observations have been. I've been spending a lot more time watching deer the last few years and have seen a few situations where gunshots were fired by myself and others. One was when I was in my bowstand and some folks were banging away in a gravel pit about a quarter mile away. The shots were loud and clear but The deer feeding around my stand were totally oblivious to the sound.

Another situation was this year when I missed a shot with my muzzle loader. The deer I shot at ran like hell ( don't worry it was a complete miss) but 10 minutes later another one came out and fed in the same spot like nothing had happened.


Funny how a simple sniffle from the stand makes them scatter but gun shots do nothing.
 
I have notice the same....Doesn't seem to bother them....I get a kick out of the hunting shows where they whisper after they shoot a deer....As if!
 
Maybe they think it is just thunder and are not woried about it, but a sniffle is not a usual sound and puts them on high alert.
 
It has always been that way with members of the deer family, moose deer and elk. I have personally seen each specie not bat an eye at a near miss with a centre fire rifle.
But, scrath your pant leg on a twig and they are gone before you will even see them.
 
Last Week When i was Quading We Parked the quad after doing to Hill Climbs , Witch made a LOT of noise, Then Walked a trail out of the back of the pit ) We Where also Shooting prairie chicken( , Walked the Trail maybe 100 yards, Shot one and Looked maybe 45 yards passed it and there was a doe and 2 fawns , They did not run untill i walked up to get my bird.
 
Im of the mind both deer and moose dont give a crap unless they are actually being shot at. Every year my camp blasts away Sunday afternoon before moose and deer seasons and its never had any effect at all. In fact Monday is usually our hottest day for moose.

Case in point - Two years agao I got to deer camp at last light Sunday evening. I wanted to put a couple down the tube to verify my gun was on. Took three shots, checked the target, and turned to head back to camp. Two deer were standing about 200m away in the field. I didnt see them until i was finished. They didnt care.
 
My experience parallels this. The game animals seldom respond to a shot fired, even relatively nearby.
I have shot members of the deer family where accompanying members just stood around after the shot.
I was with a person who fired 3 shots at a bull moose [about 150 yards away], and the moose never moved.
It seems that certain sounds actually attract deer....a power saw for example.
Eagleye.
 
More than once I have had to stop shooting because deer wandered out in the medow in front of our hunt camp and started feeding.
 
Agreed! Year before last, one of the guys I was hunting with dropped a doe where she stood. The other three does were looking at her wondering why the hell she chose to have a nap there.

Mind you; they were on edge and took off shortly after, but I believe that had more to do with the odd behavior of their fellow ruminant rather than the gun shot.
 
Not 2 months ago I and some co-workers and family were out shooting in front of the family hunting camp, we put about 3-400 rounds down range, when all of a sudden 4 deer walk out from behind our targets, and just casually walked across the range, then in to the woods. We had to go look behind the targets in case there may have been 5!
 
Last year out deer hunting one morning. Didn't see a blooming thing all morning so my partner and I were driving home (grids in Sask) and were stopping here and there checking some places for activity. We are driving across a field and we see a pack of coyutes about 400 yards away. Guy's land we were on had asked us that if we got the oppurtunity to shoot any as they were causing him problems. We hop out and start firing at em. We both emptied our mags. We get back in the truck, drive maybe 50 yards and top a little rise in the field and see a sweet little doe grazing maybe 30 yards from us. We were so shocked it was still there(truck doors slamming, 8 rounds fired, talking laughing, etc etc) that I actually said "I can't believe that deer didn't take off" and my partner answered "me neither, that's strange" before we realized that hey maybe shoot at the only deer you've seen today since you know, you're deer hunting. And as we piled out of the truck we both realized we hadn't reloaded after the coyutes. We each got a shell in, the deer finally started to move and my buddy dropped it. Still can't believe it.

Also last Sunday out elk hunting I sat in a field and watched a dozen deer for 2 hours as they grazed around me. From 50-200 yards. When it started getting dark I started to make noise. Talking on the radio. Making sounds to see what the deer would do. Even stood up. Some bolted but 4 just looked at me and went back to grazing as soon as I went quiet again. Eventually the took off when my buddy started the truck on the other section and came to get me. But no elk. :(
 
Eagleye said:
My experience parallels this. The game animals seldom respond to a shot fired, even relatively nearby.
I have shot members of the deer family where accompanying members just stood around after the shot.
I was with a person who fired 3 shots at a bull moose [about 150 yards away], and the moose never moved.
It seems that certain sounds actually attract deer....a power saw for example.
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

I have heard of several cases of where deer showed up when the person was using a power saw.
Our friend who had the nice 7 x 57 told me how he was cutting wood in the bush, when this nice buck showed up, quite close to the wood he was cutting. He just picked up the well known Mauser and shot it. The last deer he ever shot!
 
Heres another one ~ We were at the camp shooting at a target 100m down the field. There was half a dozen of us standing around and we'd taken maybe 30 shots so far. A bull moose saunters out of the bush, stands between us and the target for about 20 seconds, then continues on his way. He didnt have a care in the world.

My grandfather has always said moose are attracted to chainsaws. Demonstrated this last weekend ~ We were clearing some trails with a couple saws. An hour later I drove them again and there were fresh moose tracks over top of our ATV and tractor tracks.
 
H4831 said:
I have heard of several cases of where deer showed up when the person was using a power saw.
Our friend who had the nice 7 x 57 told me how he was cutting wood in the bush, when this nice buck showed up, quite close to the wood he was cutting. He just picked up the well known Mauser and shot it. The last deer he ever shot!
Click to expand...

Snoring also works. Actually observed this twice while hunting, they are a curious animal.
 
Used to be quite amused by a doe who regularly fed-by while a round of Skeet was in progress
at the local gun club. Not in any hurry, she just drifted in and out of sight in the nearby bush.
I've also shot a few deer, in company of others, that did not flee at the shot (or their buddy falling over)
but merely perked-up their ears. Once I moved though, different story. Have also had does and fawns
come up to within 10 or 15 feet of me in deer season. As long as you don't move (and are downwind) no
problem ... just wiggle a finger or speak to prove an instant reaction.
As to the chainsaw ... you bet ! Deer around our area, especially in winter, know that means "fresh tops"
for browse. Just like putting out the welcome sign.
Oh yeah, deer are not phased by a tractor either. As long as you don't stop or get off it, deer will
watch (and feed) all the while you're working. Have also watched a buck, doe and fawn, (doe being
pursued by a buck) actually circle a vehicle with the motor running at dark, in the rut. Buck almost crashed into the truck !
 
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I have seen deer totally ignore rifle shots, and I have seen them take off running at the sound of a shot a few hundred yards away. I guess that it just depends on the situation.
 
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