Under some conditions, deer walking in the woods will blend into their surroundings so well that the hunter who sees them will be uncertain as to what he has seen. In bad light the deer even just disappears. The deer seems to understand that man rely on their eyes to sight them. In the few localities where the Virginia deer is found, it is necessary to use slightly different hunting methods. And hunting in different climatic conditions could also influence the way you hunt.



Deer seem to know that humans depend on eyes to locate game and consequently the deer will often depend on natural camouflage for protection instead of resorting to flight with its attending danger of running into other unexpected danger. They seem to be especially reluctant to leave their beds while they are digesting a recently eaten meal and a hunter can often approach them by walking on a course that will bring him within gun range, but which is not directly towards the animal. If they can be persuaded that the hunter has not seen them, and is not interested in them, their reluctance to move may permit quite a close approach. Feeding and traveling deer are not as apt to depend on camouflage and will usually resort to flight as soon as they have positively identified any approaching danger.

The hunter who knows the location of the deer trails, how and where to find deer at different times of day, how deer detect danger, how they react to different situations, should be able to take advantage of the weak spots in their defense system and should be able to avoid the strong points in that system. This is deer hunting reduced to its basic simplicity.

In the mountain area of the west, the whitetail gives way to other species. The former have never learned to make the annual migration that is necessary in a region of heavy snowfall and as a result the mule deer is in possession of the area. In the few localities where the Virginia deer is found, it is necessary to use slightly different hunting methods. Difficult travel conditions and greater visibility in the more open woods force the successful hunter to use glasses for spotting game at a distance, and long-range guns equipped with telescope sights are needed in order to shoot deer which are often in, or across, ravines where any chance of a close approach would be almost impossible. Similar conditions exist in the open, near desert country of the southwest where most of the deer will be found in the brush-filled ravines, and cover for successful stalking is almost nonexistent.

I have heard that the use of sticks or antlers to simulate the noise of a fight between two bucks has been successful in attracting deer to hunters along the Mexican border. This may be successful in that area as deer act differently in different sections of the country, but I doubt the effectiveness of this action in the northeast. Most of my hunting has been done in this area and I have been fortunate enough to be a spectator at several buck fights. I have also examined the arena where other such contests have taken place and I have never seen any evidence to show that other deer were attracted to, or showed any interest in, these fights. If this is so, it would seem to be a waste of time to try to attract deer by such a noise.

The deer sometimes seem to be especially reluctant to leave their beds while they are digesting a recently eaten meal and a hunter can often approach them by walking on a course that will bring him within gun range, but which is not directly towards the animal. The hunter who knows the location of the deer trails, how and where to find deer at different times of day, how deer detect danger, how they react to different situations, can used this thing to their advantage.

Hunters can gain more advantage if they can find 2 deer fight, as the deer will not pay their attention to the hunter. This will give some space for the hunters to make their position to shoot the deer.