Monday, June 24, 2013

Question About Deer Behavior

A bit of a break from what we usually post here at IBA...

Last night, I went out into my backyard at dusk. There stood a young buck almost identical to the one pictured at the left.

No matter how much I waved my arms, clapped my hands, and shouted, he did not flee or turn away.  On the contrary, he stood his ground and became aggressive in his stance.  The closer I got, the more he stamped his front legs and stared me down.

What was going on?  I've never seen a deer behave in that manner when it isn't rutting season.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Hungry? Water polution?

Woodrow said...

Next time you go out into your backyard, carry a 30.06. Deer's attitude should improve markedly. Just thought I'd point that out.
Regards,

Always On Watch said...

I had nothing in my hand.

Woodrow,
I don't have a deer rifle here because there are no clear lines of shot without hitting houses. But the way things were going last night, I could have walked up to that immature buck and put a bullet between his eyes with the .38 that I keep handy. I got within 3 feet of that deer's head!

Always On Watch said...

Will,
Hunger will be a factor for all the deer milling around here.

Not long ago, one got impaled and killed on my neighbor's picket fence when he tried to leap over and slipped in the mud.

We see 2-5 deer here every day -- mostly bucks that will be rutting this fall.

Woodrow said...

Hey that's an idea! Tiger traps !

With pungi sticks and the whole kaboot. And you can fill it with water during the off season and have a pretty good Koi pond if you're into that sort of thing.

Then again, I wonder if you spread some kind of scent/urine derivative of a really big predator around your property it might spook the deer to go elsewhere.

I saw in a Cabela's catalog some years aback where there was this motion sensor built around an imitation coyote where movement would trigger the coyote's tail to start waving around.

Deer around the house is one thing. having 2-5 bucks around is something else altogether. and it sounds like your alternatives have to be 'human friendly'

Always On Watch said...

Woodrow,
I'm going to check into getting the scent/urine derivative of a really big predator. Thanks for the tip!

Woodrow said...

Wolf Urine - check out http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/wolf-urine.html

Evidently the Japanese are importing wolf urine to combat their growing deer problem.

Good luck with that. Would like to read about the results in the future.

Always On Watch said...

Woodrow,
Thanks for that link.

I'll order some!