How good is a deers hearing?

JD Mandrell

JD Mandrell

Joined
Apr 20, 2001
Messages
18,423
I've got a family member that has been deer hunting for years, and he's had trouble getting a big mature Buck.

He's taken several Does and small Bucks, but seems frustrated that he can't seem to get a real decent mature Buck.

One thing I've noticed in talking to him, about hunting, is that he and his friends, continually are texting each other from their deer stands and blinds while hunting, and I wondered if the faint clicks and beeps associated with this could be part of the problem????
 
in the 70s a famed hunting editor John Wooters stated a whitetail could hear a wristwatch ticking from 12 feet. in those days manual wound watches were still common. wooters was a major contributor to many periodicals.
dennis
 
The problem is he's playing with a phone in the woods when he's supposed to be paying attention. You can sit on stand for hours and the difference between success and failure can and usually does come in about a 20-30 second span when you have a chance to detect your prey before they detect you. A mature buck will give you one chance and that's it, that's how he got to be a mature buck. Tell you friend to ditch the phone and get serious.
 
Amen to ditching the phone , where I hunt at you are lucky if you see two mature bucks a season you have to pay attention to the woods. Try to stay in the stand until noon, most hunters leave the woods at 10 and the deer move a great deal between 10 and noon. Part of this might be due to the deer feeding at night and bedding up just before daylight, so stay in the stand. DO NOT WEAR YOUR HUNTING BOOTS TO THE STORE WHEN YOU STOP TO GET COFFEE ETC.
 
Blue Sky said:
The problem is he's playing with a phone in the woods when he's supposed to be paying attention. You can sit on stand for hours and the difference between success and failure can and usually does come in about a 20-30 second span when you have a chance to detect your prey before they detect you. A mature buck will give you one chance and that's it, that's how he got to be a mature buck. Tell you friend to ditch the phone and get serious.
Click to expand...

Funny but very true. I have been sitting just inside local woods when people walk by yakking away within maybe 10 feet of me and have no idea I am there.
 
Blue Sky said:
The problem is he's playing with a phone in the woods when he's supposed to be paying attention. You can sit on stand for hours and the difference between success and failure can and usually does come in about a 20-30 second span when you have a chance to detect your prey before they detect you. A mature buck will give you one chance and that's it, that's how he got to be a mature buck. Tell you friend to ditch the phone and get serious.
Click to expand...

Blue Sky nailed it. Deer are probably walking right past your family member while he's busy "LOL'ing."

Big bucks are often nocturnal, and you only get a glimpse in the hazy light of dawn or dusk. Maybe the big deer can see that LCD screen all lit up. :D

When I'm hunting, my phone is shut off and goes in a dry sack for emergencies. Texting is a nasty addiction IMO.
 
DennisStrickland said:
in the 70s a famed hunting editor John Wooters stated a whitetail could hear a wristwatch ticking from 12 feet. in those days manual wound watches were still common. wooters was a major contributor to many periodicals.
dennis
Click to expand...

Dennis, I grew up in the 60's & my dad made sure my brother & I learned & remembered the teachings of the outdoors. I remember watching my brother in his stand not 40 feet from me click off his safety to shoot a buck that had to have been 15-20 yds. away. As soon as he shoved that safety & it clicked, the buck immediately raised his head & looked in our direction. It hung around for about 3.3 seconds before it flagged us & was gone. Lesson #23 when we got home was how to take your thumb & finger on each side of the safety and move it slowly, not flick it with your thumb. Funny, I am now on the other side of 50 & I still take my safety off that way . . . :)
Has there ever been any tests or actual research done on this subject??
Be safe.
 
Last edited:
Thanks folks, I've wondered if that might be at least part of the problem. Even some of those touch pad keys, may make a sound that we can't hear.
 
Their hearing is legendary. Supposedly there is an old Indian saying (sounds made up and hokey to me but whatever):

"A leaf fell in the forest. The hawk saw it. The deer heard it. The bear smelled it."

Anyway - I don't wear an analog watch when I hunt and texting is a really bad idea. I only hope the friggers don't hear me snoring when the tree under which I'm sitting is too comfie. :D

---

Beckerhead #42
 
last year my one chance was in a 15 second window. the deer were moving at a fast walk & if i had been looking at a phone i would'nt dominoed .
dennis you guys can check the hearing on the ones you are going to let pass, try very light taps on your rifle & increase the sound till you see a reaction.
 
I wear a timex expedition all the time, never had a problem, I can hear it ticking from across the room when it quite. I have been out in the woods with a cough before, I would cover my mouth with a thick wool glove, I still made noise, and several deer went down.

Movement is the big issue IMO

If I have to answer a text, I use the touch screen on my droid instead of the keyboard.
 
GingivitisKahn said:
Supposedly there is an old Indian saying:
"A leaf fell in the forest. The hawk saw it. The deer heard it. The bear smelled it."Beckerhead #42
Click to expand...

From the reactions of different animals I have seen in the woods over the last 45 years, might be a whole lot of truth in this . . . :)
Be safe.
 
Mulie hunting one year I watched a small buck through the scope. He prick his ears and he stared right at me when I clicked off my safety. I can barely hear that from ten feet away. Their hearing is unbelievable. I imagine a whitetail is just as good
 
I have always believed they hear better than me..slightly, smell better than I do..quite a bit, and see better than I can many times over.
I have lost shots on big bucks by accidentally making small noises..only when they are close. Movement on the other hand..gets you every time.
 
gunknifenut said:
I have always believed they hear better than me..slightly, smell better than I do..quite a bit, and see better than I can many times over.
I have lost shots on big bucks by accidentally making small noises..only when they are close. Movement on the other hand..gets you every time.
Click to expand...

Their vision is significantly less acute than human vision, but their eyes are designed to recognize movement many fold better. Human eyes focus images onto a cone rich point on the retina. Deer vision focuses images onto a band of the retina, and their retinas do not have the saturation of cones that ours' do. The cone rich point aids in both distinction of fine detail and in color vision. They don't see fine detail like we do, and their color vision is severely compromised by the relatively few cones that they possess, but they see the movement, and their night vision is much MUCH better than ours (due to the high rod content). Additionally, human eyes have a filter that helps to block UV rays. Deer do not have this filter, and can thus see into the UV spectrum. That is why "color brighteners" are bad for hunting clothing- it makes them stand out to deer. On top of this, deer have their eyes positioned on the sides of their heads, giving them 310 degree vision.

Bottom line, if you are still, quiet, and down wind you can be very close to a deer and not be recognized. However, make a relatively large movement, unnatural sound, or experience a shift in the wind and you will easily be picked out by a deer.
 
I've never actually scared a deer by sound alone. I've had them start to stare at me from noise, but they never ran away until they saw something they didn't like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top