Deer question

[roxynoodle]

The sound the males make is pretty awful. To me it kind of sounds like a lion. Back when I first moved out here, I had only one mare (horse) at first and when she went in heat, I had a buck back in the field who must have been interested. He stood out there making that noise for a couple of days. I kept worrying he would jump the fence and try to mate the mare. Luckily he didn't! I guess he knew it was a female animal but not quite the right species.

 

[AlanB]

I'd just come home from work and I admit, your comments were fairly top of my concern list.

I was wearing khaki pants, brown suede jacket, a nice male pattern bald spot on the back of my head (white deer tail?)

I can vouch it's white, someone else will have to say if it's mistakable for a deer tail

Then I figured, since I'm only maybe 200' away from my house in MY back yard, on 250 acres... I SHOULD be unconcerned.....

however, I could still never shake those heebee geebies of "is someone putting the crosshairs on me"

I told myself I should shout out "human alert, human alert"

Reminds me of the joke of the guy standing beside his dead horse, looking at the woman in hunting clothes.

Yes, lady, I know it is your deere, and you can have him just as soon as I get my saddle off from him.

I used to live on the edge of the Ocala National forest, and on the opening day of gun season, it was a good day for us to go to town. Half the folks out there in the woods had no earthly idea what they were doing other then they were "Deere Hunting".

 

[SkyPup]

I drove thorugh Ocala Forest last night coming across on Hwy 40 and then north through Juniper Springs on up to Salt Springs and over to Fort McCoy about 9-10PM.

With the high beams on, there were 35-40 deer on the road side shoulder, all does. But also one big fat black bear smack in the middle of HWY 19!!!

I think my finger grip is still implanted into the steering wheel.....

 

[Robert_in_NY]

If it is a series of snorts then it is most likely the deer warning other deer that you are near as the others have said.

As for the Buck wheeze, they do this when they are posturing with another buck to try and intimidate them. It is quite loud and is a short snort with a long wheeze immediately after the snort and at the time they do this they are usually puffed out with their ears pinned back to make their antlers look larger and more intimidating. It is actually an interesting sound and they only do this when they have hardened antlers and are protecting their territory or the lucky doe from other bucks. I will try to get a video of one of ours doing this and see if someone can post it up for me as I can't post attachments on here for some reason.

 

[HGM]

If it is a series of snorts then it is most likely the deer warning other deer that you are near as the others have said.

As for the Buck wheeze, they do this when they are posturing with another buck to try and intimidate them. It is quite loud and is a short snort with a long wheeze immediately after the snort and at the time they do this they are usually puffed out with their ears pinned back to make their antlers look larger and more intimidating. It is actually an interesting sound and they only do this when they have hardened antlers and are protecting their territory or the lucky doe from other bucks. I will try to get a video of one of ours doing this and see if someone can post it up for me as I can't post attachments on here for some reason.

Tha wheeze is a very strange sound indeede... I heard it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.. I had two spikes under my stand when they decided to spar.. They grunted a couple of times, then knocked horns a couple of times and one let out this wheeze(kind of a hiss).. The only time I have ever heard an animal make this noise is when the sir is escaping its body when you accidently puncture the gut sack, kind og a slow "wushhhh".. Different, but kind of cool to see and hear them cary on naturally, making noises noone normaly hears..

I've only hear a few grunts in my hunting lifetime.. The TV and books all say its the holy grail, but I must not be too good at it(cussing them), or my deer dont speak that language.. I see plenty of deer at close range and have only had one deer(other than the spar I just mentioned) grunt within my eyesight.. It was a 7pt with his head to the ground sniffing out a doe that had recently passed by, steadily grunting as he approached me. I shot him on my way to the stand with my pistol at about 5-7yds, ih he wasnt grunting I may not have noticed him in time as we were walking toward eachother.. I've tried grunting to deer that were close by and they never even looked twice, just went about their bussiness for the most part..

It definitly sounds like she was blowing at you like the others said.. If that was the case, it doesnt surprise me that you never saw the deer.. When you have been busted, its up to the deer if you get to see them ...

BTW, they are rutting(mating season) here in the Atlanta area now.. You will usually notice many more deer related accidents or see alot more deer on the side of the road durring the rut.. They just arent as smart when its mating season...

 

[Richard]

I didn't see the deer because I was SEVERAL hundred feet away. This is not a situation where I stumbled near where they were. I was out in the middle of the field in front of my house (probably 200' away from house?) The deer was BEHIND the house in some thick underbrush. I'd speculate it was easily 150' behind the house.

That distance is one thing that kind of intrigues me as to why I heard it. It kept repeating the sound, what ever it was. As it kept repeating the sound, I walked the dogs back to front of house & put them inside. The sound kept repeating. I then (slowly) walked down driveway, over to hill and started to work my way up hill. The sound continued...

As I got up the hill, sort of on the same level where I thought the sound was coming from, I heard it again and I started walking across (as opposed to up) the hill, towards the sound.

I tried to keep a KEEN eye out in front of me since I know a deer can be difficult to see at times. I really didn't want to come upon it and have it wounded and in a really foul mood

As I worked my way through the VERY thick underbrush, I'd stop every now & then to listen. Finally, it was what seemed to be 50' in front of me or closer (might have been tricked by the hills & sounds)

As I walked closer & then stopped, the sounds were 100% gone. Nada, nothing, zero.

I presumed the deer bolted up the hill but I should have heard the galloping, OR perhaps at minimum, it cutting through the brush. I heard nothing. It was at this point, I thought maybe the deer WAS wounded and had simply died at that ironic time.

Walked forward even further and simply saw nothing.

so it was at this point I finally got the heebee Geebies about the possiblity of some excited hunter somewhere and I made my retreat down the hill & back to my dogs & house.

Perhaps it was a figment... perhaps in 4 more days, I'm going to have a MAJOR smell problem up the hill... guess I'll see.

 

[HGM]

Maybe you could put on a bright orange shirt(or something bright), in the middle of the day and walk the dogs up there.. It would give you an answer to a dead animal.. Even if your dogs dont normaly track, they will probably lead you right to it with a little coaxing, if there is in fact something up there.. Just a thought..