MikeHanback.com

Weird Science: Do Deer Have a Built-In Compass?

From Scientific American: Researchers have found that when grazing or resting, cattle and deer tend to point their bodies toward Earth's magnetic poles, which suggests they are able to sense magnetic fields… researchers studied body alignment in 2,974 red and roe deer in the Czech Republic, either by photographing the animals or checking the impressions they left in snow. The team reports in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that the animals tended to point north or south but not in other directions. When the researchers were able to examine the position of the head in the case of red and roe deer, they found the animals tended to point north.

The group ruled out…wind or sun for why grazing animals might orient themselves that way. There was no consistent wind pattern among the different locations… Evidence for a magnetic sense in cattle and deer suggests…it may be a more basic tool for mentally mapping their everyday surroundings and learning new landmarks.

It is not a leap that this ability to sense magnetic fields is present in our whitetails also. So when we see does and bucks with their heads pointed north, what does it mean? Can we use that to hunting advantage? I rack my brain to see how. Theories anyone? 

Anyhow, it will make for fun field research this fall. When you see a large group of deer feeding in a field, pull out your compass and check to see if 80 percent or more of them are pointed due north.

When to Shoot Does: Early Season, Rut or Late?

Mike: Got a cam picture of a small fawn on my Illinois property in August. It is the first time I have noticed late fawning there. Got me to thinking, should I harvest smaller does before the winter so they would not breed late (December or even January) and hurt the quality/age structure of the herd? Or should I let Ma Nature take its course? What is a sound biological take on this? Thanks, Eric

Good question, and it goes to the bigger issue of when during the season should you shoot does large or small-- early bow, late winter (when most people do it) or anytime? I ran it by Dr. Grant Woods, one of America’s foremost whitetail scientists:

When fine-tuning a herd to meet a management objective, consider: If some does are removed during the first part of the season (usually before rut) then there are fewer does for the bucks to expend energy on chasing, breeding, etc. This is a significant point. In addition, the does harvested during early season obviously won’t consume critical food that the residual animals in the herd need for the winter months. Hence from a biological point of view, earlier is better for these and other reasons.

From a hunter-management standpoint, based on my experience most hunters that wait until the end of season to shoot does rarely meet their harvest quota. Hence, progress of the management program is delayed. Sometimes the habitat is degraded more than it can recover in a year--especially true if the primary food source is native vegetation and not cultivated plants to be replanted next spring. In addition, fawns in densely populated deer areas where there is not optimal forage for every deer will not express their full potential for years. It’s just like malnourished young of other species, including humans. 

Our crew harvest does as early as legally possible. In fact, we’ve found from many projects that a dead doe in front of a hunter’s stand is a great attraction to mature bucks! I realize this is contrary to popular beliefs. We often harvest a doe, with either bow or firearm, then remain in the stand as long as possible. The only disturbance was the noise of the shot. The smell of the adult doe, especially if she is in a pre-receptive or receptive stage, is a magnet for mature bucks! I’ve personally harvested quite a few bucks while they were sniffing the doe I had shot earlier in that hunt. Hope this helps everybody out, Grant Woods.

Now that is the kind of hard-core information I strive to bring you on the BIG DEER Blog!

BTW, when have you shot your most does in the past? Late I bet. Has this post changed your thinking some?

CWD in Michigan: Will the DNR Kill Too Many Deer?

Breaking news is that a 3-year-old doe in an enclosure in Kent Co., Michigan has been confirmed to have chronic wasting disease (CWD). The state’s DNR has responded by implementing a ban on the baiting and feeding of deer in the Lower Peninsula. Also, hunters who kill a deer in the “hot zone" in townships of Tyrone, Solon, Nelson, Sparta, Algoma, Courtland, Alpine, Plainfield and Cannon will be required to participate in a deer check. The department will also kill and test 300 deer within the "hot zone." The DNR says the response plan is designed to prevent potential spread of the disease. 

This prompted MI hunter Scott to write and say: Mike, I just hope they don’t get out of control and think they have to kill everything. CWD has been around for a while, just not right here in Michigan.

He’s right, CWD has been documented in states from CO to West Virginia, and so far as I know has not devastated any deer herd in any region. Careful monitoring and prudence by the state is certainly called for, especially with those damned penned deer that cause all the problems. But IMO and like Scott says, they need to be careful not to create hysteria and, worse, kill out too many wild herds in the area, don't you think?

How Well Do Deer Hear?

A team of researchers at the University of Georgia put does and bucks in sound chambers and monitored their brainwaves to see how the animals responded to different sounds and frequencies. The one big finding that surprised me:

Deer do not hear much better than we do. Studies have found that a healthy human can hear from 20 to 20,000 hertz, with your best and most sensitive range from 2,000 to 5,000 hertz. The researchers found that deer hear best at moderate frequencies of 3,000 to 8,000 hertz. To put some perspective on it, both our normal speech and most deer vocalizations fall within these frequency ranges. So while deer generally vocalize at lower frequencies than we talk, they hear similarly. 

So, unless you stomp and tromp through the woods on a stalk or en route to your stand, you shouldn't spook many if any deer. Staying downwind of the animals and hidden from their sharp eyes is more important than worrying about little sounds you make.

BTW, did you know that deer raise, tip and roll their ears like little satellite dishes to pick up and pinpoint sounds?

(photo credit: Luke Strommen)

Deer Vision and Red/Green Lights

Mike: I am curious about something and would like to hear your thoughts. I have read where studies show that deer don't see in the red/orange spectrum very well, but they see well in the blue/green spectrum, which is why we can wear hunter orange, but shouldn't wear blue jeans. If this is the case, why are the new green flashlights being marketed as "not spooking game"? It would seem to me that they would do just that, spook them, and that a red lens would be better. Thanks, Brad in AL

Brad: In a big study at the Univ. of Georgia, researchers used optical instruments (same ones used to test our eyes) and fitted deer with contact lenses. They found that deer can see some some shades of yellow and blue, but cannot see reds or greens, they are color blind in those spectrums. Hence, all the “non-game spooking” red and green lights on the market today.

I think it makes sense to switch from a white light (w/yellow tints) to a red or green one to find your stand in the AM dark. But still, be smart. Go in downwind and sneak as quiet as you can; tromping in wrong spooks as many or more deer than lights IMO.

Knot-on-the-Jaw Doe

Lindsay from the Quality Deer Management Association sent this:

Mike: A QDMA member in Wisconsin, Tom Grall, got these photos on a trail camera in June. When we saw them, we thought it was a clear case of arterial worms, a parasite that actually lives in the arteries of deer. When the worms move into the carotid arteries of the neck, they can interfere with the muscles that control the tongue, and the deer can't swallow properly, so food builds up in the cheek or under the tongue. It's called a food impaction, and that's clearly what Tom's doe has.

But when we checked with Wisconsin DNR, we found there had never been a documented case of arterial worms in Wisconsin. After more checking with experts, we confirmed that other factors can cause food impactions, like an abscessed tooth, a broken jawbone, or even a foreign object like a stick or rock becoming lodged in the deer's mouth. Food impactions look bad but usually aren't fatal. Tom reports that he has gotten more pictures of this doe since June and she appears to be in better health. These pictures and the story will be featured in the August issue of Quality Whitetails. Thanks! Lindsay

Florida Whitetails

Vinnie sent me this image from his Cudde and I thought, Man, good looking bucks for Florida. He said: This property is right on the Gulf and is by no means a trophy-managed area. It is surrounded by swamp, and everyone is a meat hunter. But as you can see there are some respectful deer. Those antlers have a good amount of growth left. BTW, I never saw an animal here for the first couple years, but then we put in a couple of feeders and small food plots and it is an absolute 100% success story. If you take the time to do a little work and spend a little money you can increase your odds of big deer dramatically!

I had never posted on FL whitetails before, so I asked Vinnie for more and he said:

Florida bucks average about 125 lbs. but can go 200-plus on occasion; does average 95 lbs. The biggest deer in FL come from the northwest regions up in the Panhandle. The largest typical (168 5/8) was shot back in 1977 in Gadsen Co. The largest typical last year (163) was shot in Madison Co. There are a lot of good deer killed in the 130- to 140-inch range. The bucks don’t have the foods here to make them grow into giants but they are decent by all standards.

Rut starts as early as September in central regions and runs January to February in the northern parts. Find the core areas. Best bet for big bucks is super thick cover. Bucks lie up and may get up to stretch 10 to 20 times a day, but they might move only 50 to 100 yards. Hunt feed near the bedding spots. FL bucks go nocturnal so it is best to be in the stand 1 to 2 hours before light. Morning hunts seem to be better than afternoons. When the rut is on, hunt all day. Vinnie from FL

Summer Buck Groups (18 to 80 in a gang is a lot!)

Two days ago from Dean in IN:

Mike: The deer have been very active. I saw a huge bachelor group last night; actually I guess you would say one group of 10 and another group of 8. A 4-wheeler buzzed down the road I was on; they spooked into each other and left the soybean field as one.

How many bucks are generally in a summer bachelor group? I know groups aren't static, but the average gang I see has between 3 and 7 members.

Yesterday from Dean:

I saw the same group of 18 last night on the back side of the property. They seem to be hanging as one big group right now. I also saw another group of 11 about 2 miles north of there. There seem to be some dingers in this group as well!

The number of bucks I'm seeing is unreal and has surpassed last summer so far. I think that since there are so many more bucks per capita in this area, the bachelor groups are growing. But, I'm seeing some smaller groups in the same areas too. I'm not sure what the moon is right now, but the deer (bucks in particular) are out and about and how! Thanks, Dean

I agree with Deano, from what I've witnessed a gang of 3 to 6 is pretty common. (See picture of "4 Amigos" my buddy CJ Davis got in SC last summer.) But Dean might be onto something--with more bucks per acre in many areas, the groups have naturally grown in numbers. Mature bucks tolerate the young bucks and let them hang around this time of year, so you get a big mix of bucks.

Out West buck groups (whitetail) tend to be been larger. Luke Strommen on the Milk River MT says: "I have seen bach groups with as many as 20 bucks (give or take) in an alfalfa field. Most of those bucks will be in the 1 1/2- to 3 1/2 year-old range. Mature bucks seem to hang in smaller groups and come into a field in their own corners (good spot for your tree stand). I have counted 140 head of deer in a field before dark, 80 to 90 of them bucks (September and velvet). Does that count as a bachelor group, LOL?"

Interesting stuff. So, how many velvet bucks have the rest of you been seeing?

9 More Hot Zones for Monster Bucks

Jim read the earlier post on the East Coast's suburban monsters and wondered: Where are the other top 9 big-buck factories in North America? According to research by Joel Helmer, Ph.D in Quality Whitetails magazine they are: 

9. South Texas

8. Southern Indiana (red hot and moving up on list fast) 

7. Eastern Kansas (I'm rifle hunting there for TV this December!)

6. Northern Missouri

5. Southern Ohio (remember yesterday's 200" giant?)

4. Western Kentucky

3. Eastern or Southern Iowa (see picture)

2. Illinois (I might muzzleloader hunt there this winter)

1. Anywhere Wisconsin (Jeff B., Doug, Ian, Jake and you other Packers fans already knew it)

Big-Buck Hotspot: East-Coast Suburbia

The June issue of Quality Whitetails magazine had an article on the Top 10 Zones for Record-Book Bucks: Wisconsin, southern Iowa and Indiana, Kansas…and coming in at No. 10, East Coast Suburbia:

…counties around Washington D.C, New York and Philadelphia harbor small pockets of habitat that allow bucks to mature with little hunting pressure. Each year savvy bowhunters gain access to these small tracts and harvest some dandy bucks.

Like the one in the picture from a northern VA suburb. Imagine if you had permission to bowhunt the 2 to 5 private acres between the park field and the houses/streets? You’d have a decent shot at that giant.

This weekend would be a good time to put on civilian clothes (no camo) and a smile and start knocking on doors in subdivisions and small estates where the woods out back look prime for deer. No other hunters are asking for permission now, so you’ll have a leg up. Most people will probably say no; the Bambi-lovers will tell you, hell no. Say thanks for your time and move on. It only takes one good person with the right 5 or so wooded acres to put you on some P&Y bucks.

Another big benefit to all the un-pressured bucks you'll see: Think about all the $5 gas you’ll save by hunting closer to home this fall. You won’t even have to trade your F-150 for a greenie-weenie :)