1.) bluecat - 11/03/2014

Have been hunting the edge of a cornfield and was seeing deer. Once the corn was cut, I got a better understanding about their patterns. I moved my stand in full expectation. No deer. For the last two weeks I haven't seen a deer which is pretty unusual. The only thing that has changed is that they released a small herd of cows into the cut corn. I seem to recall some threads on another forum years ago talking about this and the fact that deer and cows don't mix well so I called up my friend last night and asked him about it. He also said that deer and cows don't mix. He said that deer just don't like to be messed with and the presence of cows is something they would avoid if possible.

So I'm just throwing that out there to see if any of you had had similar experiences. I'm going to move my stand....again.



P.S. The cows really enjoy my buck decoy.

2.) Swamp Fox - 11/03/2014

Let's ask Deerminator! :wink

I've heard the same thing about deer and cows, but have no experience hunting around them, other than for turkeys (they like to rummage through cow patties).

I gave up using my decoy around horses. They'd charge across the pasture and knock it over, LOL. I'd climb down and set it back up, climb my tree again, and they'd run over and knock poor lil Bucky to the ground once more.

It's embarrassing how many times I tried to get them to stop doing that...:p

3.) Swamp Fox - 11/03/2014

Here's a thread that might be helpful in case you haven't seen it:

[url]http://mikehanback.typepad.com/mikehanbackcom/2008/01/will-cows-wreck.html[/url]

4.) XJCraver - 11/03/2014

I don't hunt my pasture, but there are deer in with my cows every single day. And they tear the ever-living CRAP out of my fences weekly. I think, if there is deer sign there, I'd continue to hunt it.

5.) Triton Rich - 11/03/2014

[B]I would bet that it has to do with the cows showing up suddenly. Whitetails have an amazing capacity to adapt. I'm hunting in an urban setting and the deer completely ignore lawn mowers, cars, screaming kids etc. I imagine deer that live near a pasture that cows are in year round pay them no mind. [/B]

6.) bluecat - 11/03/2014

Yeah, I know it doesn't make any sense, but I'm seeing nothing where weeks before I was seeing deer. Gonna switch things up for a few weeks and hunt a spot that might yield a big buck. I do this every year. No row crops, just prairie. It can get lonely but I know some big bucks live out there. Then I'll check back with the cows.

7.) Alex - 11/03/2014

It wasnt the deer.
It was the change.
Both in cover and company.

8.) bluecat - 11/03/2014

[QUOTE=Alex;26905]It wasnt the deer.
It was the change.
Both in cover and company.[/QUOTE]

Was that a haiku? :wink

9.) Alex - 11/03/2014

[QUOTE=bluecat;26908]Was that a haiku? :wink[/QUOTE]
If it was it sucked and I cant count :P

10.) Deerminator - 11/03/2014

Ya came to the right man;

I have hunted in cow pastures many times Toxo has also. It was kinda weird when ya'd see a huge brownish multicolored beef cow come meyandering
down the cow trail. which the deer used quite regularly. I've seen deer and cows in the same pasture many times.
One afternoon down in green NY I was coming up a step cow pasture and was walking amongst
a group of cows when I saw a doe and her fawns feeding up ahead about 300yds
I turned the cow around and pushed he uphill towards the deer.
The deer never saw or smelled me hiding behind the cow. Got within 7o yds before it got to be too dark to see the pins.
It was a good stalk.:tu:

11.) Bob Peck - 11/03/2014

[QUOTE=Alex;26905]It wasnt the deer.
It was the change.
Both in cover and company.[/QUOTE]

I'll second that.

Deer share habitat with predators and learn to steer around them just as they learn to steer around large, smelly and benign interlopers like cows who aren't predators. Plot Watchers and trail cameras would instantly tell you if the deer have gone nocturnal or at the very least have temporarily vacated.

12.) Swamp Fox - 11/03/2014

Steering around is one thing. Being able to hunt the deer that are steering around is another.

I think it's likely that if deer are temporarily bumped by the presence of cattle, you can come back after the situation has settled down.

But if something is constantly pushing the deer around, as in a bad hog situation over food sources, or as in feral dogs or hunting dogs, it makes for tough bowhunting.

13.) bluecat - 11/04/2014

Those deer were coming into the cut corn just fine till the cows showed up. It would be folly to keep hunting there right now. I also can't hunt nocturnal deer if that is the case. To not see a deer there is not only rare, I'm not sure I've ever experienced it.

Heading west.

14.) Swamp Fox - 11/04/2014

Damn cows. I blame Deerminator.

Make sure you carry a spare wheel for your covered wagon, and watch out for Injuns...

15.) luv2bowhunt - 11/05/2014

I can't believe deer abandoned an area completely because of cows. I would by moved a bit, or changed a pattern, but not abandoned.

I agree that scouting cameras will tell you the story. Too late anyway, that young man is headed west.

16.) Deerminator - 11/05/2014

cow yogahttp://www.amazon.com/Cow-Yoga-2014-Wall-Calendar/dp/1607559978

17.) Bob Peck - 11/06/2014

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;26919]Steering around is one thing. Being able to hunt the deer that are steering around is another. [/QUOTE]

As you know most deer (especially does) are creatures of habit. By "steering around" cows they establish a new pattern of access and egress from a location. I have Plot Watcher footage (lots of it) showing cows browsing one way and deer trafficking/staging in the opposite direction. I have used the intel from these Plot Watchers to be in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time to hunt the deer "steering around".

When cows suddenly show up in the habitat of the whitetail it takes time but eventually the deer return which is especially true if the browse source (usually meadow grasses) is higher in protein than what's available in the deer woods. The rut is kicking in hard and furious here in Virginia so all bets on predictability would be off just as in any location where the rut is active but make no mistake they return to available food sources when the action (cows or rut) subsides.