1.) Bob Peck - 11/10/2015

[COLOR="#0000FF"]I know my thread title is not politically correct. I probably should have said "Project Entrails" of "Project Deer Anatomy Going Goodbye" but as I'm getting older and caring less about political correctness, it is what it is. I killed a deer, gutted it and positioned a trail camera.

I always knew unseen critters benefited but still I wondered how every single scrap of a gut pile disappears in less than 24 hours. Now I know.
[/COLOR]
[B]FIRST ON SCENE: A FLOCK OF TURKEY VULTURES WHO SPEND 1/2 HOUR HAVING ONE HELL OF A PARTY[/B]
[url]http://vid392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/zulubob/PICT0094.10.31.15.Turkey.Vultures4_zpslolc4u7i.mp4[/url]

[B]
SECOND ON SCENE: A COYOTE THE SIZE OF A GERMAN-SHEPARD. [/B]
[url]http://vid392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/zulubob/Coyote3_zpsxrhgcusl.mp4[/url]


[B]ENTER MR. FOX:[/B]
[url]http://vid392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/zulubob/Fox4_zpssvfe5qvp.mp4[/url]


[B]ENTER UNKNOWN DOMESTICATED DOG PREVIOUSLY FILMED RUNNING DEER:[/B]
[url]http://vid392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/zulubob/PICT0104.Brown.Dog2.10.31.15_zpsoexxm8sy.mp4[/url]
[COLOR="#0000FF"]
There we have it. Mystery solved. Everybody shares in the party except Mr. Black Bear who is somewhere on the property but chose not to dine that night.[/COLOR]

2.) DParker - 11/10/2015

Were those Turkey vultures? Those things are incredibly numerous around the areas I hunt. They're huge individually, and flock in large numbers. I would imagine that by the time they were done there wasn't much of anything left for the canines that followed. (They're also a pain to pressure wash out of your radiator grill after hitting one at ~65 MPH.)

BTW...you failed to provide a trigger warning on your hurtful title, and my delicate sensibilities were offended. Consider yourself reported to the [URL="https://reason.com/blog/2015/11/10/university-of-missouri-cops-tell-student"]University of Missouri Campus Feelings Police[/URL].

3.) billy b - 11/10/2015

Very interesting, didn't expect the dog.

4.) Bob Peck - 11/10/2015

[QUOTE=DParker;36252]Were those Turkey vultures? Those things are incredibly numerous around the areas I hunt. They're also a pain to pressure wash out of your radiator grill after hitting one at ~65[/QUOTE] :laugh: Now that right there is dang funny! lol! Well maybe not if you're doing the pressure washing. Some of the locals use turkey vultures instead of blood trailing to find their deer. Not something I recommend.

5.) Bob Peck - 11/10/2015

[QUOTE=billy b;36253]Very interesting, didn't expect the dog.[/QUOTE]

Me either.

I was going to start a "what would you do?" thread about dogs on your hunting property when you have decisive evidence (i.e. video, trail camera stills) they're chasing deer. 50% doesn't have the heart to waste someone's pet (the collar is the criteria for "pet"). The other 50% knows they're messing up my hunting which granted is selfish but I work that particular property all year, every year.

I presented the neighbor with stills of his two dogs on the property and he took care of the problem immediately. He knows I have his six and we get along but at first he said "Oh no. My dogs don't run deer." Hmmm ... "Oh really, then whose Jack Russell and Lab are these." Busted.

6.) DParker - 11/10/2015

[QUOTE=Bob Peck;36254]Well maybe not if you're doing the pressure washing.[/QUOTE]

I looked at it as an educational experience. For instance, I now know that a turkey vulture is mostly white meat.

Hopefully though, that's knowledge that will never come in handy.

7.) Jon - 11/11/2015

Great footage Bob. I did a similar experiment last year and found the turkey vultures clean up most of it. I had a hawk and an eagle as well as several foxes but the foxes didn't eat, they just came in and sniffed around.
I almost sound like swampy there ^, damn, I'm out.....

8.) Swamp Fox - 11/11/2015

This is a sharing place, Jon...Where all our contributors are cherished for who they are...

Milk and cookies at 11.


:nta:

9.) Wild Bob - 11/11/2015

Everything has got to eat!

One thing is for certain, few things go to waste in nature...Great post, thanks for sharing your footage.:tu:

10.) Wild Bob - 11/11/2015

Honestly, I'm not totally convinced that a gut pile screws up a hunter's chances in a given area. May be in select certain circumstances...but I've killed multiple deer within sight of fresh gut piles from the same stand in the past.

It's all part of nature, and all animals are used to smelling dead things.

11.) Swamp Fox - 11/11/2015

I think it's possible deer will avoid a particularly smelly area, such as around a carcass that is rotting. Some things die in places carrion-eaters can't get to very easily, so the area stinks for quite a while. I'm sure it's not the smell of death or decay that is a deterrent. Rather, I think it's possible that deer are aware that the odor is 1) unpleasant 2) overwhelming and/or 3) detracts from their ability to use their noses in the normal course of business, such as evading predators.

12.) Bob Peck - 11/11/2015

[QUOTE=Wild Bob;36275]Honestly, I'm not totally convinced that a gut pile screws up a hunter's chances in a given area. May be in select certain circumstances...but I've killed multiple deer within sight of fresh gut piles from the same stand in the past.[/QUOTE]

As a gross generalization I can say if the herd you hunt (no matter where you hunt) is habituated to humans, a hunter (bow or gun) can get away with a whole lot more that a deep woods hunt where human contact with the animal is rare. Gut piles happen whether or not humans create them so yeah, I agree with you Bob.

This footage was shot immediately adjacent to my premium-super-deluxe-rarely-fails-me honey hole. There's a ridge line in front, a logging road behind with the stand in the hardwoods transition area between the two and surrounded by mature white oaks. I must have shot more than 20+ animals out of this stand over the years. There's no doubt in my mind even with all that predator scent scattered around I will shoot 1 or 2 more out of that stand before it's burned out for the season and the deer head deeper seeking seclusion.

13.) luv2bowhunt - 11/12/2015

[QUOTE=Bob Peck;36281]As a gross generalization I can say if the herd you hunt (no matter where you hunt) is habituated to humans, a hunter (bow or gun) can get away with a whole lot more that a deep woods hunt where human contact with the animal is rare.[/QUOTE]

I completely agree with that. I don't even think it's merely a 'generalization' but a fact. Some deer don't have the luxury of abandoning their patterns because of human intrusion.