It’s no secret that deer can have a tendency to spook easily. You know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve ever been blown at by a deer and see him run away. Have you ever seen a deer do that to a cow or heard of that happening? The answer is most likely no. However, deer may still keep their distance around cattle in some cases. This article will help you understand your own personal observations a little bit better when it comes to cattle and deer behavior.
I used to own a hunting property that bordered a year-round cattle operation with lots of pasture ground on the west and south borders. I have witnessed several times how deer and cows interact with each other. Cattle typically have a year-round presence, therefore deer learn to coexist and become comfortable around them. However, I have never seen deer and cattle and deer herding up together. The only time I see them together is when feeding in a field.
Will deer mingle with cattle
If your neighbor decides to turn his property into a cattle farm and there are no other cattle farms close by, then I suspect that those deer aren’t going to be mingling with the cows very soon. The question is how long are those cows going to be around for and if they are going to be there long enough for the deer to have time to get used to them being around.
The whitetail deer is one of the most adaptable creatures on earth. I have fed a free-range mature whitetail buck from the palm of my hand. I have also witnessed a herd of does bedded down in the middle of chemical plant with loud equipment everywhere and people walking around. And just like you, I have witnessed the spooky nature of a whitetail that every deer hunter has experienced.
Through all of my observations over the years what I have come to learn is that deer are some of the best learners in the animal kingdom. Imagine how a deer spends its time in a typical month. If you had to sum it up, most of a whitetail’s time is spent laying around, eating, and interacting with other deer in the herd in a fairly consistent environment. If the cattle just happen to consistently be around in that environment then the deer are going to be calm and relaxed around them. I want to put a lot of attention on the word “consistent”.
A whitetail deer is going to adapt and find comfort in its environment as long as that environment is safe and consistant.
Deer are alerted to inconsistency
Do you want to know what really spooks deer? Anything that is out of the norm in a deer’s environment is what will put them on edge and send them running away. Let me make this a little clearer. I mentioned that deer are great learners. Deer know when something changes in their environment and will become immediately alerted if they see, hear, or smell anything that they associate with a threat to their safety.
I used to have permission to hunt on a ten-acre piece of property that was mostly wooded. The landowners had a nice home on the property where they lived and they loved working in their yard directly around the house. When I asked permission to hunt they mentioned how they always saw deer while working outside and that they never seemed to run away. The landowners also told me that they rarely walked into the woods and mostly stayed on their lawn. My theory as to why those deer never ran away when the landowners were outside and close by is because they learned over several occasions that those landowners were not a threat to their safety. I also believe that those deer learned and became familiar with the scent of those landowners.
I hunted less than 100 yards behind their house and deer seemed to always spook when I hunted there. To be honest, I was new to hunting and didn’t pay as much attention to hunting with the correct wind as I do today, but those hunting experiences taught me a lot. Those deer that caught a whiff of my scent knew I wasn’t one of those landowners. On top of that, those deer knew the landowners didn’t go into the woods and that the scent they smelled was coming from a direction they weren’t used to smelling human scent coming from. To the deer, all of this added up to DANGER.
Deer hunting cow pasture
If you’re hunting in the middle of a herd of cattle then I would try to find a different spot to hunt if you can. The outside edge of the herd is a more ideal place to be set up to ambush a deer. However, always prioritize your wind direction and entry/exit route over everything else. The deer are used to hearing, seeing and smelling the cattle, but if they know you are there then your odds of seeing a deer are unlikely.
Conclusion
Deer aren’t going to be spooked by cows if the cattle are consistently in the area. Deer and cows don’t naturally herd together even though you may see deer feed near or walk through a group of cattle. Deer are smart learners and know where cattle are spending their time. Deer will naturally become comfortable with them being around. Anything that isn’t consistent in a whitetails environment is going to equal danger to them or make the spooky at the very least. They will run away or blow at danger almost every time.
Cattle pasture creates a unique opportunity to get aggressive and try out some different hunting tactics. Try to hunt where the cattle aren’t, but don’t think the deer won’t pass by close to them. Deer will absolutely get in close to cattle especially if they need to feed or travel through area’s where cattle are at.