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deer hearing and mild noise: are all deer senses amazing?

raisins

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Joined
Jan 17, 2019
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found this, not sure how credible....but maybe our own hearing ability (if healthy) is a decent barometer for what deer can hear (if you can't hear something from 10 yards away then the chance of a deer hearing it at 50 yards might be pretty low)....i mostly focus on not wearing super loud nylon shells and don't worry about regular hunting clothing being loud (most of my clothes are the soft polyester stuff (under armor, midwayusa copies of under armor, etc) and not the super quiet fleece and wool)....i've only been busted for clothing once when i had on ski pants and the deer was right under me and i stupidly slid off the seat and made a very loud noise....i don't worry about zippers, i just look around and if i can't see any deer i just unzip my jacket or whatever


a quote



Miller and D’Angelo placed deer of various ages in a soundproof booth, attached electrodes and measured brainwave activity in response to different sound frequencies. They found that, when it comes to hearing, deer and humans are more alike than people might realize.

“A deer’s hearing capabilities aren’t that different from ours,” Miller said. “Their greatest capability is in the same range as sounds we hear.”

Like humans, deer hear best in moderate frequencies, 4,000-8,000 hertz. Deer vocalizations like bawls, bleats and grunts are all in this range. Deer can detect sound at lower volumes than we can, but the difference isn’t great.

Where deer excel is in detecting high-pitched sounds. While the upper end of human hearing is about 20,000 hertz, deer can hear frequencies to at least 30,000 hertz.
 
I’ve heard this before as well. I think a deers hearing gets amplified by the simple fact they know how to use their bodies. Meaning they point their ears. It’s like cupping your ears with your hand and points it In the direction of a sound. You hear it wayyyy better. Also deer are sensitive to noises they don’t hear often which is why they pick off hunters sounds. Most of the sounds a hunter makes arnt a normal sound in the woods. Then you factor in their tolerance for sounds they don’t hear often and boom all of a sudden deer can hear wayyyy better than people when according to studies they don’t. If that makes sense
 
Yup. University of Georgia did a study and found the same thing:
What deer are good at is locating the source of the sound

Agreed

It's amazing to me that you can grunt at a deer 400 yards away with their head turned away from you and they can pinpoint the tree, even with the wind in your favor.
 
Agreed

It's amazing to me that you can grunt at a deer 400 yards away with their head turned away from you and they can pinpoint the tree, even with the wind in your favor.

grunting has never been very effective for me where or hunt or how i grunt (i might stink at it).....but the one time it worked really well...a forkie came in from at least 60 yards away and was looking up into trees as he walked in....looking for the deer grunting from 20 feet up....he eventually found me and my tree and just stared at me for a while before walking off.....i saw him 60 yards away walking in with his head up looking
 
grunting has never been very effective for me where or hunt or how i grunt (i might stink at it).....but the one time it worked really well...a forkie came in from at least 60 yards away and was looking up into trees as he walked in....looking for the deer grunting from 20 feet up....he eventually found me and my tree and just stared at me for a while before walking off.....i saw him 60 yards away walking in with his head up looking

Sometimes they can hear you but ignore you.

I've grunted in two big bucks that seemed to not care at first, but finally got annoyed enough to come in.

One in MI came past me at probably 40-50 yds. This buck was thrashing trees and scrapping every few steps. He was going to be too far for a shot, so I thought, what do I have to lose. I probably grunted 20+ times. He just ignored me the whole time and walked to a steep edge. Just as I thought he was going to head down it, he turned and came head on right to my tree, stood there looking around for a few moments, and then turned directly away and went down the bluff. Never had a shot angle I was happy with. Too bad, biggest racked buck I encountered in MI.

I had a clean miss in VA on a giant (hit a branch). Only I was below him, and got him to give up the ridge.

They may have heard and worked to get better wind/thermals before coming in. But neither flinched, looked, nada during all the grunting.

Then I've had nice bucks look my direction immediately with the first soft grunt, from further away and in tougher conditions to hear.
 
Sharp sounds are your enemy. Clangs, bangs, snaps, pops, etc. The sound waves carry farther. Softer sounds like zippers, fabric on fabric, a couple youturders whispertalking to each other... you can get away with a ton as long as the deer isn't cuddled up next to you. Science folks.
 
Sharp sounds are your enemy. Clangs, bangs, snaps, pops, etc. The sound waves carry farther. Softer sounds like zippers, fabric on fabric, a couple youturders whispertalking to each other... you can get away with a ton as long as the deer isn't cuddled up next to you. Science folks.

I agree and don't worry about sound quite like I do scent.

One bust that is sharp in my memory though happened to me in OH during gun season. I had a great buck working down a ridge in front of me. I guess he was somewhere between 30-40yds from me when I shifted my weight to brace my arm on my leg. I was in a LW sit and climb with the fabric seat, and the moisture from leaving it in the tree overnight caused a faint fabric-fabric noise that he immediately reacted too, looking right at me in the tree...with a barrel pointed right at him. The buck never ran, just cautiously worked away from me, but I had some banged up ribs from a car accident and I held the shot.

I'm still amazed the buck heard it. I've had others that for whatever reason go about there business when you'd think they'd head for the hills...maybe hard of hearing those ones.
 
I intentionally made noises this fall with lots of deer in the 5-50 yd range to guage their reactions (also tried past 50, but didn't seem to matter at all). Zippers, velcro, farts, burps, low talking, and even thinking a carabiner on metal. Not a scientific or statistically accurate sampling, but the results were it depends. The majority ignored everything, while a few reacted at the first noise. I think folks on here go way overboard on reducing noises for setups and such that are not really relevant in most hunting scenarios - most are not setting up close enough to bedded deer that will hear you. You do you, but will be better served to focus on having lots of deer up close first and worry about the minor stuff after you do that consistently.
 
I had my phone clipped on my tether this past season. I received a text message and the phone vibrated, while I doe was walking past at 15 yards. My phone was 20 feet up the tree. That doe heard that half second vibration and spun her head right up to me. I was standing still, letting her pass (buck only day), and she never saw me. She sure enough heard that little vibration though. Now my phone is completely on silent mode and I have a little green light notification.
 
I've seen it go both ways really. I've made a lot of mistakes with my noise discipline over tthe years too. Just try to do the best you can and hope the wind is in their faces lol.

Sent from my SM-T500 using Tapatalk
 
found this, not sure how credible....but maybe our own hearing ability (if healthy) is a decent barometer for what deer can hear (if you can't hear something from 10 yards away then the chance of a deer hearing it at 50 yards might be pretty low)....i mostly focus on not wearing super loud nylon shells and don't worry about regular hunting clothing being loud (most of my clothes are the soft polyester stuff (under armor, midwayusa copies of under armor, etc) and not the super quiet fleece and wool)....i've only been busted for clothing once when i had on ski pants and the deer was right under me and i stupidly slid off the seat and made a very loud noise....i don't worry about zippers, i just look around and if i can't see any deer i just unzip my jacket or whatever


a quote



Miller and D’Angelo placed deer of various ages in a soundproof booth, attached electrodes and measured brainwave activity in response to different sound frequencies. They found that, when it comes to hearing, deer and humans are more alike than people might realize.

“A deer’s hearing capabilities aren’t that different from ours,” Miller said. “Their greatest capability is in the same range as sounds we hear.”

Like humans, deer hear best in moderate frequencies, 4,000-8,000 hertz. Deer vocalizations like bawls, bleats and grunts are all in this range. Deer can detect sound at lower volumes than we can, but the difference isn’t great.

Where deer excel is in detecting high-pitched sounds. While the upper end of human hearing is about 20,000 hertz, deer can hear frequencies to at least 30,000 hertz.
I think deer are much like humans, and it just depends on that individual.... I have had deer come up on me shortly after doing something that I figured had ruined my hunt, and never paid any attention to me or what was going on. Then I have had deer react to something as simple as my sling sliding across my stand.
 
Deer are also curious creatures and if sounds don't sound like or remind them of "DEATH, DEATH, DEATH" then they try figure it out.
 
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