Would deer trap themselves in?

[ThumbsMcGee]

So I’ve got the WMA area I’m looking at, and it has mucky nasty creeks on the left & right, as well as a full-on large river to the south. Would mature deer, or any deer for that matter, trap themselves in like this?

Below is a pic of the area. It’s roughly a mile from top to bottom, and 1/3 mile from creek to creek. Just as the creeks begin up top experiences heavy pressure.

South of the river is private land.

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[Nutterbuster]

Who says they're trapped?

Deer prefer not to swim, but they're perfectly capable if push comes to shove. If sign is there, hunt it.

 

[GCTerpfan]

I was out striping fishing one evening and watched a doe make this swim, took her a while and she was dodging boats the whole time but, she made it. Then she had to get in the water again at some point to get off the island she swam too.

 

[ThumbsMcGee]

Who says they're trapped?

Deer prefer not to swim, but they're perfectly capable if push comes to shove. If sign is there, hunt it.

Trapped is a poor choice of words, I will admit.

I guess a better question would be, “would they give themselves a difficult exit route?”

While they could limit predator access by this, it’s quite the compromise. And I know I can’t be the only hunter whose looked at this area and thought the same thing. I’m going in Saturday to see what I can find.


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[Nutterbuster]

Trapped is a poor choice of words, I will admit.

I guess a better question would be, “would they give themselves a difficult exit route?”

While they could limit predator access by this, it’s quite the compromise. And I know I can’t be the only hunter whose looked at this area and thought the same thing. I’m going in Saturday to see what I can find.


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A "difficult" escape route for them is an impossible one for their primary predator: you.

My first thought is that if people are accessing the bottleneck to the north, I would try to find the escape routes on the creek crossings and approach via water.

I don't usually weigh in on these topo map questions, but your area looks very similar to mine.

 

[sdonx]

Deer swim very well and can swim distances. I hear they cross from the mainland to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket often.

 

[GCTerpfan]

In my opinion, deer are going to go where there is the least amount of human pressure as long as they have some kind of exit route, even if it involves crossing a river or creek. With that said I have little experience in the type of terrain in the pic.

However, I have seen them escape by diving off some pretty steep, rocky slopes that probably wouldn't have been their first choice of travel. Like @Nutterbuster said, if it's difficult for them it's impossible for you to follow.

 

[huntmore]

So I’ve got the WMA area I’m looking at, and it has mucky nasty creeks on the left & right, as well as a full-on large river to the south. Would mature deer, or any deer for that matter, trap themselves in like this?

Below is a pic of the area. It’s roughly a mile from top to bottom, and 1/3 mile from creek to creek. Just as the creeks begin up top experiences heavy pressure.

South of the river is private land.

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puzzled why you think they would be trapped
as mentioned deer swim and will do what it takes to escape from you

 

[sureshotscott]

Fishing last summer in a lake surrounded by a 100% no-hunting refuge, I kicked a doe off a tiny island separated from the bank by about 10 feet. All I did was glide in by canoe, pretty quiet. She spooked and sprinted through that belly-deep water away to safety like nothing. My opinion is deer completely lack the aversion to water most of us tenderfoots have (except in cold temps, especially if there's ice).

 

[Nutterbuster]

Fishing last summer in a lake surrounded by a 100% no-hunting refuge, I kicked a doe off a tiny island separated from the bank by about 10 feet. All I did was glide in by canoe, pretty quiet. She spooked and sprinted through that belly-deep water away to safety like nothing. My opinion is deer completely lack the aversion to water most of us tenderfoots have (except in cold temps, especially if there's ice).

A creek, steep bank, or swampy area is to a deer what a 2ft high wall is to us. Under normal circumstances, 90% of the population will skirt it 90% of the time. Just not worth the energy.

But throw a snake at somebody, and they'll clear a two foot wall in an instant to put something between them and the snake.

 

[kyler1945]

Trapped is a poor choice of words, I will admit.

I guess a better question would be, “would they give themselves a difficult exit route?”

While they could limit predator access by this, it’s quite the compromise. And I know I can’t be the only hunter whose looked at this area and thought the same thing. I’m going in Saturday to see what I can find.


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Deer can’t think critically. They just go where people go the least. I can’t tell you if there are deer there. But I can PROMISE they aren’t contemplating their predicament, or their next move. They’re just eating, sleeping, and avoiding you. They have no concept of what you’re referring to. Best to drop that notion.

In a nutshell, if there’s food and cover, they’ll go there until human presence becomes intolerable.

 

[NATHAN]

Scout it if you can.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Starting about 30 years agoi I have floated rivers during rifle and muzzleloader season in my Grumman (my avatar). In my experience deer will seek the points on a riverbed to bed in when pressured. They know all they have to do is cross the river to evade predators (i.e. hunters). Also, they seem to believe that they're safe from the water side. I guess they figure that they'll hear any predators coming through the water or up the bank. When I first started float hunting I found you could float right up next to the deer laying right on the bank and they'd just lay there and look at you passing by. This type of hunting has become more popular as of late and the deer have become more educated so they won't just lay there like they used to but they still bed right on the river edge.

 

[IkemanTX]

Man, the only thing those creeks keep out is hunters...
There is a very large reservoir I hunt, and every year there are big bucks photographed swimming a half mile or more to get to where they want to go. It won’t slow them down in the least...

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[IkemanTX]

Deer can’t think critically. They just go where people go the least. I can’t tell you if there are deer there. But I can PROMISE they aren’t contemplating their predicament, or their next move. They’re just eating, sleeping, and avoiding you. They have no concept of what you’re referring to. Best to drop that notion.

In a nutshell, if there’s food and cover, they’ll go there until human presence becomes intolerable.

I don’t know that I believe the “can’t think critically”
I have seen some deer so some things that absolutely have to require reasoning skills...


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[huck72412]

Deer definitely have the mental capacity to think critically. Many years ago I hunted a buck the ultimately earned the name Einstein. Some will scoff and say ole huck got a bit too deep in the sauce but here goes: I was hunting an overgrown orchard ( apples, peaches) and every year there was that one tree that got picked first. I had done my homework and knew the tree and had visual confirmation of his evening visits. The topography was rugged to say the very least. Between the rows of once manicured fruit trees, the thorns and greenbrier had grown waist high. I watched this buck walk totally unmolested with seemingly zero caution 4 out of 5 days leading up to the weekend. I moved in mid morning on Saturday confident that he’d be there at the same time again. My tree was a 20 year old dogwood on the fringe of the orchard almost exactly 30 yards to his favorite apples. The tree he was using was on the second row inward from the perimeter. He was absolutely dead as long as he read the script. Did he???? It seemed as though he read it 100 times and had it memorized as he emerged from a clump of kudzu 75 yards away. He never even appeared to have anything in mind except that apple tree. He stood , shook the dew from his Lily and headed straight to it. His approach would lead him behind several trees and then through two openings about the width of his overall length. Within each opening we’re the thorns and greenbrier. When he started in and I felt it was safe to draw I stood and drew my bow. He picked me in his periphery and I knew it was over . To my my surprise, he only watched me for about 15 seconds. What he did next will live in my mind forever. He continued his path to the tree but when he reached each of the two openings that should have served as my shot window, he literally hunkered down behind the thorns and CRAWLED through each one. He got to his tree and fed for 45 minutes on the backside out of view. AHA MOMENT for sure. I want to slap a great friend of mine that says “ he didn’t get big by being stupid”. Because he says it a million times every deer season. But I’m this particular case he couldn’t have been more accurate. That’s my take!!!!!

 

[ThumbsMcGee]

Man, the only thing those creeks keep out is hunters...
There is a very large reservoir I hunt, and every year there are big bucks photographed swimming a half mile or more to get to where they want to go. It won’t slow them down in the least...

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These pics are pretty awesome. The creeks contain this much which can suck a human leg down knee deep. I nearly lost a boot two seasons ago while trying to cross. They’re effective at keeping us Neanderthals out


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[GCTerpfan]

Deer definitely have the mental capacity to think critically. Many years ago I hunted a buck the ultimately earned the name Einstein. Some will scoff and say ole huck got a bit too deep in the sauce but here goes: I was hunting an overgrown orchard ( apples, peaches) and every year there was that one tree that got picked first. I had done my homework and knew the tree and had visual confirmation of his evening visits. The topography was rugged to say the very least. Between the rows of once manicured fruit trees, the thorns and greenbrier had grown waist high. I watched this buck walk totally unmolested with seemingly zero caution 4 out of 5 days leading up to the weekend. I moved in mid morning on Saturday confident that he’d be there at the same time again. My tree was a 20 year old dogwood on the fringe of the orchard almost exactly 30 yards to his favorite apples. The tree he was using was on the second row inward from the perimeter. He was absolutely dead as long as he read the script. Did he???? It seemed as though he read it 100 times and had it memorized as he emerged from a clump of kudzu 75 yards away. He never even appeared to have anything in mind except that apple tree. He stood , shook the dew from his Lily and headed straight to it. His approach would lead him behind several trees and then through two openings about the width of his overall length. Within each opening we’re the thorns and greenbrier. When he started in and I felt it was safe to draw I stood and drew my bow. He picked me in his periphery and I knew it was over . To my my surprise, he only watched me for about 15 seconds. What he did next will live in my mind forever. He continued his path to the tree but when he reached each of the two openings that should have served as my shot window, he literally hunkered down behind the thorns and CRAWLED through each one. He got to his tree and fed for 45 minutes on the backside out of view. AHA MOMENT for sure. I want to slap a great friend of mine that says “ he didn’t get big by being stupid”. Because he says it a million times every deer season. But I’m this particular case he couldn’t have been more accurate. That’s my take!!!!!

This has been a topic on a couple of recent meat eater podcasts. There are several people that have written in and described witnessing deer crawling or walking on their knees across openings in an apparent effort to stay hidden.

 

[Rg176bnc]

They love to back up to water. I know what Id be doing.

 

[elk yinzer]

Deer can’t think critically. They just go where people go the least. I can’t tell you if there are deer there. But I can PROMISE they aren’t contemplating their predicament, or their next move. They’re just eating, sleeping, and avoiding you. They have no concept of what you’re referring to. Best to drop that notion.

In a nutshell, if there’s food and cover, they’ll go there until human presence becomes intolerable.

I don't know man, I can't agree with this. I think you are underestimating not only their survival instincts but their intelligence. Critical thinking, ok maybe not depending how you define that. No they can't sit down and do a NYT crossword puzzle or try to make a 1 pound climbing stick, but they sure as sheet know their territory a lot better than we do, no matter how much we scout. They certainly learn. They absolutely have their next move planned out, and why. We've all bumped into the fawns that run off like bumbling idiots. They die or get better. Old bucks don't do that stupid stuff, often. At least not here or they are dead. They slink off. They stay put and let you pass. That's all learned behavior.