I was thinking about this scenario the other day while on stand. Say you're hunting, bowhunting we'll say for argument's sake. It's a sunny, clear, crisp cool morning, the wind is in your favor, everything is perfect for the stand you are sitting in. You have a mature deer (buck or doe, they are both pretty smart eh?) walk perfectly broadside at 20 yards. When it looks in the opposite direction of your stand you draw. Now here's where it gets cool. The sun is at your back and the your shadow lays 10 feet in front of the deer in the direction at which it is looking. How does it react? Does it spook at the sight of the moving shadow? Does it completely ignore it? Or, and I would be completely excited if this were the case, does it turn around and look straight at you? Meaning it can interpret how shadows work and where they come from in correlation with the sun. Thoughts or personal experiences?
i have seen deer spook on shadows. you need to remember they know their surroundings very well, so when a moving dark spot suddenly shows up in front of them they will notice. i've had them look at me but it's hard to say for sure it was based solely on the shadow. you add that tiny bit of noise you made, possibly your scent, who knows. but if you can see it they can see it. their eyes may see it differently than yours but they will notice it and put that with their awesome scent detection abilities and hearing = your busted
i have had it happen... we did a double set... and had two basket sixes come in and wouldnt leave... one started tuggin on the gear string we had hanging down to the ground... it was the cutest thing youve ever seen, it was like fishin for deer.. anyway, the one that wasnt on the other end of my line was lookin the opposite way and my buddy swears he caught my shadow when i tugged up on the line... they bolted about 20 yards.. and came back to find out what he saw.. while the other one went back to fishin... i ended up dropping hand warmers on the one... still didnt bust us... darwin mighta had something going for him... doubt he made it past the orange army
Hypothetically, you are 100% scent free. How does it distinguish the difference between you drawing a bow and tree branches that sway in the wind every single day?
One time while in stand I lifted my bow to check out my fiber optics in the the early moonlight while trapped in the stand and a doe saw the shadow and blew like crazy. Which encouraged all her friends to join in. That stand is just a tough one to get out of.
I doubt that deer have the abitlity to reason. They react to stimulus eithor positively or negatively based on past experience.
i say yes on the shadows but not sure what percentage of the time they would spook.... gotta give a no to the "look up and spot you cause the shadow" reason being what does a dog do when you cast a shadow on the wall from your flashlight or lamp in the room. they might turn and look at you because they can see YOU move but i dont think the link the shadow to you....
it totally depends on what that specific deer associates with danger, if a moving shadow triggers a danger response to them from some past experience they will react... if not, they won't have a clue.
I had this happen to me last year. I had a doe at 20 yards, quatering away. As I drew, my shadow was on the base of a tree that she was facing. She noticed the movement of my shadow and immediately wheeled around. She stopped about 10 yards later and proceded to "head bob", circle down wind and stomp at that tree without offering me a shot. She was not happy with that tree and eventually made her way off the direction she came. I don't she knew what had happened, but she noticed movement and figured it was better to vacat the area. It wasn't until after she was gone that I figured out why she was so upset with that tree. I went to hang up my bow and noticed my shadow on the tree out of the corner of my eye. Of course I moved my arm to confirm that movement was my shadow. It was dead calm that morning so maybe that is why she spooked from the movement. Never heard or seen that happen before.
This is the type of response I was hoping to hear. I think it's pretty cool how a deer can "figure out" problems it has never encountered before. For those of you said that if it triggers a negative response or dangerous event in the past, think of this scenario. An old doe is 8 years old, been through it all in the deer woods. Gun hunters, bowhunters, coyotes and dogs. It has fed on the same apple in a houseowner's back yard it's entire life until thisyear, the owner buys two german shepherds and chains them up 30 feet from the apple tree. How does the deer respond? According to you guys, the sight of the dogs "triggered a dangerous event in the animal's past so it will flee." Not the case, once the old doe has learned that the dog is chained to a stationary position and poses no threat to her while feeding on apples, she will feed within a mere 10 yards from the dogs, right?
