Negative. The predators are constantly evolving as well. The ones laying in wait out in the open keep going hungry and don't survive ....hence they don't pass those traits to off spring as they aren't having many ...
Not exactly. The dumb ones would've been dinner for a predator. The survivors learn to adapt. I think it would be a safe bet to say that Whitetail deer are considerably better at avoiding death by man today than they were 5000 years ago. Years ago, they had other predators to worry about like big cats, bears, wolves. Now, they have to deal with us, because we've dealt with the other predators. So in reality, we may actually be hunting Super Deer.
Imparting thoughts is exactly what your doing. The deer is not choosing to do anything, there is no decision being made. decision: a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration. Either the stimulus he receives triggers a response or it doesn't. If the stimuli that is motivating the deer to keep walking in the direction he is going after he hears the call is greater then he keeps going . if the stimuli from the call is greater then he may respond. When a buck starts chasing during the pre rut and follows a doe into situations and places that it normally wouldn't go ...why is that? It's because the urge to bred is more stimulating that it's inert wariness at that time. It's not a decision it's a response to stimuli.
You make a good point we might be hunting super deer only if the survivors (the smart deer) passed along the good genes over the last 5000 years there would only be smart deer left and we know that's not the case. They are just an animal not a super animal just an animal. They do have the ability to learn and remember so why is it such a stretch for them to reason?
I don't know that's not the case. They may all be smart deer. I can't compare them to deer from 5000 years ago. We can't say they don't have better instincts than the deer from 5000 years ago, because we don't have a deer from 5000 years ago to compare them to.
and as the 2012 presidential election results indicate; sometimes we experience things and still don't learn anything...
Deer like humans are creatures of habit. Much like we can pattern deer I feel they can pattern us. if we always walk into our stand the same way or the same time they will pick up on that IMO. A deers hearing is so much better than ours that I don't think we can really comprehend what they hear... Or don't hear...Why is it when we try and stop them in our shooting lane it sometimes takes 2 or 3 vocalizations to make them stop ... I don't think it's reasoning. But I do think they heard the first attempt to stop them. I feel the way they process data or stimuli is slower than we do and that's why they always seem to be on such hi alert. It's the same with their sense smell... But I do feel if a deer could reason humans would not be the main reason they are around and so prevalent today through our conversation efforts.
I dont believe a deers hearing is that extraordinary. Do they have the ability to smell beyond what we can wrap our heads around.. yes... see minute movements.. yes... hear a pin drop... no.. They do have the ability to pin point where a sound they can hear is coming from tho. You can hunt with someone and whisper back and forth with a deer within range that most breeds of dogs would hear you without a problem and deer never twitch a ear. They seem to be on par with horses in the hearing department.. good.. not great.
Deer have a heightened sense of awareness and know when things are different. You can't just put a blind up in the middle of the trail and expect them to keep walking by. They are cautious and for good reason. IMO deer don't make decisions on reason and don't go to bed thinking about what made the sound that scared them. They just know from instinct if something doesn't feel right, it's probably not right. My dad and I experienced it this year. Put up a ladder stand and the bucks were cautious but they didn't disappear. The first day we sat in it opening morning, the bucks knew something was different. They walked by out of shooting range and we didn't get a picture of a buck there again for 3 weeks. They knew something was different and avoided the area but I don't think they used reason to come to that conclusion. I may be wrong but to me using reason also deals with problem solving and analyzing. I don't think deer have the ability to do that. Animals are instinctual not analytical.
Deer do not reason. They have the ability to adapt to learned behaviors. Example: Becoming call shy. From investigating calls made by humans and learning that the call was not made from another animal, deer have learned to become more wary to investigate calls. Hell, even turkeys become call shy........... do you think they reason?
Well, turkeys might not but many other species of bird do. Crows, for one. I agree w/ you on deer. Other than some primates (specifically orangutans,) non-predatory land mammals do not reason. Predatory mammals can and do reason.
Your assuming they came to conclusion. We are assuming they are reacting to sensory input, there is no thought or logic involved. We have all seen deer react, none of us have ever a deer use reason through logical determination. Bestowing intelligence on them is more stroking our own egos. See how smart they are? I killed him so I must be smarter. Increasing our satisfaction with our actions. Why make it harder then it needs to be, deer are wary and have impressive senses at their disposal, coupled with a genetic predisposition that allows those senses keep them alive ...sometimes. Super prey animals but higher intelligence? No way.
Figures, Mater makes this post when I'm out hunting all day. My point is this: When a hunter rattles without ground noise any deer within earshot are going to hear the rattling and either respond or not respond. This can be based on a variety of things including past experiences with rattling (becoming call shy), his mood, time of year, etc. If the deer does not respond to the call it's not because he heard the call but didn't hear any ground noise and thought to himself "Well that's odd. I hear antlers but no leaves rustling. It must be a hunter trying to lure me in!". They simply aren't that smart. Yes, it's possible that the deer has had encounters with hunters in the past when he came into the sounds of rattling and simply won't do it any more. That's a conditioned response, not reasoning. Can ground noise make rattling more effective? Sure it can. Just like you can grunt at a buck and he ignores it then you snort-wheeze and he comes in on a string. It's all about what trips his trigger at that particular moment. However it's my belief that a deer cannot reason the fact that the absence of ground noise while rattling means danger.
Hillbillie said they came to a conclusion and that statement was directed at him to blow apart his argument. The red text I couldn't agree with you more, people tend to put these deer on pedestals where they do not belong. On the other hand you do not know for a FACT that they do not have thoughts? You don't because it cannot be proven nor can my theory so we can sit here all day again going over the same points or we can go hunting. So they learn the behavior and once it's learned they never go to another grunt or bleat again whether it was made by a deer or a human would be a sign of no thought. Their brain still has to make a decision once they hear a grunt or a bleat or rattling to go or not to go to any stimuli. By definition that is a decision that indicates thought.
