Tell me what you think please!!
Whitetail Deer
Please bare with me as this is a little long. I went out on a very quick hunt this afternoon. It was 4:10 when I parked the truck. I grabbed the rifle(I know its a bow site but nothing to do with rifle hunting)and was just gonna walk into a known bedding area and see if I kicked up a buck and than try and shoot him. Nothing came out so I had a couple minutes of light left and decided to check cornfield just up in the next field. This is where it get weird and I mean I have never experienced anything like this. I was walking a brush- hogged path and look up and about 30 ft away is a doe staring at me. I froze and she just stood looking at me. I spoke to her and said what are you doing hon. When I did she started walking at me. She stopped about 5ft. away. I now see she is either an early born fawn or a yearling born late. I reach out my gloved hand and ask if she is gonna let me pet her. She walks right up to me and sniffs my hand. At this point I am in total shock. I take my glove off and extend my hand and she smells it and than licks my hand. I am dumbfounded and even as I write this, it sounds crazy. I look her over real good and she does not appear sick or blind and has no wounds on her. I than walk up along side her and tell her to get out of here. As I walk by her she turns and walks into the thick about 10 yards and stands and just looks over her shoulder at me. I am freaked out by this but decide to continue up into the big cornfield up on top. I walk out about 25 yards and start scanning the field with my scope. I hear something and here she comes. She walks right up to me and again I extend my hand and she allows me to pet her and rub her back. The only thing I notice is that the hair on her neck is ruffed up but that is it. She turns and walks away but only goes a few feet so I decide to see if she will let me follow. She lets me walk up to her, at this point I think to myself maybe I should shoot her. If she is sick I don't want her getting other deer sick, but she appears totally healthy. I than decide to check and see if maybe she has just been bred or has internal injuries and I kind of run my hands along her sides and her belly, she just stands there. I than attempt to lift her tail to see if maybe she had been bred or is bleeding out her ass or whatever. She does not really like this and runs off maybe 20 yards. This is when I decide to run back to the truck and drive to my house 500 yards away and grab my video camera and cell phone. I run in grab my stuff and head back. I was gone less than 5 minutes and when I get back I cannot find her anywhere, it was getting dark but not enough that I needed a light. I searched well into dark and could not find her. I know it sounds crazy but I swear to my creator that is exactly how it happened. I have spent my entire life hunting this set of woods and fields and have never experienced anything like this. If anyone has a clue to what is going on here I am all ears. The only thing I can come up with is, that this is a fawn born early(maybe mid-May) and her mom was killed and she has never experienced contact with humans and had just been bred and was confused or someone in the area, which there is only 2 houses fairly close has been feeding her and she has become somewhat tame. Or lastly she is sick with CWD or something but she appeared totally healthy. Sorry for the long post but I am dumb founded. I am going back in the morning to see if she is still hanging around. Thanks! Shawn
I think it would be easier to read with paragraph breaks
Please bare with me as this is a little long. I went out on a very quick hunt this afternoon. It was 4:10 when I parked the truck. I grabbed the rifle(I know its a bow site but nothing to do with rifle hunting)and was just gonna walk into a known bedding area and see if I kicked up a buck and than try and shoot him. Nothing came out so I had a couple minutes of light left and decided to check cornfield just up in the next field.
This is where it get weird and I mean I have never experienced anything like this. I was walking a brush- hogged path and look up and about 30 ft away is a doe staring at me. I froze and she just stood looking at me. I spoke to her and said what are you doing hon. When I did she started walking at me. She stopped about 5ft. away. I now see she is either an early born fawn or a yearling born late. I reach out my gloved hand and ask if she is gonna let me pet her. She walks right up to me and sniffs my hand. At this point I am in total shock. I take my glove off and extend my hand and she smells it and than licks my hand. I am dumbfounded and even as I write this, it sounds crazy. I look her over real good and she does not appear sick or blind and has no wounds on her. I than walk up along side her and tell her to get out of here. As I walk by her she turns and walks into the thick about 10 yards and stands and just looks over her shoulder at me. I am freaked out by this but decide to continue up into the big cornfield up on top.
I walk out about 25 yards and start scanning the field with my scope. I hear something and here she comes. She walks right up to me and again I extend my hand and she allows me to pet her and rub her back. The only thing I notice is that the hair on her neck is ruffed up but that is it. She turns and walks away but only goes a few feet so I decide to see if she will let me follow. She lets me walk up to her, at this point I think to myself maybe I should shoot her. If she is sick I don't want her getting other deer sick, but she appears totally healthy. I than decide to check and see if maybe she has just been bred or has internal injuries and I kind of run my hands along her sides and her belly, she just stands there.
I than attempt to lift her tail to see if maybe she had been bred or is bleeding out her ass or whatever. She does not really like this and runs off maybe 20 yards. This is when I decide to run back to the truck and drive to my house 500 yards away and grab my video camera and cell phone. I run in grab my stuff and head back. I was gone less than 5 minutes and when I get back I cannot find her anywhere, it was getting dark but not enough that I needed a light. I searched well into dark and could not find her. I know it sounds crazy but I swear to my creator that is exactly how it happened. I have spent my entire life hunting this set of woods and fields and have never experienced anything like this. If anyone has a clue to what is going on here I am all ears.
The only thing I can come up with is, that this is a fawn born early(maybe mid-May) and her mom was killed and she has never experienced contact with humans and had just been bred and was confused or someone in the area, which there is only 2 houses fairly close has been feeding her and she has become somewhat tame. Or lastly she is sick with CWD or something but she appeared totally healthy. Sorry for the long post but I am dumb founded. I am going back in the morning to see if she is still hanging around. Thanks! Shawn
Thanks Bou, was trying to get it all down and not thinking of proper grammer and page set-up. So what do you think?
May have been raised by someone at one point. I have a friend that saved a fawn after the mother was hit by a car. He bottle fed it until it was big enough and strong enough to survive on its own. That doe never actually left the area, she lives in a wood lot across from his house for the last 4-5 yrs. She is now kind of like a dog, when some pulls in his drive way she comes out to meet them. You can pet her and licks you like and dog then goes back to the wood lot. Just a thought
Early this November I hunted on a lightly hunted property. One morning I had a doe that buried into a rose thicket about 6 yards from the base of my stand trying to hide from a young buck that was dogging her. When I climbed down around noon, she didn't jump out of her bed until my feet hit the ground and then only ran about 5 yards. I had to drop down the hill and then come back up past the doe to get an arrow I shot earlier and was within 5-6 yards from her through much of that. Then I walked back past her to get the coyote the arrow was spent on. She just watched my the whole time, and not even on alert.
I have seen this behavior a few times (although none approaching me or letting me pet them), and each time I believe it was due to me being the lesser of two evils as compared to a buck that has been running the doe ragged that she wants away from.
Perhaps that doe you ran into was using you to block a buck that was running her, and he got back onto her after you left and ran her out of the area?
Deerman, I'm speechless !! I'm not gonna even pretend that I can put in any reasonable explanation , but def a real cool experience.
I talked to all the neighbors now and none of them have been feeding the deer. I spoke to the last one I thought it might be about 2 minutes ago. This interaction lasted at least 10 to 12 minutes. Shawn
I am glad they all don't do that, if they did, I could never kill one.
As far as having something similar happen to me. Never that intimate, but I have had a few encounters over the years that left me scratching my head. Meaning, doe deer in areas where they would normally be hell bent to get away, just hanging around within about 10 to 20 yards and acting as if I didn't pose much of a threat. But again, I have never had one come up to me and lick on my hand.
I would have never thought of it, but Matt has a reasonable explanation. As a matter of fact, every time I see a buck dogging a doe through the woods, I think, huh, if I was that doe, I would find a hunter and drag the old horny bastard past, that would take care of him.
Without a doubt though, a cool encounter.
I would put it down to something very few people have had the chance to do. And tell the man upstairs thanks for the experience.
Neat experience.
When you lifted her tail, I'm speculating she heard banjos and wasn't having anything to do with that.
My son and I found a tame fawn while scouting early oct. last year. Didn't seem sick at all, just friendly.
There was a wildlife rehabilitator who lived down the road from me several years ago. One year she was given two fawns, a buck and a doe, to rehabilitate. I would go down and see the fawns, bring them food (oak branches, clover), etc. When she released them, they stayed local. When hiking in the woods behind my house, I would occasionally come upon one or both of them. They acted similar to the experience you describe.
As time went on they became less and less tame. They were successfully rehabilitated, but for some time it was like having tame deer in the woods. It's certainly possible a rehabilitator released the doe into the area of your encounter. I would not shoot that deer.
When I was a kid there was a tame doe that showed up in the yard every fall for a few years. You could pet her. Some of the neighbors painted her orange a couple times. Shed show up then disappear for a month or two then show up again.
No one new for sure but speculation was a farmer found her tangled in fence or something as a fawn.
I just watched a youtube video that was very similar to my experience. The guy commented how he was gonna feel kind of funny when he killed his next deer. I am not gonna sleep tonight just thinking about it. Great experience but has my mind running a mile a minute. Shawn
Chalk it up to a neat once in a lifetime experience that will likely never happen again. Deer like humans are individuals, some more trusting than others. Maybe there was a recent event or encounter with a buck or close call with a predator, you will likely never know but definately a neat experience.
Never had that experience especially during this late into the season. I have had deer come very close in late summer. I spent a couple of weeks alone in my families cabin in PA one summer in between classes at college. I don't think that I said more than 10 words that entire time. I came to know a couple Doe family groups and they would allow me to get pretty close but not where I could touch them. Again pretty neat and thanks for sharing your experoence.
God maybe is telling you it's time to quit killing deer.
Your skills have developed so far, to such a deadly stage, it's time to find something else to do with your time.
It may have been a sign, of some kind.
Or it may be a sign that you are, and have been, making stuff up for the attention all this time. :-) (OK, probably not.)
Or it could have been a deer that was raised being imprinted on humans. We found one in the woods on a Missouri public area with a bell around it's neck. Danged thing followed us like a puppy while we were trying to shoot squirrels and a fall turkey for camp meat.
I wish I was making it up, cause it still has me perplexed. I went down this morning and I found no sign of her. I like killing deer too much to quit but I know I will be a little hesitant on killing a doe in that area for a while. Again I am just worried she may of been sick with something like CWD and in the early stages. Shawn
Weren't you just saying how hard it is to hunt there? :)
I've had known doe's in heat come right up to mo=e and act as if they were my dog. All had or, eventually had a buck following. I've killed 3 of the 4 bucks that were with those doe's. Albeit none has ever gotten finger licking close, everyone of them were under 5-6 yards and, everyone came to me after seeing me.
Deer are individuals. They can reason, they have personalities, etc... . So, each one is different. Te on constant in these interactions was the fact they were all being dogged by a buck. And, in my mind, doing exactly as Matt suggested and using me to get away from the bucks.
I'm betting from the way she reacted when you tried to lift her tail, this was what was going on. Doe's really go through he ringers in the rut. Every buck deer they come into contact with harasses them. I've watched doe's circle working logging and mining equipment when being dogged by bucks/bucks. So, there is no doubt they are trying to get the relentless dogging to go away at times.
Whether her actions were due to being in heat or not will never be known. but, if she was predisposed to interact with humans, this likely wouldn't be or, won't be the only time you'll she her. God Bless
Scott, did not say how hard it was, just how hard it is to kill a mature buck year after year. I do ok, but I have also hunted the mid-west enough that IO can honestly say I find it easier to kill big deer out there, more of them and because of terrain and geography a bit easier to figure out. WV, I think this was the case as well, just not sure. As I said she had the scuffed up hair on the back of her neck, but what gets me is she did not act nervous or jumpy at all, very calm and as I said looked healthy as could be. Shawn
At our deer camp, Jeannine thought she'd try to give a couple deer that were hanging around, as snack. Not only fawns will imprint. Some deer maybe loose their mothers and are never taught to fear anything and everything. You may have found one like that.
Saw this the other day. Thought it was crazy:
He supposedly feeds it chocolate
Its obvious that doe had just been bred. I've experienced it every time I bred hoes. Follow me everywhere. Only thing that helps is a restraining order...LOL. Mike
Cool story.
I was hunting CO for elk one year and had a muley fawn hang out with us at camp most of the week. We never did try to per her but I bet we could have. We called her "Camp Meat".
There is a whitetail fawn in the campground my brother and I have a camper in. We were dragging a buck a couple weeks ago and literally walked right by her. It was kinda tempting to add some more meat but she was too cute and trusting.
Plus, fawns are just plain stupid. that's why they have short lifespans.
I have seen this on a handful of occasions. I had a little button buck 2 years ago that lived in my food plot. Every time i hunted the plot, he would already be out there eating. I never did pet him but i could walk right up to him without him every flinching. He would just turn and face us at all times, but never seemed to mind us.
Another buddy had a similar thing happen to him in Wyoming but it was a baby Pronghorn. That little sucker followed them around the sage flats for an entire afternoon.
"than attempt to lift her tail to see if maybe she had been bred or is bleeding out her ass or whatever. She does not really like this"
did you think she would like it ?
If they do gain some fear of man, or get aggressive, their life span will increase.
I did not know how she would react. She let me check her out pretty good, even removed a burr from her coat. I just wanted to lift her tail to see as I said if she was bleeding from internal injuries or maybe had just been bred. I really did not know what to do. Shawn
Just a cool story anyway Shawn.
As WV said, deer are individuals. My son was sitting in my bow blind one morning and had a yearling buck walk up and stick his head into the open door.......twice ! The second time he tried to thump it on the nose, but the buck was too quick. Tore out of there like his butt was on fire. But you know he had to have smelled human sticking his nose in the blind.
I was bear hunting in September and when I stood up to change spots I saw a deer walking my way so I stopped to see how close it would get. It got about ten yards away when it saw me standing there. It was a yearling and just stared at me. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket to take a pic and it let me. It then walked all around me feeding and could care less I was there. It hung around me for quite some time. It was a cool experience and I'm wondering if I could have gotten closer.
Could it have been a regular visitor to another human in the area...? Maybe someone has been feeding her.
Get some Binoculars. Scanning for game with your rifle is not a safe practice.
No as far as someone else being on the property feeding her. I live a few hundred yards up the road. I have hunted the property all my life. There are only 3 others that hunt the property and they are my my brother and his son and one friend.
None of them have seen her or had an encounter with her. This was not just a deer walking close but actually letting me pet her and check her over for signs of injury by rubbing my hands along her ribs and belly. It was just an unreal experience and I am still curious as to why it happened. I have been back to the area 3 times since and no sign of her.
I honestly think she was this years fawn and may have just been bred and was shaken up from the experience. I will never know for sure but it was a great experience. Shawn
I have bumped into young deer in the ADK's and had them stand around and follow me at a distance when I continued on. Doesn't surprise me that the deer you ran into did that, sounds like it was young. In Old Forge there are deer around that will come up to you and some are really nice bucks. My kids fed one from their hand this past summer. They weren't even that put off by my dog barking.
Someones pet. Ruffed place on her neck is probably where she had safety collar of some sort. Got a couple around here that one of the neighbors feed, you could pet and play with.
Ace I have been in Old Forge and had the deer eat out of my hand. Also Anti-Costi Island has wild deer that will let you pet and feed them. This is just crazy as I know everyone in the area. I have hunted the same grounds my entire life and no one has any pet deer for sure. Shawn
I had a BB last year that became my buddy. I may or may not have orphaned him earlier in the season... lol
Anyway, he took to pretty much living in one small wooded area nestled against one of my foodplots. Every time I hunted that stand I would see him. First he started coming and looking directly up the ladder at me, then I started talking to him which seemed to only peak his interest. One day while sitting there talking to him from my stand I threw down an apple slice. Then another, and another, till he ate my whole dang apple.
That evening when I climbed down he didn't walk off into the woods like usual. He stood right there at the base of the tree. Once I reached the ground he walked right up to me and started nudging me. I scratched his head a bit and shoo'd him away.
Unfortunately I am a sucker and started taking an apple with me every time I went to that spot last year. He eventually would greet me in the field before I even got to the stand if he was nearby.
Probably not the smartest thing to do but hey... I ate his momma lol and I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a lot of fun hanging out with the lil fella.
I had almost the exact same thing happen about 15 years ago when I was hunting in Illinois. I was walking along an open creek bottom and I heard a deer running. I looked to my left and here comes a doe on a dead run straight at me. She slowed to a stop at about 5 feet, then took a couple more steps. Like you, I stuck my hand out and she licked the back of it. It was then that I noticed she was wearing a thin red dog collar. I petted her for a little while and tried to see if she would follow me (she wouldn't). So I had a brilliant idea - live deer decoy. I'd love to tell you I shot a huge buck off her that night but it didn't work out. No other deer sighted and I never saw her again. I asked around, but when enough people start looking at you like you're crazy, you shut up and just appreciate the encounter.
One year I was in our backyard target shooting with my bow. I seen a squirrel heading my way. As it got very close to me I reached down and started scratching the back of his head. He let me do it for a few minutes and then hopped off. Never could do it again to any squirrel back there.
Shooter, I know the feeling. I dropped my buck at the taxidermist yesterday and while I was telling him my story, he was looking at me like I had 3 heads. After thinking it over the last few days, I believe she was a fawn that was born early(Mid May?)and lost her Momma and she had come into heat and had just been bred. She was scared out of her mind by the experience and was just looking for something comforting. That is my only explanation because I have spoke to all the neighbors within a mile and no one has been feeding any deer. Shawn
Sounds to me like someone's pet. I also wouldn't be surprised, if not already integrated into a doe group, that such an animal could have wandered miles from where raised by a person.
I friend from high school once shot a collared doe (like a dog collar, not a GPS collar) with a rifle. He had never seen her before, and none of his neighbors had raised her, but someone had at some point. (he didn't see the collar when he shot)
Bake
