A relaxing walk in the field… (wildlife encounters)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

We have 50 acres of land on our family farm, the field is planted with timothy and alfalfa hay, our neighbor cuts the hay and bales it, we get first choice of the cuts (2 to 3 per season) for our horses

We’ve had the first cut of the season, so the field is nice and wide open, I went down to the pond to check for the snapping turtle, and to see if I could convince the coy-dog to leave

I strapped my Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt to my hip, and grabbed my SKS, deployed the bayo, and slung the SKS over my shoulder, and walked down to the pond…

I was joined by my two hunting buddies, Blue and Nemo, our domestic shorthair cats who followed me the 1/4 mile walk to the pond, as I started my walk around the pond, I saw some motion in my peripheral vision…

roughly 250 yards away, a good sized whitetail deer doe was watching me with a quizzical expression, as I walked the border of the pond, the deer kept it’s eyes trained on me at first, but then began to ignore me and go back to grazing in the freshly cut field…

I got curious, I wanted to see how close I could get to the deer before it got spooked, so I began to stalk it in plain sight, walking slowly towards it while it was grazing, stopping when it looked up, I cheated a little bit and walked towards it sideways for a while, keeping my shoulder to it, so when it looked at me it would think I was walking away from it…

I did reasonably well stalking the deer, In fact, a couple times she took a few steps towards me, like she was curious as to what i was, I wasn’t even wearing any camo, just a maroon T-shirt and blue jeans, I stood out against the green and brown grass like a sore thumb, but even though I was highly visible, I was able to get within 75 yards of it

I was hoping to find the coy-dog, but logic would say that if the deer were out and grazing, that the coy-dog would most likely not be around, or to put it another way, if the coy-dog was out, the deer would probably not be out…

The bullets in the SKS are meant for the coy-dog and the coy-dog alone, if it gets aggressive towards me, the deer are safe, and I think they know it, our land is posted no-tresspassing, and we don’t allow hunters to hunt our land.

At around 75 yards, the cats noticed the deer and began stalking it themselves, it was quite amusing, these 10 pound domestic cats stalking a deer that was an order of magnitude larger than them…

after about 5 minutes or so of stalemating the doe at 75 yards, it got bored, and walked into the woodlot, just ambled in, ignoring the cats and I

I had a lot of fun, I didn’t get the snapper or the coy, but I’m learning the finer points of stalking deer, maybe the next time I should actually go and shoot the deer…

…With my CAMERA, calm down, everyone, the only reason I have the firearms on me is for defensive purposes, if the coy-dog gets aggressive, or if the deer go on the offensive (yes, whitetails can get aggressive when defending the herd), the first shot would be into the ground to scare them off.

I had so much fun yesterday that I decided to do it again, loaded up the SKS and Blackhawk .45 Colt, grabbed my electronic hearing protectors, and went out to the pond and field…

No luck at the pond, the snapper has either left, or is very good at hiding, so I decided to walk the field again to see if I can’t find the coy-dog, or evidence of it’s activity

We have an old family graveyard in the field (previous owners of the house during the 30’s and 40’s), and that’s where the coy-dog had been seen previously, so, I walked up through the field, stopping about 50 yards from the grave, resting on our neighbor’s hay tedder, when I saw a familiar brown shape about 200 yards out, and down a hill, yep, a whitetail doe…

Once again, I decided to see how close I could get…

As I maneuvered to keep an old overgrown apple tree between us, blocking the doe’s line-of-sight (the wind was blowing my scent away), I saw another deer on the opposite side of the tree, this was going to be a challenge, try to prevent both of them from seeing me, i moved slowly, and was vewwwy vewwy quiet :wink: and was able to set down right behind the old apple tree, the right hand doe was easily visible, about 50 yards out, I wasn’t able to see the left hand doe easily due to the apple tree, but it was about the same distance…

I watched them for a good 10 minutes, they’d graze, stop, glance around, and go back to grazing, at around 15 minutes, a third deer came out from the woodline, a juvie, and at around 18 minutes, a very bold deer approached to my left at around 35 yards, this one was the largest of the group and clearly the matriarch, she crossed in front of the tree, obviously seeing me, turned and strolled back to her herd, then she turned back to me, visible on the right hand side of the tree…

…PFFHHH!
she snorted at me, after a pause, she snorted again, after the third snort, I snorted back, she responded with a more insistent snort

We spent the next few minutes in a snorting contest, then she upped the ante, she would stamp with one of her forelegs and then snort, I upped the ante by making my snorts stronger and more insistent, I also brought the SKS to low-ready, just in case… (In the words of South Park… “SHE’S COMIN’ RIGHT FOR US!!” ) :wink:

as the stamping and snorting grew more insistent, the juvenile deer retreated to the treeline, and the two largest does faced me, and did their best imitation of a “synchronized snort/stamp”, taking a small step forward each time, and actually sounding annoyed in the process…silly deer, I think I have the advantage here, you don’t challenge someone with 10 rounds of 123Gr soft point 7.62x39 rounds and 6 rounds of 200 grain LSWC .45 Colt on tap…

I decided to see how far I could push it, I stood up (I had been kneeling up until this point), snorting as I did so, they stamp-snorted back, stepping forward, I responded with another snort, they snortstamped, I took a step out from behind the tree, in full view now, and snorted, rifle at low-ready, I slowly eased the safety off…

Snortstamp…
I then upped the ante again, visibly stamping as I snorted, they took two steps forward, stampsnort, I stamped, snorted and said “i think I’m gonna win here”
Snortstamp in stereo, two steps forward
I took another step away from the tree, stamping again, this time they took a step back, walked a few steps towards the treeline, turned, and snortstamped
Again I responded

after a couple more snortstamps between us, they turned and trotted into the woods, I called after them…
“thanks, that was fun, told you I’d win, though”…

I snapped the safety back on the SKS and slung it over my shoulder, and walked back to the house, laughing about the audacity of our wild-tame family of whitetail deer

I think a rematch may be in order tomorrow…

So, the new record for getting close to the deer without spooking them is around 35-45 yards, and at any time during our snort-off.

2

I thought this was going to have a violent ending. :frowning: Glad it didn’t.

3

Are those the ones where you can hear a conversation at normal tones but the sound of a gunshot is largely muted? I was target shooting with a couple of avid hunters (they mill their own guns) last month on our place and one of them had a pair. First I’d heard of them but the brief demonstration was impressive. A must have if you’re running 3 to 400 rounds an outing like we were.

4

When you say ‘coy-dog’ do you mean coyote? I’m from Canada and haven’t heard that version.

5

A coy-dog is a coyote-dog hybrid. Usually daddy is a coyote and mamma is a pooch. Like a canine version of a mule. There some in the wild but not many because dogs and coyotes don’t get along so great.

6

What happens if, after all this provocation of peaceful, grass-eating deer, your shot into the ground doesn’t work?

It sounds like you’re intent (perhaps without being aware of it) upon provoking them into an attack, whereby you might get a chance to use your SKS, your .45, and your really cool soft-point heavyweight badass bullets, “defending” yourself.

7

Starving Artist, the only time I would consider shooting the deer is if I was under an attack that they initiated and that the warning shot had failed, I’m sure you won’t believe my response anyway, but the fact remains that I have NO INTENTION of shooting the deer unless I have no other option and am under imminent attack

I get far more enjoyment watching them and getting into “snortstamp” competitions with them, I consider them wild pets and would no sooner shoot them than I would shoot our cats, which would also never happen

As far as the coy-dog goes, it’s a predator (get to da choppah!) :wink: and could prey on our domestic pets, or our egg laying hens, and therefore it’s in it’s best interest to leave in peace

It’s clear you are negatively biased towards firearms, and you are perfectly within your rights to feel that way, but please keep your speculations as to my “real reasons” I brought the firearms with me to yourself, I have no reason to lie or be deceptive, i have no intention of shooting the deer, and I would prefer to scare the coy-dog off the property rather than killing it, but I’m not willing to risk our pets and livestock in the process, if that offends you in some way, that’s your problem, not mine, we live in the country and we have to be our own “animal control department”, that’s the way it is in the countryside

8

Oh, and one other thing, the snortstamp contest was initiated by the alpha female doe, I was perfectly content to just watch them graze, and would have done so for a while, getting up to leave when I got bored

The only reason I brought the SKS to low ready in that encounter was because I was unfamiliar with the behavior of deer (I never had any interest in hunting as a child, and Dad never taught me hunting skills or took me hunting, he wasn’t a big hunting fan either), I interpreted the snortstamp as a threat display, and was preparing to defend myself if the display escalated

When I did some online research that evening, I discovered that the snortstamp is mainly a defensive display, a bluff, it sends a warning to the rest of the herd that there is a potential threat in the area, and allows the juveniles an opportunity to escape, it rarely escalates to an attack, it turns out my bringing the rifle to low-ready was actually unnecessary

9

I’ve got no problems with hunting, or shooting coy-dogs on a farm, but I too am a little concerned by the snort-stomp contest. You are antagonizing a large animal, using the rifle as a backup solution to a potentially dangerous situation.

If the deer charged and you shot it, would you be justified? I would say no, since you brought the situation on yourself. You are certainly allowed to defend yourself, but there would be consequences if your actions brought on the attack. In the grand scheme of things it’s not a huge deal, but it does come off rather self-serving to refer to them as pets but call them silly to challenge a man with a gun.

10

Have to agree with this. Wildlife watching is fun, but once the animal starts getting agitated by your presence, it’s time to retreat. The deer could very well have had fawns nearby in which case you were possibly triggering a maternal defense reaction (e.g. no surrender, no retreat).

11

At the time of the snorting, I was unaware of it’s meaning, I just thought it was neat that the doe and I were “communicating”, as it escalated to snortstamping, I thought it might have been a threat display, hence the low ready rifle, now knowing what I know now, would I do it again, no, as it is antagonistic

But just so you know, these deer often walk over to the pond while we are there, watch us and snort at us, they initiate contact, not us, and still snort at us

No, I would not be justified, and would feel horrible that I had caused the death of the animal due to my poor choice of actions

Will I still walk the field? Yes, it’s relaxing, fun, and a great way to get some much needed excersise, especially when toting a 10 lb rifle as well :wink:
Will I watch the deer grazing, and try to get close, just to watch them? Yes
Will I respond to snorts or snortstamps? No, I’d rather not unduly stress the animal(s)

Will I continue searching for the coy-dog? Yes, I’m not willing to risk pet or livestock loss
Will I hunt the deer? NO! they’re wild pets and I get more enjoyment out of watching them

12

.!

13

Oh, good. I was thinking that the dog was a bit shy and flirtatious.

14

As was mentioned above, it is typically a male coyote and a female dog, because coyote packs will use a coy in heat to lure male dogs out to turn them into snacks…

15

In case anyone was wondering, guess who just walked up to the edge of the lawn earlier this evening, and stood there staring at me (and snorting) for a few minutes?

Yep, that’s right, the alpha female doe, she, on her own, decided to approach the edge of the lawn and watch me as I got some cargo out of my car, she approached me, I didn’t even go walk the field tonight

maybe she missed our little snortstomp competition…

16

Ahhh getting back to nature.

With a rifle, pistol, and electronic hearing protectors. You should get a four-willer! and go muddin’!

:stuck_out_tongue:

17

Or wanted to make sure where you were so she wouldn’t have to worry about her charges.

Look, contrary to what you said, I’m not opposed to guns. Not at all. I used to have a pretty cool one myself, but it got to be a hassle trying to find someplace to shoot it that was legal (shooting ranges are borrring). So I sold it. However, I do not approve of hunting. I’ve never understood why it’s supposed to be so manly to hide in bushes, weeds or trees and and use high-tech weaponry to plug some unsuspecting animal drinking from a brook or trying to make its way through the woods, and which may have offspring somewhere depending upon it for survival.

But I digress. You were clearly trying to see how close you could get to the deer before it became alarmed. And you clearly viewed your weaponry as a means of protection if that alarm turned into an attack. The deer were minding their own business; it was you who was intruding on them.

I understand the need to get rid of the coy-dog and I’m happy to hear that you’ll be content to chase it off if possible. And I’m glad to hear that you’d be as reluctant to shoot the deer as your own pets. But the thing is, if you provoke or worry the deer into attacking you, their size alone will make them a bigger danger than your cats, and therefore even though you may be as reluctant to shoot them as you would your cats, you’ll be forced to shoot them just the same.
You certainly don’t have to answer to me as to what you do on your own property or to the animals you find there, but IMO the proper thing to do would be to enjoy them at a distance that is safe both to them and to you, and to stop trying to play chicken with them to see which one of you backs down first.

18

My latest encounter with the alpha female doe;

I have a small 25 yard plinking range out behind the house, a couple steel spinner targets and an earth berm behind them, it’s for my air rifle and my .22 rifles, I use the “ultraquiet” .22LR cartridges like CCI CB Longs and Augila super Colibri, these rounds are much quieter than a full power .22LR

I was using my 16" barreled CZ-452 Scout compact/youth rifle, and plinking away at the spinner, when out of the woodlot opposite the range, I see the alpha doe wander out, she looks at me, then goes back to grazing

She is well outside the danger zone of the plinking range, and grazing on both the hay and the maple trees

19

…hit submit too soon…

She actually walked out and started grazing while I was still plinking, even though the Super Colibri cartridges are indeed very quiet, out of a 16" rifle barrel they still make the distinct sound of a gunshot, plus, the spinner target makes a distinct, clearly audible “TINK” when hit, I wasn’t being silent, none of this fazed the doe in the least, she glanced over a couple times, but with a quizzical look, not a fearful one

As she started to walk towards the plinking range, I decided to call it off, as she was approaching the danger zone and I didn’t want her putting herself in danger as she showed no signs of fear of me or the noise my rifle was making

I only got off 10 rounds before she decided to walk towards the range, and at no time did she show any fear, nor did she snortstamp, in fact, I spent the next couple minutes talking at her, she just looked at me with a quizzical gaze the whole time

These deer are definitely habituated to us

20

Cool. It’s nice that they have a safe place to stay.