How smart are deer?
Exactly as smart as they think they need to be in a given situation. They have eyes, ears and noses so much more sensitive to ours that if they stayed on full sensory alert all the time we'd never see one. Of course that's not realistic. But they can and do dial the filters up and down.
Bow hunting requires you to be fairly close to your target. I actually will only take a shot that I'm sure will be a good one, as the idea of a wounded deer limping off to die somewhere far away distresses me. Even though coyotes gotta eat too....
With a cross bow that range is..... Well at the start of the season I would have said 30 yards. But one consequence of spending a lot of time out trying to fool a deer is that in the "in between" times that divide up morning and evening "sits" I've been practicing. I am pretty confident now at 40 yards. I'd do 45 if the deer was standing still and a big enough target.
North American deer have had a long time to get used to bow hunting. People have been launching arrows at them for something like 16,000 years, although its likely the Wisconsin deer were left alone until about 10,000 years ago.
There are plenty of deer in the woods in the fall of 2025. I see some most days. That's good. Also, that's bad. Often I've been carefully watching one deer while another sneaks up from an unexpected direction, does that curious head bobbing up and down to get a better view, then calls for the general retreat with white tails flipping me off as they disappear into the woods.
I've tried various things. Being quiet for instance. Now I am admittedly older, creakier and wheezier than I used to be, but I still do my best. Deer also have a phenomenal sense of smell. So I wash all my hunting garb with scent blocker, store it all in a Rubber Maid tub partly full of leaves, spritz on a product that supposedly takes care of any lingering human odors. Why, I even skip my morning coffee, as I've heard that is a red flag for them. Nothing. Incidentally, there is a wide array of scent stealth concoctions. I hope in a coffee deficient state I never accidently spray on the cinnamon stuff that attracts Wild Hogs!
I've decided that the two biggest factors in my to date non success are: 1) The deer are not where I can conveniently hide. And 2) They are really good at seeing anything that was not there yesterday!
Regards the first point, the land we got as a deer hunting preserve is work in progress. We saw lots of critters there in the spring and summer. But in the fall they seem to have wandered over to the next door property where everything was logged off a few years ago. Mmmmm, nice tender buds and shoots. So the very stealthy box stands that came with the place are mostly looking out over quiet woods and paths.
Of course it is possible to set up elsewhere. My son uses a climber stand that can shuffle you right up any tree trunk. This is especially handy in an area we like that is National Park Service and does not allow any overnight stands. My son seems skeptical that his near 70 year old father should be using such a thing, and I suppose he's got a point.
Other than that it is various forms of ground blinds. And I think the deer are onto that trick.
Well, its been an enjoyable fall out in the woods, and I have learned quite a bit about deer generally, and about our new hunting land specifically. In the off season we'll be doing things to improve the deer habitat. And isn't that why people have cabins, land and so forth? To go out there and do lots of jobs?
Next up is rifle season. If the local herbivores have had 10,000 years to figure out humans with bows they've only had about 200 to start figuring out fire arms. Lets see how they fare with an effective range of 100 yards plus!
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