Do deer learn

[lovemylegacy]

I have seen times when deer bust me in a stand and then the next time they come the first thing they do is look right at the stand. This has made me wonder if they will eventually get leery of feeders. If a deer sees multiple other deer killed at a feeder will it quite coming to that feeder? If so, should we move our feeders around every couple years?

Yes, they are capable of learning, why do you think deer go nocturnal? Not just bucks but doe do to. They understand danger. And they associate that danger to you. If they didn't do this, they would be easy to kill.

I have almost completely quit using grunt calls because of their moving downwind and bust me every time.

I quit using a protein feeder because of it. Bucks associate feeders with danger. 7 years running, the only buck pics I got at the feeder was young bucks. Never got a pic of a mature buck at my feeder. Food plots are much better.


20 second rule? What the heck is that?

[Mr. Whiskers]

Go hunt First Point and let me know your opinion afterwards sir. They absolutely learn.

[hogslayer78]

Sure they learn. When they are waiting every day for that feeder to feed and the same deer return day after day they are learning something. When that old slick head bust you and she comes out everytime and looks straight at your stand, she learned something. I believe they do learn just like any other animal.

[Deer Tracks]

Of course deer can learn.

All animals can learn to relate a pair of events and respond to the first in anticipation of the second.

Pavlov's dog...conditioned response to a specific stimulus. That's why they know what it means when they hear the feeder go off. Or how they learn to associate feeders and blinds with scary experiences.

[Mexico]

I've had many a slick head learn me real quick....if that lead nanny doe bust you, you'll never sit in peace again with the same set up...

[Drycreek3189]

Yes. I put up a ladder stand a few years ago in a decent sized maple. A maple doesn't lose its leaves like oaks do so it's a good tree to hunt out of. I had many pics of deer on the corn I put out with my road feeder on a cart. One big old doe was always looking straight at it in every pic. The others paid no attention to it, but she bird dogged it every time. I hunted it once, she busted my ***, and I moved it.

[SmTx]

Ever had the same deer show up 5-10 minutes before the feeder goes off?

They learned somewhere along the way it's worth showing up early for

[Cullbuck]

Go hunt First Point and let me know your opinion afterwards sir. They absolutely learn.

Spot on i was about to type the same thing lol

[muzzlebrake]

Well, democrats learn where the free stuff is so why not deer?
They will most times throw caution to the wind to get to the free stuff.

[TX_Hoghunter]

Yes they can learn. We have had a few idiots on the lease that educated our deer by driving to their stands and hunting the wrong winds. Young deer are not all that bothered by it but anything over 3 1/2 now goes way out of their way to wind check every setup before coming in.....

-john

[stickerpatch59]

I recall an article (maybe here on TBH) where a deer breeding operation had deer that could tell the difference in colors and push a button or some kind of device to drop feed.

so according to that, they can learn and see colors also. I think it was blue colors that they could really see the best.

[quackaholic1]

I think they do. I had a ladder stand against a certain tree for 15 years. Great cover around that tree. The tree died last year and I had to move the stand. I moved it about 20 feet and was busted every time I hunted it. Definitely will be moving that stand this summer. Never saw the same deer twice.

[Drycreek3189]

Another: Where I hunt in Trinity Co. we have a doe with tags, easy to spot. Every time she enters my food plot she stares straight at my blind for a couple minutes before coming all the way out. This doesn't stop her from coming because I never cheat the wind and I've never been busted in three years, but since it's two hours from home I only hunt it 4/5 times from October until February. I've only killed does there (one each year) because I haven't seen a true jaw dropper of a buck, and I only shoot a doe when there's just one or two there. I don't want the nanny to know I'm there.

[cva34]

is it learn or program

[az2tx]

I had a guy that was part of a Corp lease that was after a big old 190" class buck and he went over the top. He hunted this same blind day after day or 3-4 days a weeks and no deer would come in there, because he couldn't help himself and had his face sticking out the windows every couple of minutes.
The area had lots of sendero's cut and I could watch it from another ridge. The deer that were in the area would stand a few hundred yards away and just stare at the blind, they would be there for 20 min or more if no movement was seen and the come to the feeder. If they saw a face they were gone instantly. yes they learn, so do bears and leopards. I had to give that blind/feeder a year off from hunting