Smart deer

[Bandit]

We all no that Mule Deer are far smarter than they are given credit for and Whitetails wits have made them known as the smart deer but I know from experiece that Blactails are far and beyond smarter than any creature out there. Agree or disagree?

 

[Bura Nut]

Tim, I agree that coastal columbia blacktails are one of the hardest deer to kill a big one. I am not sure if you have hunted sitka's but they are push overs considering the terrain being so open. I do know though that any 180+ muley and any 100+ coues are both much harder to kill than a 160+ whitetail.....I think the type of terrain makes a big difference in how hard one deer is to hunt versus another........Allen.....

 

[Blueoak]

I think its more a matter of cover. Blacktails are easy in the open oaks and a nightmare in the brush. The mule deer is the same. Easy in the open sage and tough with heavy cover.

 

[manny15]

Though I never hunted white tails, I have to agree with Blue' I've hunted black tails since the late 60's and muleys since 1985 and I've come up with the same assumption.

 

[Collin]

I agree, blacktails are very hard to hunt, especially in thick western Wa cover.

 

[ICMDEER]

I don't have enough experience with blacktails to count. But I'll again say that big mule deer are WAY SMARTER than big western whitetails. The whitetails are easy to pattern and are just a LOT easier to kill than a big, nocturnal mule deer buck.

 

[nmtaxi]

I've really been wanting to hunt blacktails. So far I've only hunted mule deer and coues. What amazed me so much about the coues deer was how good they are at using what little cover there is. It's easy to be sneaky in thick brush, but you haven't seen anything until you see a coues deer appear and disappear into what seems to be open country (very rough open country, but open none the less).

 

[Cowkiller]

Blueoak, Easy in the sage? I've hunted mule deer from alpine tundra to the Sonoran desert and all types of terrain in between. The toughest mule deer hunting for me has been in wide open sagebrush deserts. Smart bucks have made me look like a fool more than a few times. I distinctly remember a 180 plus Wyoming buck bedded in the sage with just the tips of his antlers showing. I crawled over the hill above him and was ready for anything at 150 yards. Or so I thought. The buck heard something and exploded out of his bed. In two prodigious leaps he was in the little gully at the bottom of the draw. He ran up that gully with nothing in view but his bouncing rack and emerged a minute later at 600 yards still running flat out. I watched him in the spotting scope as he ran clear over the horizon approximately five miles away without stopping once. This is just one example. Yeah those muleys sure are easy in the sage.

 

[nk]

i second taxi, coues deer are definitely sly, and have an uncanny way of vanishing before your eyes! muley and coues are the only two deer i have hunted though.
nk

 

[Blueoak]

Ya Cowkiller, maybe a bit general. I have been burned a time or three myself. Had one hold untill I got 30yds in open sage and I missed. Followed tracks untill I found him agian and shot him at 10yrds in the neck. He just laid there thinking I couldn't see him, big old buck too. I don't think those dinks are to tough. I hunted them this year in Mexico after I got my Carp. They are hard to spot, but they didn't seem to hold tight for very long. What the heck they can all be tough!

 

[Bandit]

You are making yourself into a fool if you say that Big Muleys are smarter than Big Blacktail. I think that Big Muleys are extremley smart but to even say that they are even as close to as smart as a Big blacktail when you have never really hunted them is idiotic.

 

[huntsonora]

Bandit,
You ask for someones opinion then you call their opinion idiotic when you disagree. Whats that about? I have hunted both and both are incredibly smart animals. I feel that both are probably equally as smart but the changes in habitat would be the deciding factor. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to kill a big blacktail in Oregon, its thick and nasty. That being said, I doubt those deer would be any smarter then the deer that live on the coastal range in CA its just the deer in CA would be much more visible. As for a blacktail being smarter than a mule deer, I can only assume that they would be about equal as well due to the fact that the blacktail is a subspecies of a mule deer.

Drum

 

[kidneystone]

The entire premise of this discussion is incorrect, albeit fun. There are no inherent differences in intelligence in deer species or subspecies across North America. Deer species, whether it be muleys, coues, blacktails or the whitetail have no significant differences in brain capacity, sensory abilities or capabilities to learn.

How ?smart? a deer is depends on its environment and what it is exposed to. A tame deer can be turned in a sneaky ghost under the right conditions with heavy hunting or harassment. Conversely, an extremely secretive deer can become tame under the right conditions when all hunting pressure leaves.

 

[deerhuntr4885]

I'm with you Drum, that seems pretty rude to say Bandit when you asked for opinions. Were you just trying to trap someone or do you really want to hear their opinions?

Anyway...Off the topic a little but I've been thinking about going to Kodiak to hunt Sitka's. Do they get bigger then 3 point racks up there? I saw a show the other day and they called a forkey a super nice buck..What gives? Are they really that small.

Mike Henne

 

[Blueoak]

I hope you were not talking to me Bandit. I kill four deer a year most of the time. Two blacktail and two mule deer. I think I am qualified to school people on both, as are many others on this board.

 

[Bura Nut]

Blueoak: I can tell from bandits response he is young and probably only hunts blacktails. Terrain and pressure is the key.....as for Sitka's they generally have a 3x3 frame and small eyeguards on a mature buck but of course they kill some 4x4's etc. I think book is 108 or so on Sitka's so any 100" and above would be a great buck Mike H. send me a note if you want any info on that hunt, I went there a couple years ago and hunted Uganik Island right next to Kodiak.......... Allen Taylor......

 

[Bandit]

I was not talking to you, Blueoak, but thanks for letting us know that you kill four deer a year. I'm sure that is just the thing we need. Buy a couple more tags for your brother, uncle cousin, nephew and kill their deer too. That will be great for herds all over

 

[elk4you]

Bandit,

If Blueoak, or anybody else legally kills 4 deer a year then power to them. He didn't say all from ONE state! Maybe he is one of those lucky guys that can draw a tag in several states or is well off enough to go anywhere. We should all be so blessed.
In TX he would be one deer short of his limit in some counties! LOL. I think the smartest deer are those that we only find the sheds from.

Josh

 

[huntsonora]

Bandit,

What in the world are you trying to accomplish? You ask for opinions then call people idiots for having a different opinion then you slam someone else for harvesting 4 or more deer a year in different states and even another country. Thats IGNORANT! You should seriously consider taking the time to learn about the people you are slamming before you make a stick your foot in your mouth.

Drummond

 

[BCBOY]

Never hunted blacktails yet. Been meaning too. Since we have sitkas, columbians, muleys and whitetails in this province, I'm sure one day I'll try for the BC Deer Slam. I have a buddy who is a diehard blacktail nut and he has taken several really respectable muleys too (one that nets 215 NT. He is of the opinion that hunting big coastal blackies is tougher than hunting big muleys. But like other's have said, it is all a matter of terrain. I hunt big muleys in country that is just as thick as the Coast and I think they are pretty damn hard to kill in that kind of terrain. Trophy whitetails are the same.
Can't really say that when you get into trophy class animals there is a real easy species out there. Hell, black bears are pretty damn easy to hunt, but when you are pursueing the big buggers (7 foot or bigger) most are dam tough to kill. You only see just a glimpse of them not unlike big trophy mule deer.
Hell if trophy hunting was easy everyone and their dog would be doing it.
BTW Bandit, You probably will think I'm an A$$ too. I can kill 3 muleys a year here in BC. All over the counter tags too. LOL!

 

[polarbear]

Drummond
The blacktail is actually a species of its own and the mule deer is a sub species of the blacktail and whitetail interbreeding. DNA testing has proven this to be a fact.
Anyway.... I have killed mulies, whities, sitka blackies, columbia blackies and cascade blackies. The hardest, IMHO,trophy out of em' all is the true, northwest columbia blacktail. Those sitkas have got to be the easiest, followed by the whities and then the mulies. I shot 3 sitkas in 2 days and those stupid little bastards practically let me knock em' on the head.
Eric

 

[huntsonora]

Eric,
You are absolutely correct, the mule deer is a subspecies of a blacktail. They are also the newest of all the deer species. I stand corrected.
Drum

 

[RACKMASTER]

I never hunted whitetails! But I have hunted mulies and blacktails and mulies seem to be byfar easier than blacktails at the same age as each other and that is in California, Wyoming, Utah.(Blacktails only in Ca.)
I have seen monsters buck mulies and blacktails at lease once brifly on any giving hunting trip only to be fooled badly when I thought for an instant that it was going to go my way! Also thought that it was going to be easy that time to get them.
To say that they are "here today gone tomorrow" is the sole truth of smart 'ol bucks.

 

[kevclyde]

a gie told me once muleys are dumb. i said how many 30inchers do you have? none was the reply. he didn't say that again. the big bucks are really tuff to hunt. whitetails muleys blacktails are all hard to hunt for some people an not for others. some people are die hards for certain species it is easier for a die hard to kill a big buck then a weekend hunter. he puts in lots of time thinks about that species all the time. i myself hunt muley's i even dream about hunting some deer. for muleys being smart look at popeye he was never shot.

 

[Spartan117]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-05-04 AT 04:32PM (MST)[p]my dads deer camp in western washington killed thirteen blacktails ( over the years) out of the same clearcut with muzzleloaders back then. my uncle was there and he shot 18 times before connecting. but of course those were all does except for two bucks. i think that all big bucks no matter the species are smart. except for in the rut sometimes they'll just stand there. whitetails are the hardest for me because i dont know any good spots and that is some thick nasty country where ive been.