So after brush hogging a lot over the years and mowing clover and such, it amazes me how close I have gotten to bedded deer on the edges.
Last time hogging a small plot, I caught what I thought was one of our group coming to check what was going on. On the next pass it was 2 bucks watching me from maybe 50 yards away tops. Sat and videoed them for a couple minutes with the phone and tractor ruining.
This is becoming a pretty common theme.
Seen deer in the middle of gun season, when I’m doing some kinda chore, stinking to high heaven, and no gun, and they are tolerant to the point of curious to what I’m up to. It has become common place. We have a good number of wolves and my kids call the deer up there ninja deer. Starting to think wolves don’t like the human intrusion. And the deer have learned that the wolves don’t like me, so we are somehow becoming allies? I think I could go mow, sit by the tractor after I’m done and shoot a deer right by the tractor, smoking a celebratory cigar, smelling of sweat, cigar smoke and diesel fuel.
That’s probably becoming one of my biggest rewards doing food plots, the deer’s tolerance and curiosity of my intrusions.