Siman08/OH

I have a few questions for you long time hunters on here. Do deer get spooked by people riding horses? My neighbors are good people, but there not hunters and they ride thier horses everyday on the edge of our property and i was wondering if this would scare deer or leave scent that the deer would not like. They also walk thier dogs sometimes as well. Now the deer seem not to mind because they come out of thier property in the evening to feed in our fields. Another thing is that we use our woods alot for hunting woodchucks and taking walks, so will this put a dampener on deer activity? I used to not worry about all this kinda stuff but now that i am starting to target some trophy bucks i was wondering what they would tolerate?

Thanks

Caleb

buckmaster

I would like to know the same thing because the field i hunt in my neighbor walks his dog in and another neighbor rides his mule drawn carrige through, I see deer all the time though...that is until bout october when feeding patterns change.

Mdbowhunter16

Im not sure, but last hunting season someone had let beagles run loose on my hunting ground and the dogs chased a lot of deer out of my property. I did not see many deer that season at all. My situation is a little different than yours is but for the most part in my woods im pretty sure the deer recognize a dogs scent and will be cautious because of the dogs in the past. Thats just from my experiences.

AR Bowhunter

Riding the horses does not bother them as long as they are not riding an shooting at them. But walking through the woods an hunting woodchucks would put a damper on things. You need to have an area set aside that you don't go into to do any activity an that the deer would be comfortable bedding down.

Hunter_59

I agree with bow huntert, hunting anything on this property will have an adverse effect on mature bucks. The neighbor riding horses or walking their dogs, as long as they don't chase deer, will probably not effect the deer, although too much human activity may deter mature bucks from using the area. Whitetails have adapted to being around people so some human workings will not effect them. If I have control of the activity I usually curtail as much exposure when the hunting season gets close.