Sport/MN

Deer do have stereoscopic(3dimension with depth perception) vision looking straight ahead... however when using their eyes indiviually(which they can do to see a wider scope of area they dont have the ability of depth perception.

by23856

That makes more sense, Sport/MN. You would need two eyes working together to have good depth perception.

by23856

I always thought it was for water shedding purposes. Goes to show what all I know.

badshotbob

by23856 and titleist_03 - I hear ya, often wondered that myself. We' ve all seen deer going horizontal at blistering speeds through stuff you can' t even see through like it wasn' t even there. Good point too on the fence jumping. I am just going by what biologists have know for years and what eyes to the sides do to vision. Cover one eye and reach for something. Depth perception is distorted. I guess it' d be like wandering around your house in near dark - usually not a problem (depending on how many beers you' ve had anyway) Bottom line is deer are rather good at living out in the wild regardless of anything that is know about them. (wow, was that line full of incredible wisdom or what? - duh[:-])

Belle Island

Does a bear sh!t in the woods?

Five Minute Willie

We all need to keep in mind that when we are in the woods we are actually in the deer' s living room. When we go out there we are adding another piece of " furniture" to their environment. If another piece of furniture was added to your living room would you notice it? Concealment is important when deer hunting. You have to break up your outline, cover all skin, avoid UV colors and, most importantly, use the existing woods to hide (behind a tree or rock, up in a tree that offers cover).

As far as depth perception goes, the deer know the woods like the back of their hands (hooves). The reason they can jump a barbed wire fence while going full tilt is because they know exactly where the barbed wire is. In fact, they know the best escape route for every given circumstance.

And, a deer cannot see in all directions at the same time. There is only one animal capable of seeing in all directions without moving its head on our continent and that is the cottontail rabbit. A deer has to raise its head to look up. A reaction it will not do unless given a reason to do so (noise or movement). And, they cannot see behind themselves. That' s why they walk with the wind at their back at times - so they can smell what' s behind them.

Just my two cents.

badshotbob

A deer can see 310 degrees around itself (I believe I said, " can ALMOST see" ). Deer CANNOT focus on one location with both eyes which leads to very poor depth perception.

As far as the new furniture in the living room deal goes, not always the case. Ever put out a portable blind? Think the deer are saying to each other, " now how' d that get there I wonder? oh well..." Ah, no. Most of the time if not always, if something doesn' t move and they cannot smell it, they think nothing of it. If you are not moving, you' re not a threat. I' ve stalked deer in an open field to within 15 yards of them starting at over 100 yards away. They saw me coming the entire way, or at least they looked directly at me. But when they looked up, I froze. Since they have bad depth perception and the wind was with me, they had no idea if I was a tree in the middle of the field or how close I ever was to them. Try it sometime. I' ve even done this to deer while bird hunting - in no camo pattern at all!! As for the UV light BS - marketing gimmic.

The better question here is: Do deer have the knowledge and thinking capability to collect data, process it as rational as humans to confirm the human figure? No. They don' t. Move though, and you are now a threat.

KimberRuger

That' s what whitetail.com says too, and if you picture or measure the trophy mount that' s over your fireplace, you' ll find this pretty accurate. Hold the head still by brcaing the wooden mount against a wall. Now look at how the eyes are set, and consider how far they could articulate/rotate. Draw an inmaginary line from eyeball to the point that it would see on the wall. Do the same for both eyes, and draw similar lines on the wall behind the mount. A full circle would be 360 degrees - and you' ll find that your lines almost cover the whole room.



I once, (when I was young and foolish), asked my wife where that " new" picture came from, that one simple question somehow turned into a full-blown " YOU NEVER NOTICE ANYTHING !!!" discussion. (the picture had been there for a few months).

There' s no icon for biting my tongue.


I' m pretty sure that everyone who' s spent their time in the field has walked up on deer at some time or another. But I' ve never been able to WALK that close. (I have crawled this close with an old carpet draped over my back). Not saying you didn' t, but you' re either really good, or the deer were extremely distracted.

Honestly, I gotta think you got some blind deer there BSB, or you had an awesome backdrop to " confuse" your outline. I' ve had deer turn around and come back to me after seeing me walking when I stopped and laid down, crouched, or crawled (not easily done with a ow, but it works great with a pistol), but whenever I' ve been upright - be it standiing still ' cuz I saw them coming, or when I' ve been walking, deer flee (maybe I smell that bad ???)

They don' t " rationalize" - they don' t have a progressive thought train that steps though an analytical process or nothing, but I believe they can recognize shapes. Call it more of a " conditioned response" . Typically they don' t see an upright, two legged, un-furred, un-barked, topless, branchless critter in their " living room" , and when they do, it makes a loud noise (farming, hiking, gun-hunting) , they smell blood (hunting - even if it' s rabbits), they smell exhaust, or some other non-natural/man-made event.

Positively, unless you can be dead slow, or stop moving even before they look up.

badshotbob

Well KimberRuger, you busted me. I' m full of it - never stalked deer. I' ve never been in the tree when they look up at about half draw and had them look back down because I did freeze. I' ve never even seen a darn deer in the wild after 24 years of hunting.[:' (]

Seriously though, these are my experiences in the woods. I' m not saying - don' t move and you can go pet the deer of your choice whenever the mood strikes. But, I' ve been in the woods quiet a bit and these are the things I' ve observed.

I really believe that most of the crap on the market is made for hunting bow hunters - dangle a carrot that says, " with this revolutionary camo, you will be completely scent free and the deer will never EVER see you, thus providing you more deer - only 4,700 dollars!" , and we run out and buy it. IMO it' s how you hunt no matter what brand of camo you have on.

Again, I' m a master idiot and a very average hunter. Just my opinions.

KimberRuger

BSB - I didn' t say it didn' t happen, and I' m not dissin' ya, flaming you, or otherwise discrediting you. I' m merely saying that it has never happened that way with me.

As far as being an idiot, I doubt you are, nor do I believe you to be one - unless of course you asked about a " new" picture or something like I did.


Seriously though, I' m not trying to slam you in any way - like I said, maybe I do stink that bad ...... but whenever a deer has seen me upright, they recognize me somehow, and I think it' s a matter of conditioning more than anything else.