Hunting & Fishing Whitetail Deer and cattle

[rookie7]

Good afternoon,

If you have hunted for deer on cattle farms or something similar what has been your experience?

Did the cattle have an affect on your hunting?

I have my own opinions, but would like to hear from others.

thanks

 

[Ranchhand]

Not white tail but my cattle and the mule deer get along unless they're calving.

 

[diverdon]

If you have a horse you can ride right up on the deer, they often won't recognize a rider until you are close enuf for a shot.

 

[jbuck88]

I'm far from a expert, but have seen plenty getting along.

 

[blacklab1]

We take a yearly trip out to Kansas to hunt white tails on a cattle ranch. The only problem we've run into is when the cattle are standing between you and a shooter buck.

 

[eastexsteve]

I've seen cattle chase whitetails. I'm not sure why.

 

[Anb618]

I’ve never personally seen cattle and whitetail have an issue. That said I guess I’ve never seen a bull interact with whitetail? Only steers, cows, heifers, and calves. My hunting property borders a small cattle field (partially wooded property, fenced) on one side, which also tends to be where most of my deer come out of. Seen a lot of cattle/whitetail co-mingling, and never seen an issue.

 

[Boar Pig]

Kansas. Cattle eat our deer corn.

 

[Boatninja]

On larger ranches the cattle can get pretty wild and spook deer while getting away from you. On smaller places they can be so tame that they will follow you around hoping for a handout and therefore spooking deer. I have also seen whitetails and cattle congregating together. Just a couple of my observations, not meant to be rule of thumb. I also understand the land owner must make a living. I hope this helps.

 

[stello1001]

Hunted deer on cattle ranches all my life. It's a part of living in North Mexico or south Texas. The only thing that sucks about the cattle is sometimes they eat your deer corn. If you have deer feeders, fence them in. Cattle may sometimes be in a particular spot where deer will want to move by. They might avoid it just because a cow is there but that doesn't mean they're not gonna stick around. The deer still sleep and use and feed in the same areas where the cattle are present.

 

[diggler1833]

I have a bit of land to hunt on, and at any point 130-170 head running around the place (counting my calves). These are my observations:

1. Deer here do not like being around cattle...not just my place, but all the others I hog hunt on. I will not even attempt to deer hunt a pasture that actively has cattle on it. The deer may skirt around cows, but they will not just fall in and hang out 20-30 yards from cattle (again, here). I may see them 100 - 200 yards away at night in my thermal, but usually they are still on the other side of a fence. Last week I had a trail camera 50 yards off a hot wire fence with cows on the other side...after the cows continued to hang out by the fence, I went from 4 - 6 deer nightly on camera to 1. I moved that camera 100 yards further away, and my deer are all back. ** I have enough cover between most pastures that deer can skirt without really exposing themselves...so your terrain may have different results.

2. Cattle play hell with baiting for anything else. Either you have to soak your corn in diesel (for hogs as nothing else will touch it), or you have to put a fence around your feeder.

3. I use cattle to my advantage when deer hunting. By putting them in select pastures, I can limit the potential for deer to be in the next field over and not out in front of me. I also make sure to step in a cow pile before walking in to check game cameras...two hours later and the deer are in front if the camera, instead of picking up my scent and staying clear if the area for a few days. This works with hogs too...after watching a couple boars cross my scent trail and head the other way when I had just simply walked in, I'm now a believer in using a natural scent cover.

I'm not going to speak in absolutes and say that my observations/strategies are superior, but they work for me, for here. I'm already tagged out on bucks this year, and we haven't even started rifle season.

YMMV

Edited to add my first mount of 2020

 

[Bullspotter]

Have bow hunted WT deer on several fields with cattle, Seems the deer are more jumpy and alert while feeding with cattle in the same field, When one single doe spooks, the entire field is deer less in about 10 seconds.....

 

[E-Tool]

 

[stello1001]

I just saw a huge mature buck together with one slightly smaller and one other much much smaller. These 3 guys were hanging out with a few other does. This was here at King Ranch and they had one cow about 30 yards in one direction and another cow about 20 yards in another direction. They weren't spooked or anything, just chilling.

 

[Burning sensation]

Cattle ruin my whitetail hunts all the time. When bow hunting I keep a couple arrows in my quiver with blunt tips just to run cattle off. The deer where I hunt seem to regard them about the same as they do hogs. Some of the younger ones will get within 100 yards, most won’t get any closer than about 200 yards from cattle. I once put out a couple bales of alfalfa in an attempt to bring axis deer in. Big mistake.

Great looking euro diggler! I just finished my first one for the year yesterday.

 

[Rerun7]

I have a bit of land to hunt on, and at any point 130-170 head running around the place (counting my calves). These are my observations:

1. Deer here do not like being around cattle...not just my place, but all the others I hog hunt on. I will not even attempt to deer hunt a pasture that actively has cattle on it. The deer may skirt around cows, but they will not just fall in and hang out 20-30 yards from cattle (again, here). I may see them 100 - 200 yards away at night in my thermal, but usually they are still on the other side of a fence. Last week I had a trail camera 50 yards off a hot wire fence with cows on the other side...after the cows continued to hang out by the fence, I went from 4 - 6 deer nightly on camera to 1. I moved that camera 100 yards further away, and my deer are all back. ** I have enough cover between most pastures that deer can skirt without really exposing themselves...so your terrain may have different results.

2. Cattle play hell with baiting for anything else. Either you have to soak your corn in diesel (for hogs as nothing else will touch it), or you have to put a fence around your feeder.

3. I use cattle to my advantage when deer hunting. By putting them in select pastures, I can limit the potential for deer to be in the next field over and not out in front of me. I also make sure to step in a cow pile before walking in to check game cameras...two hours later and the deer are in front if the camera, instead of picking up my scent and staying clear if the area for a few days. This works with hogs too...after watching a couple boars cross my scent trail and head the other way when I had just simply walked in, I'm now a believer in using a natural scent cover.

I'm not going to speak in absolutes and say that my observations/strategies are superior, but they work for me, for here. I'm already tagged out on bucks this year, and we haven't even started rifle season.

YMMV

Edited to add my first mount of 2020

View attachment 7472107

This has been my experience as well. the deer won’t come into a field if cattle are close by. I’ll see them a couple hundred yards apart but if cattle start actively moving into an area I’m hunting I know I won’t see anything there.

 

[diggler1833]

Cattle ruin my whitetail hunts all the time. When bow hunting I keep a couple arrows in my quiver with blunt tips just to run cattle off. The deer where I hunt seem to regard them about the same as they do hogs. Some of the younger ones will get within 100 yards, most won’t get any closer than about 200 yards from cattle. I once put out a couple bales of alfalfa in an attempt to bring axis deer in. Big mistake.

Great looking euro diggler! I just finished my first one for the year yesterday.

I cheated and had that one done for me.

Good luck with the deer this year!

 

[ker2222]

My experience is deer are nowhere near the cattle. We hunt a lot of range land for white tails and mule deer. Spot and stalk type hunting. When we move into an area with cattle we just move in over the next rise cause we know there’s no deer in that area

 

[willieself]

Been hunting Whitetails around cattle all my life here in West Texas. My experience has been that they go together just fine. As as been mentioned already, the cows will clean up any corn they can get to. I have actually had cattle some through the feeder I was hunting one afternoon and then as they where making there way out the deer started coming in, be the end of the hunt I had a doe and a sow hog down at the feeder.

 

[OopsWetWedgie]

Deer hunting is nothing but being in the right place at the right time. Cows will be no issue. I use to hunt around them all the time and was successful. I have shot deer having a full blow conversation before. I have also watched deer and coyotes at the exact same time on more than one occasion. If you put the time in you will be successful, so don't over think it!

 

[KeithStone]

I think it helps familiarize deer to human activity I’m not gonna drive to my stands every night but I’ll go through my cattle. I can bout drive my side by side next to em without them hardly raising their head. Poor suckers ain’t got a chance come season

 

[2aBaC̶a̶]

View attachment 7474898

Hahaha, the look on those cows faces in the background.

 

[Maxduty]

I'm acquaintances with Jeff Danker. When we were discussing hunting locations he told me "Cows and deer hunting don't mix." As his family has run cattle and he's a professional hunter, I believe him.

 

[supercorndogs]

On larger ranches the cattle can get pretty wild and spook deer while getting away from you. On smaller places they can be so tame that they will follow you around hoping for a handout and therefore spooking deer. I have also seen whitetails and cattle congregating together. Just a couple of my observations, not meant to be rule of thumb. I also understand the land owner must make a living. I hope this helps.

A few years ago, I was sneaking through an old rock quarry to get close to some Antelope. I noticed there were three goats in quarry. I have never seen goats in this area before or since, but there they are three goats. I decide since they are kind of in my path, not to worry much about them. As soon as those goats saw me, one threw his head back and started screaming at the top of his lungs. It sounded like a women screaming.

Now when I pop out of the quarry, instead of being around 50y away, they are 800y away and spooky. I crawl and sneak from Cholla to Cedar, cedar to Cholla. I get to 400, lay on my belly and slide enough side ways to shoot around the Cholla I am behind. The buck has a doe behind him, and as she moves he turns presenting me with the brown bullseye or a Texas heart shot. I am waiting for him to present a broadside shot for a few seconds. Then he flips his tail, the hair on his neck stands up, and the entire heard takes off running full speed into the distance.

 

[hlee]

My experience has been that cows will push deer out of an area- not necessarily intentionally, but merely by their presence and movement. If you have deer that are feeding and the cattle herd is moving through, the deer will move off. But, the deer may well do an end-around and come back once the cattle have moved on. Cattle will do whatever they think they can to get to your bait, if you are baiting. That includes “walking” hog panels and knocking over less sturdy fencing. A 5 ft cattle panel fence will keep them out of your feeder, but may keep some deer out as well. Deer prefer to go under a fence if possible, so you can leave a “door” by using a hog panel lifted up off the ground about 2 ft. Even big bucks will slink under that before jumping even a relatively low fence. But, if you have pigs that you want out, you are leaving a door for them too. Our lease has cattle on it, but also has 2 pastures separated by a fence. If possible, I will close the gate to keep them out of the pasture I am hunting. So long as I put the gates back how they were before I leave, the property owner doesn’t care. Cattle may not ruin a hunt, but they sure don’t make it better. Avoid if possible.

 

[zk-315]

I've hunted quite a few different cattle ranches here in Texas. If there's cattle on the place, we will just put a pen around the feeders to keep them out. It doesn't seem to deter the deer one bit.

 

[HousePlant]

I know of a cow mommy who ended up raising a deer baby...

 

[Billdoe708]

Last night. No cattle had deer. Tonight cattle and no deer.

 

[Howland]

I've seen cattle and deer together occasionally, but not often. They may be in the same field, they might even be somewhat close, but they aren't intermingling.

Horses are a different story. Horses have decent eyesight and seem to be more curious and aware of their surroundings. If all the horses are looking toward the same spot in the woods, there's a reason. They're looking at something.

 

[Smokin7s]

On larger ranches the cattle can get pretty wild and spook deer while getting away from you. On smaller places they can be so tame that they will follow you around hoping for a handout and therefore spooking deer. I have also seen whitetails and cattle congregating together. Just a couple of my observations, not meant to be rule of thumb. I also understand the land owner must make a living. I hope this helps.

Being surrounded by cattle isn’t a bad thing they see cows all the time they don’t think anything of it. Ag first then you can shoot your wheat goats. Amen?

 

[FaithlessSaint]

On my ranch we hunt over our cattle pastures. Angus cows do not like deer but will tolerate them. The deer seem to know this and keep a bit of distance between them. The only thing that you really have to be conscious of is If you shoot one of my cows you owe me about two grand. If you shoot a bull... you may owe fifteen grand.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

I hunt predominantly hogs but watch the deer on family land in Texas that has 75 brangus and is surrounded by other small ranches. The deer do not seem to mind the presence of cattle but they seem to keep their distance . Because of this I haven't observed much interaction other than in passing. The deer also seem to be active before the cattle are up and moving. Now if people in the area are loading or working cattle then the noise of course drives everything off.
Generally, I feel if cattle are in the area I am then the deer are elsewhere.

 

[1911hombre]

Cattle like to chase deer.