Yea I know, sounds like a dumb question. The outfitter I've been using for years is now introducing cattle to his land in an effort to increase his use of farmland & gain some more $$$$$$.
I can't fault him, but how, or will the cattle affect the deer hunting ????? Positive,Negative, neutral. Any ideas or experiences with this ??? Should I be looking for a diferent option ?? As always thanks for your invaluable opinions & ideas.

Have you ever seen whitetails feeding close to cattle??? I haven't either. Yuo want to spook every whitetail out of a bush just run a herd of cattle through it.

the chef

In Montana they run side buy side. Whitetail have the personality of Norwegian rats. If it's feed they will eat it. Gianni.

Whitetail will adjust to many changes in their environment -- and that includes the introduction of cattle. But it certainly won't be an overnight thing.

Before long, though, the deer will even discover the mineral blocks or protein mixes set out for the cattle and will become regulars at those locations. And if water troughs are present, you'll catch them stealing an occasional drink as well. Granted, they won't be feeding side-by-side, but they will certainly learn to share the same range.

A lot depends on the acreage. In my experience, when the cattle have moved in the whitetail move out.

On property next to my family's, it is not unusual to see deer feeding in the fields with the cattle. And when the dairy cattle come in for milking, it is not all that rare to see a few of deer coming into the milking parlor. My neighbors father fed his family with these deer through the winter.

It will depend upon the number of cattle put on the place and the amount of land involved. As has been said, they learn to co-exist.

I have seen whitetails feeding in the middle of a pasture full of cattle coutnless times. Including big bucks

Deer will feed with cattle. They prefer not to.

I have observed the negative effect of cattle in hunting areas here in TX. I can tell you, without a doubt, as cattle numbers increase, deer will move to adjacent pastures that have no cattle, provided the distance is not to great.

I would never lease a piece of property that had a high density of cattle on it during deer season. I have done it and it is a waste of money.

On our place in West Texas the other day, I saw a cow and a deer drinking at the same trough. You do not want to over stock it or over graze your pastures. Adios,
Kevin

Except to the extent that cattle may be overstocked and thus strip a pasture of vegetation, I've never seen evidence of their presence making any difference to the deer population. The two species would as soon not be in close proximity to one another (within a few yards), but show no mutual repulsion, either.

Elk should be no different -- I filmed a spike and 4-point bull grazing side-by-side and unconcerned with a Hereford last week in Colorado. This was not a case of long-time association, either, as I know for a fact that cattle had been turned in to this area only four weeks prior.

Just to be clear, as there are no absolutes...

Yes, there are examples everyday that prove that deer and cows live together in the same pasture. Eat and drink together. There are stories of deer that come to sirens that are used to call cows to cake (cubes) but in general, deer do tend to avoid cows.

It appears to me that as the cattle population increases, the deer tend to move to areas that have fewer or no cattle.

Being a fellow Texan, I am hitching my little red wagon to Wendell's on this question.

It has also been my experience that if you are hunting a particular part of a ranch, when the cows come in (for water, grass, whatever) the deer will move out until the cows move on.

Not 100%, but pretty consistent. Of course other areas are different. But when I hunted south Texas your chances of seeing lots of deer went way down when the cows moved in. I seem to recall the same on other leases in other parts of the state.

The easy way to think of it is...

Whitetail does are quiet, sneaky and unobtrusive. Shootable bucks more so.

Cattle are loud, clumsy and generally smell bad.

No deer wants to bed down where some damn cow will stumble over it.

They will eat together, but given their druthers, deer will bed somewhere quiet.

This from a life long cattleman.

I have lived here since 1986 and agree with you guys. Wendell said it best. I have had to wait for the deer or cow to move to get a clear shot on some ranches. I have also been on some where the cattle were fairly new and the deer were mighty skittish. On most occassions I have had more trouble with the hogs running the deer off instead of the cattle. (These are my observations and I don't claim to be a game biologist.)

Here in the UK, I would say that it can depend on what the deer or cattle are. Milk cows are pretty tolerant, suckler cows with calves much less so. Bullocks can get excited and investigate/chase anything in the feild(they are bored and anything new must be checked out!)
Young heifers can be inquisitive too, and deer(esp does)will not tolerate the attention. If the feeding is good, bucks may stand their ground against intrusion by cattle, but as someone already said, there are no absolutes.
I certainly would"nt say that the introduction of cattle is the end of your deer hunting on that land.
good shooting

depending on the number of cattle the deer may become nocturnal to avoid feeding contact with them.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum. I have seen a herd of cattle scare off deer and I have also seen deer literally eating inside a herd of cattle. In my experience, the deer usually stay on the outskirts of a herd of cattle, but if they do spook, they usually don't go very far.

The 1800 acres I hunt is a cattle operation and I usually see the deer move around the cattle by some 50 yards or so, if they are does. We routinely have to run the bucks out of the troughs, as they don't seem to mind mingling with the cattle. If it is a very dry year, we can count on at least one cow being "poked" (not really gored, but punctured) by a buck to get them to move out of the water tank.

Cows seem to bother deer very little but a large herd of sheep is another story, they will drive the deer out!!

Do deer get spooked by cattle on same land?"


................NO!

You just have to be carefull not to shoot the farmer's cattle!

several ranches i hunt on have deer, exotics, sheep, goats and cattle...during winter and dry seasons, cattle, sheep and goats are fed extra feed,.. range cubes, salt-meal mix....lots of times ive seen deer hanging around the edges of the feedgrounds waiting for us to leave... wildlife is a little more timid, but hunger causes the caution level to go down... there's a nice elk that hangs out close to the feedlot on IH35, about 70 miles north of laredo... artesia wells area....

(For what its worth)From a biolgists standpoint most of the literature on the subject suggests whitetail deer are far less tolerant of cattle than mule deer or elk.

This meaning that GIS analysis of whitetail habitat use shows a negative correlation to the presence of cattle yet mule deer habitat use is (statistically) not affected by cattle......

IV

All I can tell you is this:

The last few years I'd noticed a major deer trail runing through the cow pasture of my wife's farm in North-east Nebraska.

On a whim, I went out opening morning last year and sat down right in the middle of the pasture under a big cotton wood tree.

Not one, but two, eight pointers went by before 9:30 that morning. The second is now on the wall in my office.

That evening, a veritable flock of does moved in from the other direction.

I plan on hunting there again this year, and have little doubt there will be something for the freezer!

Good luck,

friar

NO, they do not.

My cattle graze their pastures with deer by their side all the time. I was out a week ago retrieving a calf at night and came across five does and yearlings bedded down next to my herd. Deer could care less about cows.

Joe

I've shot deer right out of cattle many times, after years cattle aren't going to bother them.