Deers N Steers

[Mike]

What effect do cattle have on deer? The owner of one of my properties is fencing in about three acres of the woods and his grass field for the cattle. That leaves me a small corridor for hunting. There is still plenty of woods for the deer to travel through that is owned by others.

 

[MK111]

Since I raise cattle on my farm I see little effect on deer movement. The only ill effect you might have is the cattle will eat the grass in the woods down to the ground leaving nothing much for the deer.
So IMHO the woods won't be much more than a pass through area for the deer movement.
Look for a good pinch point along the fence as deer by nature are rather lazy and will take the path of least resistance in movement.
Good luck.

 

[Fullbore]

I think you'll be ok Mike. Most of my experiences with deer and cattle have been ok. I do know that you won't appreciate a herd of bovine underneath your tree stand during the rut. My brothers BIL had a funny, but bad experience years ago in that situation.

 

[Johnch]

If he puts out salt or mineral blocks for the steers
The deer will target them

Also if he feeds the steers , the deer will eat it also

Dad had milk cows till I was 17
I killed my first deer while sitting in a bulk feed wagon
As I had watched a basket 8 point feed all summer with the steers
And that was 1981 , WAY WAY less deer back then

So watch for deer trails going into the fenced area

John

 

[Mike]

I've got minerals out but I saw a brown block inside the fence too. Thanks guys.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Look for a good pinch point along the fence as deer by nature are rather lazy and will take the path of least resistance in movement.
Good luck.

This right here. If its available. Smear the cowpies on your boots when you walk in. No possible better coverscent

 

[Mike]

I had that same thought Red.

 

[bowhunter1023]

This right here. If its available. Smear the cowpies on your boots when you walk in. No possible better coverscent

Yep. Dad fenced in part of his place a while back and I was pissed at first because it took away a lot of good bedding. However deer still bed inside the fence and it funnels them around one of the corners so well that it really improved one of my spots. The biggest drawback is that cattle destroy any available cover, but outside of that, they really don't impact hunting enough to call it a detriment.

 

[Schu72]

I hunted a large cattle pasture for a number of years and shot plenty of deer. As mentioned cow patties make a great cover scent and it's free.:smiley_bril: the only issue I ever had was that the cattle are nosy as can be. As soon as they would lay eyes on me, they were headed my way. Very difficult to sneak into the stand.

 

[Mike]

Do the deer seem more comfortable with cattle around? Do they steal from the food trough?:smiley_chinrub:

 

[bowhunter1023]

Our cows get their grain in the barn and most do it that way. If they are feeding in open troughs, must do it close to their main access and that in itself keeps the deer out. I wouldn't say deer are comfortable with cattle, bit they aren't freaked out by them either. If you walked in to a pen of Brock Lesnars, you would keep your distance and wouldn't tolerate any nonsense if you knew you'd lose his ass in 2 seconds. Basically they are the same species, one is just way bigger and dumber.

 

[Big_Holla]

The farm we hunt on up in the Thumb used to have cattle and for the most part deer would avoid them. They often would lay down in the one corner of the pasture and you could bet deer would skirt them. Other than that it would suck if you baited LOL