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Hunting with the cattle

Talonted

Talonted

Member
Wondering everyone's opinion on how cattle can affect deer movement. I hunt one farm that cows are always present on and deer seem to move through regulary, I actually shot my buck there last year, although I hate hunting around them.

I have another property that only has cattle for 5-6 months out of the year and (it seems) deer completely stay away when the herd moves in. They slowly move back in once the herd is out, but it seems to take awhile.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Travel corridors during the rut can be fine, but generally cattle = less thick cover which is a big negative for holding whitetails on a regular basis.
 
DOR said:
Travel corridors during the rut can be fine, but generally cattle = less thick cover which is a big negative for holding whitetails on a regular basis.
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Plus I don't think deer like to bed in an area they always get bumped out of by livestock.
 
In really thick cover its kind of nice having cattle bust some good paths. Long as they are out of the area for a week actually seems to help.
 
My B-I-L changes his cow/calf herd from summer pasture to winter pasture. The winter pasture includes his picked corn fields. The deer disappear as soon as he puts the catttle in. They trample the cover and eat all the left over corn.
 
A few years ago I hunted central Illinois during the 2nd week of November.
The farm I hunted had cattle everywhere. I can't say it was a great week, but I think that had more to do with the fact the farm was hunted before I got there. The thing I remember most is watching bucks on the move making their way right thru the middle of the cows...during all hours of the day. Does would stay on the opposite side of the fence avoiding the cows - however, the bucks seemed to already have their minds made up as to the route they wanted to take.

One of the few hunts I didn't take as many pictures as I should have.

All that being said...I think most would try and avoid the cattle and hunt a area with less intrusion.

*** I should add I was hunting in a timbered area, not open fields.
 
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Use to hunt a farm in IA where the cattle were bumped around from area to area. Seemed like wherever the cattle were the deer were rarely around, except maybe when quickly passing through headed to food or cover.

Kratz
 
Depends

I shot an 8 point basket rack grazing with a dairy herd. The owner of the land had depredation tags but wanted all deer removed. I had a buck tag so I harvested the buck. He was chasing away the does who were waiting to come into the same field. They didn't want to mate and he did. Long story short he walked in front of me and saw me 10 yards away sitting by the fence line. He acted like he was going to go through me to get the doe behind the fence that was on property I couldn't hunt. So I figured any deer that dumb needed to be removed from the gene pool. In any event he didn't have a problem with cattle. On another property I never did see a deer mix or even come close to cattle but it was woodland. So I guess maybe in open fields they will mix but in woodlands they don't? Or maybe they will overlook cows as long as the alfalfa is good enough? I haven't ever seen them mix in a cornfield either but I have seen them in the same field with cattle but keeping their distance. So I no longer hunt woodlots that hold cattle but I do hunt large alfalfa fields and cornfields but usually at the fence edges where the deer enter. I also stay away from the cattle as much as possible. So there's my 2 cents.
 
Actually, Cows are important for bear (predator) control.
3830-cowvsbear7.jpg
 
If the pasture has cattle year-round, the deer will be fine, depending on the amount of cover (too many cows will kill any spot). If the cows get moved in shortly before deer season, you better find another place to hunt. The most aggravating thing about hunting cattle pastures is all the work it takes to establish a food plot, fencing, etc.
 
I hate hunting where there are cattle.
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Ditto! If they, the cows see you, it seems they always have to come check you out.:( Other than that, if they are there all the time, I don't see them bothering deer movement.

cowsandme.jpg
 
Thanks for the all the input from everyone, it seems my history coincides with many of yours when it comes to cattle. The buck I shot last year was on the edge of some thick timber, most of the cattle stay in the open field but they do venture in occasionally.

One of the best properties we have to hunt just cleared them out this week so hopefully the venison moves back in shortly.

Best of luck to all, countdown at ~34 hours...
 
In Missouri I used to hunt a cattle farm, 350 acres, and we used to see a slug of deer. You just had to be on the side of the farm where the deer were not. We killed some really good bucks off the farm in 5 years of hunting it.

I now have access to quite a bit of ground that has cattle and I see quite a few bucks on it every year, tons of does. It just boils down to where you hunt them on the farm and if it is big enough to support them both.

I don't hesitate to hunt cattle farms anymore, I usually don't see many people on them either :)
 
Within months of stopping cattle in an area of my timber the deer herd immediately increased and we starting harvesting mature bucks that year. It made a big difference in my ground. The guy I purchased the ground from asked why we were seeing and getting so many good bucks when in years past it had been dry. The answer was simple, no cattle in the timber.
 
Shovelbuck said:
Ditto! If they, the cows see you, it seems they always have to come check you out.:( Other than that, if they are there all the time, I don't see them bothering deer movement.

cowsandme.jpg
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That Picture is a riot :D. I have been there too. Had them standing right at the base of my tree and look at me for an hour before they left. Not worth it IMO. That pic just made my day by the way :way:
 
This was a little before my time, but the guys on the farm i work for say there used to be a pretty nice buck that would hang out with the cattle all day, he would also come up when the feed wagon would come to put out feed just like a cow would. They even have pictures of (I have yet to see them). Sorry this doesnt really answer your question but i thought it was a pretty neat story and thought i would share.
 
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