The tail position and movement is a considerable indicator for us when we’re hunting because it can be easily seen from a distance. The hair on the body will also remain flat. A deer that twitches its tail left and right is usually in a relaxed state. During the summer or early fall look for deer to kick or toss their head in an effort to rid themselves of flies – this is usually a sign that small biting insects are their biggest concern at the time. The body position will be relaxed, and deer will step with low knees, wasting as little energy as possible as they move or feed. When relaxed, their neck should be relaxed, not upright in an alert position and you will often see that the deer is chewing, a certain sign of relaxation. The ears typically rotate and scan as a secondary defense to detect approaching predators from varying directions. These moves are what you might classify as “casual ” there is no particular object of focus, just the typical scanning in all directions you might expect from a prey animal. Though there are subtle variations from one population to the next and even one deer to the next, most whitetails rotate their ears frequently and raise and lower their head when they are calm. A relaxed whitetail will relate obvious clues to an observant hunter. This is the state in which deer (at least theoretically) spend most of their time. He doesn’t suspect anything and is in a natural, relaxed Relaxed This deer is walking steadily, chewing, and rotating his ears. Each one of these behaviors should elicit a different response from the hunter. To do this, I’ve divided deer behavior into four primary categories relaxed, attentive, aggressive and fearful. Ultimately, all deer body language communicates a message to other deer, so you need to be able to decipher those codes whether the subject of the whitetail’s attention is a dominant buck or the odd-shaped creature standing on a platform twenty feet above the ground. Learning to read the animal’s mood will also help you know whether or not your calling is working, whether the deer is preoccupied with rutting activity and oblivious to your activity, or perhaps that you may want to hold out on the shot because something larger this way comes. Most hunters know there are certain “tells” that indicate a whitetail has busted you, but there’s a great deal more to be learned from a whitetail’s body position and movements than whether or not the deer smells a rat. Likewise, animals communicate using body signals as cues to indicate fear, dominance, aggression, or sexual receptivity, and this includes whitetail deer. Facial expressions, body posture, simple gestures or eye movements tell a lot without uttering a word. It’s said that the bulk of interpersonal communication between humans is related via body language and not spoken words, so sending the right message to others is critically important. The buck on the left has his ears laid back, hair bristled-up and neck straight forward, and while the smaller buck does have his ears laid back, he knows he’s beaten and looks to be backing away. The larger buck seems none too happy that the other buck isn’t giving ground fast enough. Brad Fitzpatrick | Originally published in GameKeepers: Farming for Wildlife Magazine.
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