# Can deer remember???



## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

What do you guys think? Can deer remember things from their past such as an encounter with a human, a near death experience, old treestands a hunter used etc.. Or do they only rely on their senses such as smell to recall things from their past such as food sources,bedding areas, areas frequently used by hunters....


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## PurpleNGold (Mar 15, 2011)

I read a while back that 9 out of 10 bucks that live over 3yrs old will die of old age/natural causes rather than being killed by a hunter.


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## Dagwood (Oct 1, 2007)

You dang straight they remember. Hunting a mature buck is like hunting a different species of animal because of what they have learned.


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## johnboatjosh (May 19, 2008)

Well, I believe from past experiences that deer can indeed remember specific events. I also believe that some individual deer are smarter than others. I hunted a mature 6 point one time for a couple of weeks at the beginning of bow season. Several evenings the deer came down the same trail leading to an oak flat. I saw him at least 4 different days before getting a shot at him. One evening he presented a shot. I shot high. I saw the same deer several more times during that season and the next and everytime he came down that trail he paused right before he got to the spot where the arrow flew over his back. I'm convinced he never forgot that experience. Not saying he knew what had taken place but he definitely knew something bad had happened right there!


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## Hopin4aboat (Jul 5, 2009)

Yes they can remember. A friend of mine was taping his bowhunts and every time he was in a particular stand a doe would walk out to the edge of the woods and peak around a shrub directly at his stand then turn around and walk off. She had busted him early in the season and this happened 10 or more times and it was hillarious to watch every time.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Remember? Heck, last weekend I had one call me by name, shake my hand and welcome me back!!


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## BobbyD (Aug 12, 2009)

I shot a doe that had a yearling with her 2 years ago and i swear that same deer came back to my bow spot last year. Every time this doe would come into the clearing, she would look up and stare at me forever. She had to remember what happened to her momma.


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## 192 (Oct 1, 2007)

Just like humans, it depends on the deer. We all have the opportunity to get old and big by living through a couple of dumb decisions.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

I have some exotic turtles and I am amazed at how observant they are. They will follow me into another room so I would think that deer recognize people and places.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Nahhhh... my daughter shot at a big doe (her first) and it hopped hard and ran off. Found belly hair. Three weeks later a doe came out, same spot, limping. She closed the deal this time.

Doe never looked our way, never acted different.

Just one example.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

*That's because they have .......*

TURTLE RECALL! 

Sorry that was turtelly uncalled for.

That's turtelly ridiculous.



SHunter said:


> I have some exotic turtles and I am amazed at how observant they are. They will follow me into another room so I would think that deer recognize people and places.


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## 192 (Oct 1, 2007)

thanks for the laugh...corny, but funny....


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## billin (Oct 14, 2007)

*deer memory*

growing up my family hunted out of permenant stands and killed plenty of deer. I think deer can remember specific events or places but they dont communicate to others. ofcourse in the rut that all goes out the window.


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## titan77 (May 13, 2012)

oh yeah I think so


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Definitely. I usually sit in the same stand and the does always come in and stare at me first.


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

I think more than actually remembering specifics, they learn and adapt...it becomes more a part of their instinct than their memory. If that makes any sense...


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## bowdiddly (Jan 6, 2010)

Try'n Hard said:


> Remember? Heck, last weekend I had one call me by name, shake my hand and welcome me back!!



Thats funny right there, don't care who you are.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Wharf Rat said:


> I think more than actually remembering specifics, they learn and adapt...it becomes more a part of their instinct than their memory. If that makes any sense...


This is kind of how I feel also, I think they use their sense of smell to link certain situations to danger, food, other deer, humans, etc...not completly sold that they can remember certain events from years past. But their instincts are so great at times it seems like they are incredibly smart...Really though who knows? Their just fun to hunt!


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> This is kind of how I feel also, I think they use their sense of smell to link certain situations to danger, food, other deer, humans, etc...not completly sold that they can remember certain events from years past. But their instincts are so great at times it seems like they are incredibly smart...Really though who knows? Their just fun to hunt!


.....and eat!


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## MULLET HUNTER (Oct 3, 2007)

Wait til they get cell phones.... We won't stand a chance:whistling::whistling:


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## Deerlover807 (Jun 25, 2021)

Try'n Hard said:


> Remember? Heck, last weekend I had one call me by name, shake my hand and welcome me back!!


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## Deerlover807 (Jun 25, 2021)

Cute, I wish they could do that lol


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## Boardfeet (Sep 27, 2007)

They definitely remember. They use the same travel routes frequently. A buck will return to scrapes and rubs on a routine basis. He has to remember where they are. They remember food sources and the time of year said food source is ready to eat. They remember where stands and feeders are placed. I have watched many a deer walk into a food plot and peek around the brush at the stand to see if anyone is in it. That's why I NEVER hunted those stands. I always sat on a lawn chair hidden in a different location near the food plots. I killed the biggest bucks ever taken on our club.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

I would like to think they can, just like people I guess, some are smart and some are average, but most are dumb or just plain stupid.
Friend sat on a stand a few years ago, shot a 7 point, crippled it, didn't recover it. The very next day, same weather and wind conditions, I sat on the same stand, and dispatched the crippled 7pt. He (cousin) hit it low of the shoulder, upper leg, no bone damage, but had a chunk of meat missing and some meat missing off the chest from the angled shot.
So either that deer was *plain stoopid, dumb, had alzheimer's or just suicidal*.
I'd say yes they do, unless they fall into one of the above highlighted categories.


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