cattle near my stand

[philintheblank]

for the last 3 seasons i have had a nice little pasture to hunt all to myself. this year the land owner rented it out to a rancher. i have more pics of cattle on my cameras than deer. is this spot dead? i have only had one doe in front of my camera. last year i saw one bute whitey and a couple small bucks, doesnt look like they are around anymore

is it time to move on? or will they co-exist with the cows to some extent?

[jhyatt01]

For the most part, the cattle will knock down the grazing enough that the deer won't feed there. Best find a spot nearby that has good grass on it.

[Pincherguy]

I think they get along just fine. Where I hunt there are a lot of cattle in the area, the deer don't seem to mind them. Don't give up on yur spot just yet

[honda450]

Originally Posted by philintheblank

is it time to move on? or will they co-exist with the cows to some extent?

I have had elk, deer, moose and cattle on my game cam on the same day. As much as I hate cattle in those areas them seem to co exist.

[dcf]

I usually rotate my camera in a couple fields, and keep ahead of the cows(rotational grazing). But i checked my camera this morning and the cows got moved before the camera did!! 10 pictures of a buck, and 420 pictures of cows....... awesome. I think that the cattle will push the deer out if there isn't much bush. But they will return after the cows leave, thats my experience anyways.

[Trav]

I have had deer walk past my stand on one side while the cattle walked on the otherside all within 15 yards of each other they know they are there and they just stay out of each others way. Besides you wont find a better cover scent than cow crap to hide your smell Two years ago I shot a 7x6 elk in my cattle pasture cows were 100 yards to east of me when he walked past me

[philintheblank]

thanks for the replys everyone, great information

[Wolverine Boy]

Originally Posted by Pincherguy

I think they get along just fine. Where I hunt there are a lot of cattle in the area, the deer don't seem to mind them. Don't give up on yur spot just yet

I agree.

Cattle are a nuisance for the mess they leave behind and the additional trail-cam photos you end up with but they do co-exist.

We've had deer and cattle around together for years (as our land is next to a grazing lease) and have caught them within seconds of each other on the cameras many times.

[CLB]

I used the noise from cattle to help mask my own noise while I stalked my whitetail last year with the bow. He was browsing right through a small herd of cattle which were making a lot of noise and I was able to stalk in on him in some pretty crunchy conditions. Deer and cattle will co-exist quite well. They really do not compete for food. Deer really do not graze on grass their diet is made up more of broadleaf plants and browse as well as various crops. Their diet is actually only about 10% grasses. That is why I have always found it funny when ranchers claim the deer are eating all their grass. Sure they will eat at a hay stack in the winter when food is scarce but during the summer they will have very little to no impact on the cattles grazing.

[Dunezilla]

I have watched deer eating the horses hay bails while the horses watched from a few yards away. Yea I saw cattle & deer standing only a few yards away from each other & they were eating together.

I wouldn't give up yet.