cat?

"The best axiom on deer hunting is only correct 60% of the time, and that includes this one"  Or deer being so predictable that you can set your watch by them.

Things happen throughout the day, while you are gone that affect what is going to happen while you are there.

If the deer are that predictable, stick with your plan, it will work.

You know I swear deer have patterned me by where I park my car or which direction I drive in.

One of our guys in our shooting group brought a bob cat in that he caught in his trap line.
We cut it into small chunks, added some nice seasoning and pan fried it to PURR....FECTION.

Some of the best eating ever, NO LIE!!  But, having said that I like house cats and could never shoot someone's kiddy cat.

Put out a plate of lasagna and see if the cat will come to you, and you can catch him.

I don't know about the patterning the deer to that degree.....but I, for one, have watched deer react VERY negatively to housecats.  The neighbor on the backside of my property has about 1000 barn cats and there is 1 particular one on my list...a big yellow SOB that's screwed me up more than a couple of times on deer over the last several years.  Maybe he's a big smelly tom, heck, I don't know, these deer have to see cats all the time...I've seen them run like crazy from this one.  I've personally watched deer 3 or 4 times get bent out of shape over this cat and heard them blow at him several other times.  One of these days......

R

Was it a black cat?

Saw this one a few weeks ago in the snow. This cat gets around as I saw it last year on the opposite end of the property. It was living in a log last year as I watched it come and go from its den. This is a camera phone pic from my treestand. Cat has good snow camo, huh?

I've seen it happen.

I once had the largest buck I'd ever hoped to shoot working his way toward my treestand. I could see him at 200 yards...then 150...then 75. I had the bow in my left hand and binocs in my right. This gigantic buck was out in a brushy hillside and I was about 10 yards inside the woods...there was an old fencerow just 10 yards away. Squirrels were feeding and hopping through the leaves...chipmunks making noise, etc. Suddenly the buck went on alert and began studying the fenceline in my direction. I knew the wind was good without question. It turned out to be a barn cat working his way along the fencerow. The buck locked on the cat and would NOT come another step closer. He (buck) turned 90 degrees and went maybe 10 steps parallel to me at 70 yards...then identifying the cat he turned and walked (not feeding) 75 yards straight away without pause. That cat cost me dearly.

I managed to kill that buck from another tree about 3 or 4 days later...150 yards away.

Kevin

Garfield wasnt Black.

Dang I never thought deer cared that much about a house cat.

I guess a predator is a predator.

Mike

you're not enjoying the scenery enough

I've stopped looking for "reasons" that I don't see anything YEARS ago!!!!!

Deer are wild animals,not cows coming back to the barn at milking time. They are creatures of habit,but the bottom line is that they do what they want when they want. Can you pattern a deer??? Why YES!!! Actualy you can..... But,Can you "time" a deer??? The answer is simply, NO!!! Weather,barometer,activity,(both human and animal) MANY factors affect deer movement. A sharp drop in the barometer could make them get up and feed at noon. Then in the evening,they have no reason to get up and move. So, you do not see anything.

Pattern them them the best you can,then hunt!!!!! If you see them, GREAT!!!!! If you don't well, That's HUNTING!!!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!    

How far forward you think would make best shot placement? Probably should wait for a quartering away shot, but then again it shouldn't be too hard to bust through cat shoulder at broadside... hmmm...

I will admit that I've never observed a deer's reaction to "puss in the woods", but I can tell you from watching them in my yard, they never seem to have a negative reaction to them.  I 've watched fawns actually chase them.

A dog in the woods......an entirely different story.  I hunt a lot in suburban settings and get hunts screwed up by wandering dogs quite often.

Within the last couple of weeks there was a picture on here or another site of a cat and a whitetail deer playing together in someones yard. Great pictures. I guess they just got use to each other.

well well I don't think the cat had anything to do with you not seeing a Deer ,, without cats  you would be overrun with vermin, sounds like not everone likes Cats , but if you watch one go by hunting you will see they are excellent hunters with great skills