# Will a deer carcass scare away other deer?



## Bowhuntr64 (Aug 6, 2007)

I am wondering if a dead deer carcass will scare away away other deer. 

Just last week I went to my favorite spot for an evening hunt. I have always seen multiple deer come out at dusk there...as a matter of fact I have never not seen deer there. That is, until this last week. When I got there, there was a dead doe, looked like about a week old, lying about 30 yards away from my stand. It looked like it had been shot and never recovered. There were a few oppossums gnawing away at it. 

Is my spot ruined for a while, or not? I saw a TV show that said deer are not at all afraid of gut piles, but I have never heard anything about an entire carcass. Any thoughts?


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## hoyt bowhunting (Nov 24, 2004)

My dad shot a doe opening morning of deer gun season this year. 30 minutes later a big buck ran by her stopped 10 yards away and walked up to her and was going to sniff her but he got it before he touched her.
matt


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## keyman (Mar 22, 2003)

yes,old carcasses and other dead animals like raccoons, coyotes or anything else people like to shoot and leave lay, will make deer avoid the area.


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## JWT (Jan 3, 2006)

I completely disagree. In the wild things die all the time, Deer and other animals know the natural order of things. Gut piles and carcasses will not affect the natural patterns of wildlife. I've seen it first hand several times. I even saw a doe munch on a gut pile after yotes tore the rumin open.


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## keyman (Mar 22, 2003)

JWT said:


> I completely disagree. In the wild things die all the time, Deer and other animals know the natural order of things. Gut piles and carcasses will not affect the natural patterns of wildlife. I've seen it first hand several times. I even saw a doe munch on a gut pile after yotes tore the rumin open.


That is fine but in my area, they avoid the area. I don't know if it because the increased activity of coyotes and such due to the carcass or the very strong smell but they do avoid the area. I am not saying that they completely leave my area, they just don't use the immediate area where the carcass is. Your area might be different but I have my own farm and have cattle die sometimes, I trap and hunt so there are carcasses in areas where I hunt and get to see first hand how animals react to it.


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## Cole_TX (Dec 10, 2008)

keyman said:


> That is fine but in my area, they avoid the area. I don't know if it because the increased activity of coyotes and such due to the carcass or the very strong smell but they do avoid the area. I am not saying that they completely leave my area, they just don't use the immediate area where the carcass is.


I agree, as I notice the same thing here. I always thought it was the coyotes as well.


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## LtlRushnArchr30 (Nov 3, 2007)

last year i shot a deer about 40yards away from another dead deer in early september who had been shot and never recovered about 3-5 days before.


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## bang250 (Jan 10, 2005)

No. Shot a deer a few years ago. few minutes later another came up to it looked at it then continued on. Have also shot coyotes and left them there. weeks later I could smell it and still shot deer from that stand.


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## JDS-1 (Nov 15, 2007)

Nope. My buddie shot a deer once and we tracked it down dragged it out to a clear area to dress it out and let it sit for a little bit. We went back to hide cause more deer were comming, they ended-up stopping and smelling the gut pile and casually walked away, well all but 1


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## chuckie33 (May 3, 2007)

Deer will definitely not avoid a freshly killed carcass. I have shot multiple does on multiple occasions and the dead ones laying there never bothered the other ones. I also killed my biggest buck when he came in sniffing a hot doe that I had shot about 15 minutes before. Once the carcass starts to decay and smell up the area, it attracts predators, and in my experience, the deer will avoid the area for a few days.


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## OneArmArrowSlinger (Jul 25, 2008)

In my experiance, a carcass alone does not deter deer from the area. I have found that if there is a large carcass or gut pile that attracts a coyote then the deer will avoid the area but only until the coyote activity has died down. I have only seen major differences when there is more than one coyote in the area that keeps returning to the sceen, other than that, the deer don't pay much attention to them. Death is a natural part of the woods and the animals that live there are more than familiar with it.


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## insatiable (Feb 8, 2005)

No, I was hunting last month in Il and someone shot a small buck the day befor we arrived and I ended up hunting very near the carcass on a couple of my hunts but does and a few other small bucks still came out right near the carcuss even though te yotes had been hitting it each night.


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## S2 Kid (Nov 30, 2008)

In the areas that I hunt, it makes a difference. The deer do not like it. I believe it has a lot to do with how much hunting pressure there is. Plenty of hunters in Michigan.


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## Ib4Hoyt (Jan 19, 2004)

JWT said:


> I completely disagree. In the wild things die all the time, Deer and other animals know the natural order of things. Gut piles and carcasses will not affect the natural patterns of wildlife. I've seen it first hand several times. I even saw a doe munch on a gut pile after yotes tore the rumin open.


I completely agree with you're disagree


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## JG358 (Jul 6, 2007)

No. I've seen deer bed down in and around our deer graveyard. I've shot deer that were with in 10 yards of gut piles. Seen big bucks smell rotting gut piles and not run off.


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## Z Barebow (Feb 11, 2008)

I haven't seen any problems with it.

I can see if the coyote activity is high they may avoid it, knowing they will be close.

But immediately after, nope. I've had deer smell my arrow after passing through a the lead deer. I have had them follow my drag trail out of the woods, blood in the drag.

If they avoided all gut piles or carcasses after gun season, they wouldn't have any place to go!


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## justanotherbuck (Aug 5, 2007)

no, thats a false statement


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## 12ozd (Jan 25, 2007)

PikeCoBoy4Life said:


> In my experiance, a carcass alone does not deter deer from the area. I have found that if there is a large carcass or gut pile that attracts a coyote then the deer will avoid the area but only until the coyote activity has died down. I have only seen major differences when there is more than one coyote in the area that keeps returning to the sceen, other than that, the deer don't pay much attention to them. Death is a natural part of the woods and the animals that live there are more than familiar with it.


Agreed 100 %.

Not the dead deer, but the predators seeking the deer will affect the traffic.:darkbeer:


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## MissouriBowHunt (Sep 14, 2008)

i shot a buck during a fight with my rifle, he dropped in his tracks and layed there. the buck he was fighting kept ramming his side for the next 5 min or so before trotting off. i dont think a carcass scares them at all.


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## SuchLike (Dec 6, 2007)

I use the ribcage and carcass as a wild bird feeder in the winter. Chickadees and other birds will clean it down to nothing. Good source of protein and fat for them durign the cold winter months. I have had deer in my yard eating right underneath the carcass. 

I have also seen several times where deer walked within a few feet of a gut pile and never acted like it was there. I think the hunman odor on the ground when gutting/handling a deer is more of a signal to them than the gut pile itself. Like one of the guys said earlier, things die in the woods all the time. It's all part of livin.


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## diamond-hunter (Sep 30, 2008)

12ozd said:


> Agreed 100 %.
> 
> Not the dead deer, but the predators seeking the deer will affect the traffic.:darkbeer:


I also agree 100%

This year rifle season I shot two bucks an hour and a half apart out of the same stand. Both deer were standing in the same spot when shot. I climbed down and gutted the first one and climbed back up and the second one came through and I shot him too.


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## jwellsvt (Dec 14, 2006)

Thought it would be fun to get some pictures of coyotes etc. so I put a deer carcass I had recently shot in front of one of my game cameras. Picked the simm card today and had pictures of coyotes and deer. Fresh deer sign was everywhere around the carcass. It appears it doesn't bother them at all. The attached pictures show a deer with the carcass laying right next to it.


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## alldog74 (Aug 31, 2006)

*Maybe*

I agree with the deer not being pushed away by a dead carcass but if you have alot of coyotes/wolves in your area that will frequent the carcass to feed that may push deer to walk a different trail to there destination...It all depends on the predator numbers in your area..


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## cptleo1 (May 30, 2007)

Deer could care less about dead things.

They run into dead stuff all the time


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## woodrow (Feb 20, 2007)

Never seemed to make much difference. I've seen them walk up and smell them before.


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## undercover (Jul 2, 2006)

I don't think they are bothered by it at all. I don't think a deer has the mental capability to comprehend a carcass.


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## Republicanjug (2 mo ago)

Bowhuntr64 said:


> I am wondering if a dead deer carcass will scare away away other deer.
> 
> Just last week I went to my favorite spot for an evening hunt. I have always seen multiple deer come out at dusk there...as a matter of fact I have never not seen deer there. That is, until this last week. When I got there, there was a dead doe, looked like about a week old, lying about 30 yards away from my stand. It looked like it had been shot and never recovered. There were a few oppossums gnawing away at it.
> 
> Is my spot ruined for a while, or not? I saw a TV show that said deer are not at all afraid of gut piles, but I have never heard anything about an entire carcass. Any thoughts?


Here's the thing, do you mean deer or a big buck?
Deer, your fine, a big buck is wise a will avoid the area due to coyote activity. A big buck didn't get that way by being stupid.


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## Alaska at heart (Aug 25, 2009)

Just an FYI......this thread was started in 2008 and went dormant for nearly 14 years until you brought it back to life. If you look under the avatar photo of the original poster, it gives their join date and post count. To the right at the top of the first post is the "discussion starter" and the date it was started.....in this case December 2008. These are known by some as "zombie threads".....brought back from the dead.


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## df06 (Jun 9, 2007)

I’ve shot deer within 50 yards of a gut pile from a previous kill, several time. The second deer paid no attention to the gut pile.


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## Mbuster2 (Jul 25, 2021)

I've personally watched deer go lick a dead deer. Also have a friend the processes deer on the side and has a chum bucket and deer will go to it and lick it etc.


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## bowhuntermitch (May 17, 2005)

Not in my experience. Most of the time they're more curious and will actually get closer to check it out.


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## Mr. Man (Sep 19, 2011)

Republicanjug said:


> Here's the thing, do you mean deer or a big buck?
> Deer, your fine, a big buck is wise a will avoid the area due to coyote activity. A big buck didn't get that way by being stupid.


You joined up to bring up a 14 year old thread with that nugget of advice?


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## solohunter (Feb 22, 2005)

14 yrs later and the answer is still no. Deer have been known to eat the stomach contents, it is like pre-digested protein..lol


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