During my formative years as a whitetail hunter I never put much thought into how deer communicate. However, as I started to learn more about the game I was pursuing, I quickly realized just how intricate deer communication can be.
Overview of Deer Communication
Deer communicate via three methods; vocal, chemical, and visual, often combining them when communicating complex messages. While whitetails don’t communicate like humans, through the use of sentences and sophisticated language, they are able to communicate with other deer via simple sounds, smells, and body language.
Deer Sounds and Vocal Signals
The vocal signals or sounds that deer make are likely the first thing that comes to a hunters mind when thinking about how deer communicate and for good reason. Heck most hunters carry a grunt call with them to the woods, especially hunting during the rut. While vocal communication is not used as much as chemical or visual communication, it still plays a role in deer behavior.
To take a deeper dive into the sounds deer communicate with we can break them down into a few categories: alarm, maternal, aggressive, and mating.
Alarm and Distress Sounds
Its inevitable, hunt whitetails long enough and you will have the misfortune of being busted by one. Whether they see or smell you, once they think danger is present, they will often blow, a noise that sounds similar to a long whooshing sneeze. This sound alerts other deer in the area of potential danger in the area.
Maternal Calls
Maternal calls are the noises made primarily between a doe and her young. A doe will communicate using a low intensity grunt known as a maternal grunt which can only be heard over a short distance. This sound is used to call a fawn from his or her hiding spot and to keep fawns together while they are moving between bedding cover and food.
Fawns on the other hand will communicate with their mother with a sound known as a fawn bleat. The fawn bleat signals to the doe that they are hungry, in possible danger, or when they are looking for their mother.
Aggressive Calls
Aggressive calls are primarily used by bucks during the pre-rut and rut to display dominance over a particular area. The two primary noises used by deer to communicate aggression are the low grunt and the snort wheeze.
The low grunt is a short, deep, guttural sound used by dominant bucks to communicate to younger, less mature bucks that they have entered his area. When the low grunt doesn’t get the point across, they are often followed by a snort wheeze. A snort wheeze starts with one or two short, sharp bursts of air followed by a drawn out hissing sound, “phht-phht-wheeeez”. When bucks start snort wheezing, its often an indication that a fight is likely about to break out.
Mating Calls
Mating calls are heard during the chasing and peak rut phases. When a buck is chasing a doe in or about to come into estrus, they will make what is called a tending grunt. This sound is a series of short, low frequency grunts produced at regular intervals and often carry just far enough for the doe nearby to hear.
Once a doe in heat is ready to breed, they will often make a sound know as the estrus bleat. The estrus bleat is a long, nasally “meeeeh” sound that lasts roughly one to two seconds and lets nearby bucks know that she is ready to be bred.
Chemical Signals
An often overlooked way that deer communicate is through chemical signals or scent. Heck we all know how much a whitetail relies on its nose for survival so it would only make sense that they also use it for communication purposes.
Whitetails communicate with other deer via their nose by leaving scent behind from different glands on their bodies. These glands include the tarsal, preorbital, forehead, and interdigital glands. Here is a break down of each and what they communicate.
- Tarsal Glands: Located on the inside portion of a whitetails hind legs, this scent reveals the deer’s identity and reproductive condition.
- Preorbital Gland: Located at the corner of the deer’s eye and produces pheromones and other chemical compounds that communicate dominance. This scent is most often left at rubs and licking branches.
- Forehead Gland: As the name suggests, this gland is located on the whitetails forehead and produces an oily substance with pheromones and chemicals communicating the deer’s sex and age. Like the preorbital gland, this scent is primarily left at rubs (buck’s head) and licking branches (both bucks and does).
- Interdigital Glands: This gland is located between a deer’s toes and deposits scent every time the deer takes a step. The scents evaporation rate allows other deer to determine the whitetails direction of travel.
Editor’s Note: While this section is primarily focused on how deer communicate chemically through the use of glands, urine also plays a role. Urine, often deposited into scrapes for communication purposes can relay a deer’s sex and reproductive condition.
At this point you’re probably wondering how deer are able to pick up on these smells that a human cannot. This chemical communication in deer is made possible through the use of the vomeronasal organ (also found in dogs) located in the roof of their mouth. The vomeronasal organ is specialized for detecting pheromones and other chemical compounds that are non volatile, making this type of deer communication possible.
Visual Signals
The last primary way that deer communicate is through the use of visual signals. The following is a breakdown of the most common visual signals deer communicate with.
|
Behavior Type |
Description |
|---|---|
|
General Body Language |
Deer use ear, eye, tail, and hair movements to signal mood and intentions. |
|
Tail Signals |
“All clear” tail flick shows everything is fine, while a tail flare indicates alarm and a deer ready to bolt. A tail held flat signals intense alarm. |
|
Ear Position |
Ears laid back (ear drop) convey threat or dominance; ears forward indicate alertness. Ears outward with a stern look show a low-level threat. |
|
Head & Eye Behavior |
An alert deer holds its head high and may bob its head to view an object from multiple angles, with eyes and ears forward. Relaxed deer move loosely and may swish their tail. |
|
Foot Stomping & Hair Bristling |
Stomping warns other deer of potential danger and may release interdigital scent. Hair bristling makes a deer appear larger in a dominance display. |
|
Dominance & Aggression |
Includes sidling, striking, flailing, antler threat, sparring, and antler rush. Most disputes end with threats rather than fights. |
|
Submissive Behavior |
Subordinate deer keep tails tucked, walk stiffly, and avoid eye contact. |
Using This Knowledge in the Field
Harvesting mature bucks is a difficult task for even the most seasoned hunters. So what separates this type of hunter from the rest? Having a keen understanding of the animals they hunt and understanding how deer communicate.
So, how can you use deer communication and your understanding of it during the hunting season? For starters, knowing deer vocalizations, when/why they are used, lets you know what time of year using particular calls would be most effective. For example, rattling and grunting to imitate a buck fight are likely not going to be as effective during the early season as they would be during the rut. If you’re going to use calls, understanding deer communication provides insight into when you should use particular calls throughout the season.
The chemical side of deer communication is also something that can be exploited to your advantage during the season. Once bucks break from their summer bachelor groups they start to become more territorial in preparation for the rut. Scrapes will start to open up during this portion of the season as bucks start to sort out the dominance hierarchy. The thing is you may not find a natural scrape in a location that’s ideal for hunting. This is where mock scrapes can be extremely effective to aid in bringing your target buck into your stand location.
Lastly visual communication. Paying close attention to the body signals deer make can let you know if a deer is calm or on edge. Body language can also provide key insights while you are calling to deer. For example, lets say its pre rut and you spot a buck that’s out of range and moving the opposite direction so you decide to make a few grunts or hit your rattling antlers together. The bucks body language will provide insight into whether he heard your calling, and if so, whether he is likely going to be receptive to the call, letting you know if you need to hit him with another call or put the call up and get ready for the shot.
