range cattle

[hannibal]

Alright, here's a question I've heard answered both ways, so I want more opinions. There are free-range cattle hanging out where I used to see quite a few deer. I no longer see the deer, just stupid cows. so...

Do free range cattle, in general, bump deer out of an area?

[Mtn Wonderer]

In My Experience They Don't. You See Deer Out Feeding With Cows A Times.

[elkdom]

those are not stupid cows,what you see are smart deer wearing dumb cow costumes! really !

[Will]

Do free range cattle, in general, bump deer out of an area?
I used to really think they did.........I'd get PO'd when I ran into Cows in my area........they graze them there well into Nov some years.

However once I accepted the cows and began to ignore them I found the Deer generally do as well........I often see them feeding together, even taken a pretty decent Buck with a large Bull 50 yards away:wink:

I now do not dismiss an area because I may see some free range cattle in it.
The deer are still there...IMO:D

[mrdoog]

Take a look at the pictures in this thread "A Flawless Spot And Stalk Muley".
Left hand side first picture.
Answers your question!

[elkdom]

Power in numbers! quite often you can find deer, whities and mulies, elk moose and cattle all using the same free range, took a drive in the rain this morning and again saw deer , elk and moose , and cattle all in less than 2 kms,think like this ranchers allways provide plenty of mineral salt blocks, water dug outs for dry spell back up cows need lots of water, also ranchers tend to (DISCOURAGE PREDITORS) wolfs, coyoties ,cougar, BANG BANG!!! get it? so all in all free range in most cases provides a comfort zone for deer elk etc.there are in rare cases over grazing but the wildlife can jump the fence to find extra browse then return for salt licks and water, as long as its OK with the rancher holding the range lease that you hunt that area in most cases you may be suprized how much game is near the cattle, also the deer etc.are not so spooked by human activity.

[jackson13]

competition for food? cows eat a lot of grass.

[Tanya]

Deer graze the same fields as our heifers, they don't seem to care.

[elkdom]

competition for food? cows eat a lot of grass.

HUMANS COMPETE , Animals ADAPT, Ungulates have a very broad , huge variety in there diet, again cattle are penned inside fences for a very regulated time period, very few ranchers over graze any given area as that will often ruin future seasons for grazing, range leases are stictly regulated by Prov and District gov"s. P.S. I am not a rancher, Im not taking a side on this issue, just stating some observations Ive made over some 30 yrs of sport hunting.and one thing more I dont really like cows, or cowboys much,although I have to admit I do seem to like COWGIRLs ...