Smartest deer?

[EastWaViking]

can not.  

I guess it's like the Ford vs Chevy debate.  No wrong or right answer... 
 


Except Ford is better.   

[Kowsrule30]

can not.  

I guess it's like the Ford vs Chevy debate.  No wrong or right answer... 
 


Except Ford is better.   

HAHA!! GM's rule the ring..

[Kent Hunter]

I think that if you are hunting any of the three when they are in FULL rut, then they are all pretty dumb while chasing does. Non rut is a different story. Blacktails live in thick nasty stuff and are just plain hard to still hunt without making your presence known. Big mature mulies and whitetail bucks to me are about the same when not in the rut. To let the air out of a wall hanger of either species is tough to do still hunting them when they don't have "love" on their minds and when you do you have done your job well.

[Pazn25]

Mature Blacktail. Hands down.  I would like to see a hunting show come to Washington or Oregon and hunt em.  Then we can see what they are really made of.

[mad-bomber]

whitetail is KING!!! mule deer stink they are prairie rats! blacktail are just a stinky muley that is smart enought to know they should try to act like a whitetail!!! jungle rats!! come try to get close to a whitetail in the          wheat fields of the east

[M_ray]

I think the smartest deer are all the ones that have eluded me over the years!!! 

[littlebuf]

whitetail is KING!!! mule deer stink they are prairie rats! blacktail are just a stinky muley that is smart enought to know they should try to act like a whitetail!!! jungle rats!! come try to get close to a whitetail in the          wheat fields of the east

  come try and just SEE a blacktail over here in the jungle.

[Pathfinder101]

Have never hunted blacktails, so I don't know about them.  Up until a few years ago, I would have said whitetails.  But I have seensome mature mule deer do some things that boggled my mind.  Couple that with the fact that last year we got an early snow, right at the end of the rut and I saw muley bucks in my area that I never knew existed...
I think mature muleys have got to be considered for top place.  They are "open country" animals where I hunt them.  Not many places to hide, but I am constantly amazed each November at what I see that made it through the season.  And they don't live in deep, dark, thick woods like whitetails and blacktails. 

[EastWaViking]

Have never hunted blacktails, so I don't know about them.  Up until a few years ago, I would have said whitetails.  But I have seensome mature mule deer do some things that boggled my mind.  Couple that with the fact that last year we got an early snow, right at the end of the rut and I saw muley bucks in my area that I never knew existed...
I think mature muleys have got to be considered for top place.  They are "open country" animals where I hunt them.  Not many places to hide, but I am constantly amazed each November at what I see that made it through the season.  And they don't live in deep, dark, thick woods like whitetails and blacktails. 

I can see your point.  This fall when I was hunting Mule Deer in Eastern Wyoming I found them hiding in the tiniest places.  One was hid in a dry creek bed that was no more than 3 feet across and 3 feet deep.  I would have never seen him but I was going up the creek bed to stay hidden as well.

[Pathfinder101]

Have never hunted blacktails, so I don't know about them.  Up until a few years ago, I would have said whitetails.  But I have seensome mature mule deer do some things that boggled my mind.  Couple that with the fact that last year we got an early snow, right at the end of the rut and I saw muley bucks in my area that I never knew existed...
I think mature muleys have got to be considered for top place.  They are "open country" animals where I hunt them.  Not many places to hide, but I am constantly amazed each November at what I see that made it through the season.  And they don't live in deep, dark, thick woods like whitetails and blacktails. 

I can see your point.  This fall when I was hunting Mule Deer in Eastern Wyoming I found them hiding in the tiniest places.  One was hid in a dry creek bed that was no more than 3 feet across and 3 feet deep.  I would have never seen him but I was going up the creek bed to stay hidden as well.

Exactly, they have to hide in plain sight.  What makes a deer "smart"?  He has to go nocturnal for one, and he has to know when to do it (as soon as he starts seeing the opening weekend pressure starting to build), and still get his breeding/feeding done.  He has to have the brains to stay put and have confidence in his hiding spot when people are lurking just a few feet away.  And he has to be able to disappear when he does get spotted.
I would say that truly mature whitetails and muleys are masters at all three.  But the muleys do it in territory where WE cant hide OURSELVES...

[hunt4]

They are different kinds of deer and you hunt them differently..or at least I do. Rifle or bow doesn't matter either. I hunt with a rifle now but the last 4 bucks I've killed were all within 40 yards.

Shot with a bow?
There is a big difference shooting with a bow vs rifle at 40 yards or in.
 drawing a bow vs getting the safety off and squeezing off a trigger or holding a bow at full draw vs having a rifle rested on a tree or even off hand. There is way less movement or way less things that will go wrong my 

So to get back to the thread I am going with whitetails . BUT all mature bucks are smart...or they live in somebody's yard or refuge and they can afford to be stupid.
I have seen whitetail  bucks crawl on there belly's to get away , i have seen bucks run away with there heads down in tall brush to hide there gear, I have seen them tilt there heads sideways when they were beaded to try to hide.  I have had several follow me after i was tracking them or they end up on my back trail  to get a whiff i guess, and who knows how many i have walked by with in feet to have them blow out after i have gone by.

 with this being said anyone that can kill a big mature blacktail you be my hero I have tried   with no success and IT IS from the lack of trying..just can not get into it and yes it has everything to do with what they live in.

[EastWaViking]

That's the thing about White tails I love.  If you jump one don't figure it ran ahead of you and hid.  If I spook a WT buck the first thing I do is back track 50 yards or so then sneak off to my right or left depending on the wind.  WT bucks will  try to circle around and get behind you.  A few years back I spent most of one day playing cat and mouse with a buck, we probably never left a 10 acre area, he just kept circling and I kept guessing where he was going to go.  I jumped him at least 6 or 7 times, never really seeing him, just flashes of an ear, tail or tine, finally he won and I never saw him again.  It was that hunt that convinced me that they are the smartest deer and possibly smartest game animal period.

[actionshooter]

I've gotta say blacktails, I have good muleys and good whiteys but the blacktails (bigger bucks) have eluded me and I have lived on the wet side my whole life.
 I see several guys with the opinion that there aren't that many mature blackys, wrong, there are a ton of them. I believe that IF they make it past the stupid spike stage, they turn nocturnal for most of the year.
 I think what makes the big blacktails so tough is you have to hunt them on their terms, get in the jungle and find them.
 You won't kill a trophy blacky in a farmers field. 

[Alan K]

I hunted whitetails this year for the first time, and can say they are without a doubt the spookiest deer out there. 

Mulies always stop to look back, and if you are comfortable taking a long shot they aren't difficult. 

I'd say that blacktails would be the smartest deer, simply because of the terrain they live in and the way they use it.  Don't knock them for being nocturnal, that is them being smart. . .

[hunt4]

 I see several guys with the opinion that there aren't that many mature blackys, wrong, there are a ton of them.

I agree, pretty sure  allot die of old age with out seeing daylight or man.