Thread: Deer / goat / sheep shit for dummies ;)

Kokako, I need to ask what you were doing taking a photograph of that when the deer must have been so close?

The DOC land this photo was taken on is closed over Summer, so it's a good time to check out what is around.

Originally Posted by kokako

The DOC land this photo was taken on is closed over Summer, so it's a good time to check out what is around.

Fantastic

yeeeha, found some droppings today





red deer or sika ?

most of the droppings had a "dent" in them. hard and black, so not fresh, but its bone dry at the moment, so guess the droppings dry out faster too.

lots of the right kind of vegetation in the area... worth having a look early morning I think

Sorry ebf only eat reindeer poo at Xmas. My grand kids give it to me and think I'm discussing, raisin them right.

Why bother getting hung up on shit? Personally I dont really like the taste of it so dont really bother looking for it other than what I see in general observation. Spend more time looking for animals and less time looking at your feet and at shit and you will see what type of critter left said shit....

I s'pose walking slowly and looking down constantly, you'll decrease your hunting speed. That will make you less noticeable and less of a threat if one does see you. Plus if you're not seeing any scat then you know that area isn't worth wasting time on.

2 ways to hunt i spose. moving quickly to cover more ground / or taking time to make the most out of the ground you have. I'm the latter because i'm fat and lazy. Plus that's how i always hunted with a bow in QLD. I spearfish like that too. Just drop down and curl up in a hole. Gets me more fish than the skinny dudes - but i do get the odd kina spine in my ass

Wow, forums are just amazing

I initially posted asking for photos to differentiate between deer, goat and sheep shit. But no-one has actually posted any pics of goat or sheep shit yet... Tx to the few who did put up pics of deer droppings.

But hey, now we get people making all kinds of assumptions on the way I supposedly hunt...
Wildman reckons I am hung up on shit, dude is up with your fixation on tasting it ?

Like Eebees said a while ago, where there is shit, there should be tracks. Pls explain this to me, are the tracks not also on the ground, right where the shit is ? Do you somehow see the tracks from further away than the droppings

I would suggest asking for pics of shit is somewhat of a fixation?

No-one has told you the difference because often there is none. It all varies so much on diet and individual animal that the lines between species are blurry. Actually spotting the animal tells you much more than shit ever will, hence my suggestion to spend more time looking for them rather than at shit. Anyway shit only tells you where the animal has been, not where it is...

And remember assumptions are usually made because there isn’t enough information given to start with.

Naa, assumptions are made coz someone can't be bothered to ask a clarifying question. I have no control over what types of assumptions people will make

And hey, I'd rather have a fixation with photos of it than with tasting it, whatever blows your hair back

Originally Posted by ebf

yeeeha, found some droppings today

Attachment 7476

Attachment 7477

red deer or sika ?

most of the droppings had a "dent" in them. hard and black, so not fresh, but its bone dry at the moment, so guess the droppings dry out faster too.

lots of the right kind of vegetation in the area... worth having a look early morning I think

Good. You say there is the right vegetation so I guess you mean for feed like broadleaf and stuff. So, you are in a feed belt and that's a good place to hunt. The droppings look like they are from a this year's fawn. That's my guess. In this dry they could be only days old. So that means that there are deer in the area (which is a good start for where you live). I wouldn't expect to see prints in this weather. Its too dry. You might find them around creeks and seeps though.

You have to just make some guesses and assumptions based on what you observe in the bush, and go with them. Nothing is definitive. If something doesn't work, test some new assumptions. If they work, store them in your memory gland because deer are seasonal and predictable once you get to understand their comings and goings.

Go back there early (or late), and have a mooch around. Moist gully heads in that feed area should be good. Get to the right height and sidle through them, don't go up and down.

Good on you for looking at shit. A good hunter observes everything that is going on and makes good decisions based on the sum of it all.

Cheers

Yup 5 finger and 7 finger.

Moist gully head nearby Will go have a look-see around sunrise, tx Tahr

here you go ebf
http://www.nzoutdoor.co.nz/images/series7.pdf

Hey ebf can you post up the photo of the weird poo we found the other day?