Eye Contact with Animals

[pojoaque40]

I was on another topic, 'face coverings', the other day and i found a guy who, like me, does not look an animal in the eyes while sizing him up. I'm a pretty big believer in humans being able to 'feel' another person looking/staring at them and i think animals can do the same. Does anyone else out there avoid making eye contact with an animal while deciding whether to shoot?

 

[farmerboy1381]

Yes, I definitely believe that. I try to avoid staring at a close animal ( inside about 30 yards) directly. I much prefer watching slightly out of my peripheral vision. I do not know if it is a sixth sense on the part of the animal or if the slight sideways in my head breaks up my outline a bit. But either way I do firmly believe that I get busted more often when directly staring at an animal.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Yep... seems like most animals can tell they are looking at a predator once they make eye contact.

 

[MJE2083]

Yeah I try not to make eye contact

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

I know with cattle the best way to get close keeping them calm is moving slow with your head down.

 

[Pucky Freak]

My goal is to get one good look at the animal to size it up, preferably when it's still at a distance, to decide whether or not it's one I want to take. Once the decision is made to go for it, I hide my eyes and try not to look directly at the animal. I pay attention to it's body language out of my peripheral vision, and I move only when it's eyes are obstructed, whether that is to close the distance, or move into shooting position. The next time I stare directly at the animal is when I take aim.

Big game hunting videos often show a "hunter's view", and make is seem like you're burning a laser through the animal the entire time before the shot. This makes for a good video, but maybe not the most optimal hunting technique for close range shooting.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Last year, I was sitting with my elk that I’d just killed, eating a sandwich and waiting for my partner to make his way down the ridge so we could start breaking my elk down. As I was sitting there, this large, grey faced mule deer buck came walking up the draw that I was in. The wind was just right, and once I saw him I sat perfectly still. I watched him coming for a couple minutes. He’d walk, kind of huffing with his mouth agape, then stop and look around. He ended up walking up this game trail to about 20 feet away from me. When he got to that point, he finally noticed me sitting there, and I looked him right in the eyes. He stood there for what seemed like minutes but was likely about 10 seconds, looking at me, then bounced straight up in the air, turned, and pogoed like hell over the little ridge to my right. He never looked back. It was a pretty cool experience.

 

[gouch]

Way back in the olden days when I was a kid reading my dads outdoor magazines, I read an article where the author said to approach animals at an angle rather than straight on and to walk hunched over never looking directly at the critter. I have followed that advice ever since and swear by it. Although one time I had killed and elk on opening day of archery season so I was deer hunting and not worried about elk. I walked to within 10 yards of a cow and calf staring directly into the eyes of the calf as the cow browsed away oblivious to anything. I thought that cows eyes were going to pop out of her head when she turned and saw me. I bet she tanned that calves hide good after the dust settled.

 

[kansasdad]

I think that context helps animals understand "dangerous" people v. "safe" people as much as the OP's original hypothesized eye-eye contact.

Deer seeing camo clad folks carrying guns react differently than when seeing Uncle John in his irrigating boots, cutoff t-shirt and Co-Op hat walk along a trail.

And my father always said that the best camouflage in Maasai territory (East Africa) would be to wrap a red "toga" around your shoulder and waist, and carry a long spear to walk right up to a plains game herd.

My father the vet also taught me that walking directly towards a horse and looking right at it was surely the worst way to catch him up out of the pasture. Instead, approach in a head turned sideways angled walk to close the distance. Eye contact was the biggest no-no.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

Yeah I believe that's probably true although I'm usually looking at the other end. A few years ago I went out for a morning hunt with about 6 inches of fresh powder snow and cut a track crossing an old logging road. I grabbed my pack and started following and right away found that this elk was leaving a blood trail. He must have been shot the day before and I figured I should try to find him. Well he played games with me for 1/2 a day going up to the top of the ridge and back down again then up the next ridge and down the other side then back up again. Never really running but staying just ahead of me hoping I would give up I guess. Well then he started zig zagging up a hillside and after a couple zags I noticed his tracks would stop and look down the hill to see if I was still there I assume. So I started watching up the hill instead of in front of me and sure enough there he was looking down at me and we made that strange eye connection where it seems like your exchanging brain waves. It only lasted about 3 seconds with no time for a shot or even any sudden movements but he knew I saw him and after that the game was over. He ran straight up the ridge and down the other side, crossed the river and a highway and up the side of another mountain. It was almost dark when I reached the highway so I started hoofing back to the truck which was a long ways away. The next day some friends pick up his track at the highway and followed to the top of that mountain where he joined another herd and went into the watershed. I don't know if it's true about eye contact but his behavior did a 180 after that happened.

 

[7Bartman]

I'm about as evidence-based person as you'll come across and I can't agree more with this statement. I don't believe in any "sixth-sense" per se, but perhaps the animals can pick up on the focused gaze of a predator. I almost always wear a face mask while treestand hunting and I've found if I stare at a deer, they'll almost always pick me out.

 

[CUElk]

I know with cattle the best way to get close keeping them calm is moving slow with your head down.

yep, exactly what I was thinking. if you are working close with any animal its a good practice not to look them in the eye. watch them from the side and make slow movements. staring them down makes em nervous, just like it would make you nervous (or pissed off) if someone was staring you down.

 

[PaulRevere]

Last week, on my last bear hunt of the spring season, I walked right up on a bear. My hunting partner and I were slowly working our way to the top of this mountain where we knew there had been a bear earlier in the season. All of a sudden we ran into 4 huge piles of bear scat and were checking them out and having a brief and quiet conversation about it. My partner then says, "there he is". The bear was 35 yards away sitting behind a down tree watching us, the moment he saw us see him, he was gone.

 

[Falcon75]

I always squint with animals close and most times they wont blow out after looking at you.

 

[Bullshot]

100% agree there is some phenomenon with direct eye contact. The “jolt” effect. In the same way it plays out when looking for a friend in a crowd or when you get busted stealing an innocent glance at the best looking girl in the room!

 

[MJE2083]

http://soldiersystems.net/tag/camovision/

 

[coleslaw]

Yeah, ever been at a bar, restaurant or other gathering and out of the blue you could just sense that somebody is looking or staring at you? It's weird, but for sure it has to be a nature thing lol

 

[X13]

I cant really speak too much about western critters as most of my experience is with a rifle from a long ways off but in the eastern whitetail woods I believe this to be true. As a general note, when I get picked out in the tree by a doe I will relax, sit still, and close my eyes and this almost always works to calm them back down

 

[dcopas78]

There is a reason why some prey animals and insects have eyespots. They fool the predator into thinking something is hunting him back or they draw their attention into attacking a nonessential part of the body. It's because of things like this in the animal kingdom that I'm a firm believer in a persons eyes being a dead giveaway. I try to either look out of the peripheral or "squint" as much as possible when I have an animal coming in.

 

[X13]

Next trend in hunting gear!!