How smart/stupid are animals during hunting

[tigris115]

If anyone has any stories on elephants, that'd be perfect

 

[Jeremiah Stephen Pupe]

True

 

[Lbarr265]

Dumbest animals have to be any male in the rut, they know better but refuse to act smart. Second dumbest is one particular whitetail doe I ran across 2 years ago. It was all alone and obviously its first winter based on the size. I was hunting over a green wheat field that we knew coyotes had run everything off of. We set up a coyote call and then proceeded to wait for deer, with the thought that if it turned dark we could flip on the coyote call and see what would come in. The doe came in half an hour before last light, and we decided to not shoot as it was too small to fill a freezer. After hunting light was over we hit the coyote call, rabbit in distress, and the doe went over and sniffed it, then returned to browsing just a few feet from the call. When we gave up on coyotes she was still there, we climbed down from the stand and she came over to within 10 yards of us. She then waited as we walked away before returning to the wheat. I feel fairly confident she didn't live out the year. So this brings up the philosophical question, which is dumber the one who knows what to do and doesn't do it, or the one who doesn't know what to do?

 

[oldhoward]

Thought I would share these with you. Are they dumb or smart?
1. Texas deer - I was sitting in the middle of an open field hunting, tied of walking. Soon a bunch of does approached me, came up to me sniffed me and barked at me. After a few minutes they walked away, I just laughed.
2. Texas deer again. Sitting in box stand looking over a field with a tree line about 400 yards away. I saw a bunch of deer moving through the cedars. Finally a single doe come out and walks directly up to the stand. She stands on her hind legs and looks in the windows. I froze and didn't move. Finally she walked back to the cedars across the field. Next a whole bunch of deer came into the field.
3. Hunting in New York. It was cold and snowing I was sitting on a big rock to give me some elevation perhaps 3 foot off the ground. I was eating some hot chicken soup from my thermos. Four does and a fawn come out and walk right up to the rock, noses twitching and sniffing. They are very interested in my soup. So I put some on the rock and they gobbled it up. I felt sorry for them and gave them my soup. they were funny to watch. They also got some pepperoni.