Opinions vary widely on the topic of cover. Many never seem to have enough, while hunters like myself prefer to use the least amount possible.

Hunting revolves around your ability to elude perception. I have spoken quite a few times on the topic of scent prevention. Covering your scent and making sure deer don’t catch wind of you is first on the list. Next in line is your ability to stay hidden. There has been plenty of debate as to how deer see. But more important than how they see is what they see. Over time, hunters can make their own interpretation as to what and how well deer see. Using your experiences afield rather than an electron microscope will give you more information. We may never know exactly what deer see, but can be sure of what they don’t.

I can’t answer the question, as to how well deer see. But I do understand a deer’s ability to visually detect danger is a combination of sight and experience. Deer react to danger much like humans. When something dangerous is encountered and eluded, it becomes routine to avoid the situation in the future. The problem with this situation is that you are not sure what a particular deer has or has not seen. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge exactly how the animal will react. The age of the animal encountered doesn’t play as much of a role in this situation. For example, a small spike buck may take off like a rocket upon seeing a pop-up blind. While a large buck may pay little to no attention to it. It’s likely the spike has had a negative experience with a blind, while the larger one has not. I choose to base what I will do under a given situation on how the majority of animals encountered have reacted.