Deer will generally stay away from cows. They will come in areas cows are though.

 

I hunted on a dairy farm in middle Michigan for many years. The deer would not mix in with the cows as a rule. They would however occupy the outskirts of the same areas. The big advantage was the ability to hang your hunting clothes in the barn to absorb the "atmosphere", and the endless supply of "cover scent" in the barn yard.

 

Out here in AZ, the mule deer seem to be around the Cattle. They won't necessarily intermingle, but it seems like they use the cattle as a warning system of danger. It makes it hard to hunt because you not only have to worry about spooking the deer, but you also have to worry about spooking the cattle.

 

I agree with this. I hunt around water holes in Idaho and the deer and the cattle share the same water source. I've had deer and cows at the water at the same time many times. The cows don't seem to bother the deer much, but I wouldn't say the deer like being with them, they tolerate them. The cows definately bother me! Dang cows are always in the way or sticking their head in my blind!

 

Cows seem to bother deer. Cow are so noisy and smelly that I think the deer are just a lot more nervous when cows are close because they interfere with the deer's ability to sense danger. When cows come blundering in the deer just seem to drift away.

 

I agree. Cows do seem to bother the deer. I hunt a mix of crop, and cattle land. You might see deer in the same field as cattle, but always on the opposite side of the field. If calves are around, I never see deer in the same field. A stray cow doesn't seem to make a difference to the deer, but a herd will run them off. When is someone gonna open a cow season? lol

 

I hunt 3 farms and my own land and there are cows that come into the fields where I have stands and I think cows do bother the deer. When the farmers let there cows out the deer seem to go the other way. I am not sure why cows bother deer if it's there size,smell or noise the cows make. The one farm i hunt on has horses and the deer for some reason don't get spooked by the horses so the size of the cows I don't think spooks the deer so it must be the smell or noise cows make.

 

Cows do bother deer. I grew up on a dairy farm and saw it first hand many times. Whenever the cows were pastured in an area that was normally abundant with deer activity, the deer would change their patterns and move to a different part of the property. When we finally got out of the farming business and sold off the cows, the deer became thick as fleas where the cows would have normally been.