DO DEER SWIM? Locating Big Bucks During the Summer

FINDING BIG BUCKS

I consistently locate big bucks by putting in a lot of time and effort to find them. Most of the biggest bucks retreat to overlooked areas, which often leads me to places people don’t or won’t go. Many big bucks not only try avoiding where people and predators go, but also places they can avoid other deer to maintain isolation.

Water can be a barrier deer use when frightened, activating their fight or flight instincts to escape predators. With this in mind, when brainstorming places that I haven’t yet explored, I sometimes think about hidden areas adjacent to some sort of water. Sometimes this could be an island or hard to access spot across a lake, swamp, pond, or river.  

I’ve placed trail cameras in swamps and later returned to find the spot flooded after intense rains. When later reviewing the images, I've been surprised on more than one occasion to have photos of deer swimming past the camera! 

FINDING BIG BUCKS AROUND WATER

Deer seem to spend more time in or around water during hunting season, intuitively trying to avoid danger. If you think about it, it’s easier for deer to hear a hunter or predator trying to sneak up on or pursuing them through water. This reminds of a time when I was younger, probably only 14 or 15, I imagined a big buck might be bedded in a small oxbow along the river area that my dad and I hunted.

My imagination turned into reality because sure enough when I walked into the small thicket of the river’s oxbow, a big buck went crashing out the backdoor of his hiding spot across the river not once, but two days in a row.   

For many, myself included, it’s astonishing to see a deer swimming in the middle of a lake. In conversations I’ve been asked by others, “Can deer swim?” or “Will deer swim?”.

We know they primarily live on land, but it may surprise some to learn that deer swim quite often, and the reasons why a deer chooses to swim may vary. If it’s May or June and you see a pregnant doe swimming, maybe she’s trying to reach a small island to deliver her fawns as a place to keep them safe.  Deer will also swim across water for food.    

I’ve personally seen deer swim through rivers, swamps, and brooks many times, but never in my life had I witnessed a deer swimming across a lake or pond until June of 2020 while out in my boat fishing a lake in Maine. I was accompanied by New Hampshire legend, Thomas Knight. Tommy holds the New Hampshire State Record for the biggest Lake Trout ever landed, weighing 37.65lbs! We still had our lines in the water slowly trolling along when we saw a deer swimming across the lake!

The doe was swimming across the narrowest part of the lake and clearly had a destination of the opposite shore. While recording the video of this spectacle, Tommy called it, predicting once she hit the shore she would “bolt like a rocket” and she sure did, launching herself out of the water once her feet touched bottom.     

BIG BUCKS: LIVING ON ISLAND SANCTUARIES?

My father and I have many times joked about how big woods bucks seemingly crawl out of a cave during the second of November, but who knows, maybe instead it’s because they swim off their island sanctuaries…     

Deer are in fact excellent swimmers; it’s written they can swim at up to speeds of 13 -15 miles per hour. Having plenty of power in their hind legs, combined with their unique hair coat, help deer swim very well. Their coat keeps them safe in the cold water because of having both an undercoat and a topcoat. The undercoat is woolly and denser than the topcoat. It gives the animal extra insulation, helping to prevent too much heat loss when in the water for long periods of time. Their topcoat is made of long and hollow hairs, which creates buoyancy. This means that enough of their body will stay out of water, reducing the amount of energy used to swim.

As hunters know, everything a deer does is mostly for their survival. Hunting tales that take place in coastal Maine - like some stories told by my grandfather, believe it or not, even involved deer swimming into the ocean! He lived in Searsport and his hunting crew would often venture onto Sears Island. One story even involved a big buck that got tired of being chased around the island before it took to the ocean attempting to flee back to the mainland.  

Yes, deer can and will swim! What are your stories and experiences with seeing deer swim or even better have you witnessed a big buck swimming?

Watch the video of a doe swimming across a lake.