I don’t know if you want to call it smarter or more wary or what but there is some difference in them. I’ve got old does that will walk out into my fields during the daylight with no issues….but those old bucks won’t….What’s even more interesting is that I’ve sat out here and watched a lot of deer activity in a clover plot I have that’s lit of by a street light. Those old bucks don’t even want to come out of the cover into the street light they’re so wary.
This has been my experience exactly, I've even noticed a similar street light situation with the same results. I dont know if it's being more wary or smarter either. Smarter is the question, but I dont know. I have to agree with Matt about the 5 year old bucks just not existing in many places. People shoot everything that moves these days, especially on public land.
I would say it's possible an old buck and old doe can be of the same intelligence l, but behave differently, just like human men and women (i.e. bucks more wary than does or visa versa). That's why I dont know if it's being smarter or more wary or just having different characteristics due to their sex.
Heres a story for you that's relevant. I watched a documentary about a man who dedicated a large part of his life to study and live amongst a mule deer herd. He moved to a cabin out in the middle of nowhere where this herd lived most of the year. They had a different winter range, but he was around them most of the year. He always tried to have contact with them every day that he could no matter what. The heard consisted of all ages of deer, both bucks and does. As the months went by, they began to let him get closer and closer.
After over 2 years, the matriarch/oldest doe, came up to him and let him pet her. After that very moment, the other does, which were younger would let him pet them, and they accepted him into the herd. They eventually would even lead him to their fawns right after they were born.
Through all that, not once did I see him ever get to touch a buck. They always kept their distance. So did the bucks keep their distance because they were smarter than the does? Or because they were more wary or cautious by nature? The oldest doe was able to figure out that he wasnt a threat, so does that make her smarter than the old bucks? I tend to believe old does and old bucks behave differently, because it's their nature (like the old the scorpion and frog tale).
Also one thing to consider is that deer are individuals like humans, and some 5 or old bucks may be smarter or more wary than other 5 year old bucks, same with does. That said, you could have a buck smarter than a equal age doe or a doe smarter than a equal age buck.
The name of the documentary is "touching the wild" and was aired by PBS. You may be able to find it on youtube. It's a good watch.
