I was out at the firing range with a buddy of mine who has a freedom arms 83. It's a fantastic gun but one thing I noticed was that cocking it for the shot is kinda loud. My 625 S&W is not nearly as loud if cocked for a single action shot. I'll state up front that I'm not all that experienced with deer hunting but I know that deer have pretty good hearing and mechanical sounds would be an unusual sound for their habitat. Is there any concern with the deer hearing the noise of the gun being cocked to shoot? If so, how do folks deal with the issue?
Thanks

I try to cock my revolvers as quietly as possible, because yes, you can spook them. I tend to pull the hammer back whenever I hear what sounds like an animal coming near, hopefully before they come in range. Yes indeed FAs have a loud cocking mechanism.

I have little trouble with Ruger type actions. I cock the gun very slow when deer are heading my way but some just appear from nowhere. Yes, they have heard it but did not run, just looked for a long time. Be patient and don't move.
The Freedoms are very loud with 4 clicks so maybe yanking the hammer back faster will blend the noise into one sound.
My old SBH is almost silent, so is the SRH.

My SRH makes enough noise to make me nervous. I am able to basically do it with no noise by apply pressure to the trigger at the same time I pull the hammer back with my finger. Practice it a few times with it unloaded and you should get the hang of it. When you get the hammer back you just have to make sure to let off on the trigger before the hammer. Its hard to explain but very easy to do. Just make sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction.

I have never messed with a single action much. This may not work on single actions.

My first "hunting revolver" was a Blackhawk and I actually stopped hunting with it because of cocking noise. I sold that gun and have since learned that they are not all that loud. The ones that I currently have are quieter and I also learned to just cover the action with something while cocking and it mutes the noise to a large extent.

oh yeah, right on, but I think it was Layne Simpson that observed a deer will pause for a window of time to try to determine "what was that noise" whether it is the tree stand creak or the cocking pawls on my SBH, there ain't much time, even when they raise their head to stare right at me I continue with sight acquisition-sight picture-squeeze the trigger, sometimes I will snort to get their attention just to get that moment where they are standing still to let me get my shot.It's not much time, but it has been enough time often enough to keep us in fresh venison.

I bet they have never heard Ernie even load his gun--much less pull the hammer back or click the safety.

That is a great tactic!

That is a tactic that those of us who archery hunt have used for a long time. As the deer crosses your shooting lane, make a noise....any noise and the deer will usually stop broadside to listen for a bit. That is normally all the time you need to get the arrow from the bow to the doe.

Ya mean because it is to far away??

Yeah exactly! LOL!

hoghunter, thats exactly what I do. I will purposely cock the hammer when I want them to stop. It has worked for me for over 30 years of hunting with handguns. When I bow hunt I will snort or grunt in my throat to stop an animal to make my shot. I really can't remeber any deer not stopping to look for that second or two.

Depends on the frequency of the sound. Any high freqs will turn deer inside out and they are GONE.
Make the gun "ring" with any high frequency sound and you will not get a shot. Same as a quiet bow that makes a deer jump out of the way of an arrow at 10 yards, you CAN'T hear what scares them.
Noise can be very loud without scaring them, even gun fire, sticks breaking, limbs falling, etc.
I don't trust a gun that goes "clang, clang, clang, clang!
Want to see what I mean, blow a silent dog whistle when near deer.

When hunting with revolvers, FA's, I have never had a deer, antelope or elk spook. I do try to cock it when I see something coming in, but you do not always have that luxury.
I have sort of covered it up with a heavy mitten at times to muffle the sound also.
For me, I don't cock it when I want the animal to stop.
I use other sounds if needed, to stop the animal. I want my gun to be hot and in a rested shooting stance, so all I have to do is focus, and make a good trigger squeeze.

if i spot a bedded or are stalking up i will sometimes cock the hammer put my thumb in between frame and hammer . have had deer here the click my self not hogs to much thow.

If I can see the deer coming then I'll try and cock the gun before they get close enough to hear the clicks. On the other hand, sometimes you have to get the gun up and pointed basically at the deer before cocking. The latter will usually let you get a shot off because if they hear it they will be locked on to the direction the noise came from and at that point you had better not move.

Everyone hear knows that cocking a Contender dosn't make much noise, right? Well, I had a Kudu hear it at 44 yards, while I had it tucked tight under my armpit as I pulled the hammer back as slow as I could. To quote a wise ol' owl here: who woulda thunk it?

depends on the conditions when your hunting too. Here in the west during deer and elk season it's un common to have a calm day when hunting. I should say that at least it's that way where I hunt. I must admit there were some days during elk season when I could here the wing flaps of the crows flying but for the most part if you deaden the sound with your hand and especially a glove it's not an issue. I know in the eastern two thirds of the country your hunting whitetails which from my understanding are creatures of habit but extremely sensitive to noise. I've never had a blacktail or muley jump a bow string or take off from a hammer being cocked or a saftey coming off or even a bolt being racked but normally I have wind rain or snow to cover my sound and I've actually seen more elk spooked from trying to be to quiet than from breaking the occasional stick. The metallic sounds though can be a problem which is why I'll cover the action with my hand which may or may not be gloved and slowly cock the weapon using my hand to deaden the sound. I've also found that anything over about 50yds I normally don't have to worry much about but then again it depends on the conditions. We are just starting to restore our whitetail herd here but I've noticed some can be real jumpy and others out right paranoid. I still think the blacktails are the smartest of them all but I think a little common sense goes a long ways with any animal. Most people I know don't cock a revolver in the woods the same way they do at the bench so I don't think shooting any single action gun whether a revolver or single shot is a disadvantage as long as you use your head and adjust to the situation.

Ha Ha - yeah kudu are different. They don't have those radar-dish sized ears just for style.

I was hunting last Fri. morning, during muzzleloader season, and
had driven my truck near my stand.
I was sitting there, and saw two does easing around the field towards me. I was frozen, looking with my eyes, not my head.
They were about 50yds from me to my extreme left, in a little "bowl" depression in the edge of the field. I had started my sslllloooooowww raise of my weapon.
Suddenly "Kawaynnng!"
The deer just stopped, looked, and quietly non-spooked at least, eased back the way they came.

The noise was one of my leaf-springs "relaxing" on my old truck.
Sounded like a naval cannon going off in the frosty morning air.
I had to laugh.

funny story dan. nothing you can do with that / new truck or spring i guess.lol

Sounds safe to me.

In my experience as a hunter, the true element of surprise normally gives me a plenty long enough space in real time where I can safely cock and fire my pistol at my intended target.

Never hunted those kudu but would rather be safe than blown away.

Thanks to everyone for the good information. I agree about safe handling being a primary concern.
This forum is a great resource!