spooked buck will he return

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If you spook/bump deer, how long before they'll return to that spot?

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bghunter7311 said: It depends but as a general rule much quicker than most believe. Click to expand...

nicko said: If a deer blows like you said, I'd say chances are high that deer will not return soon. Is you just bump them and they don't blow, you stand a better chance of seeing them return sooner. The blow they make with their nose serves as an alert to other deer within earshot that the deer saw or smelled something they did not like. Click to expand...

PutnamCountyHunter said: I had a doe and 2 fawns come by me yesterday at 8:45 am. They got directly down wind of me and got a little jiggy. The doe eventually blew and they headed west. I could see they didn't run too far. They eventually all walked past me at 9:05 almost directly under my stand. I think people way over think this. Deer are GREAT at reacting to their current situation. The doe obviously got a little whiff of something she didn't like and she blew. Literally within a few minutes they all calmed down and they returned to normal and went on about their day. They ended up still going on the exact trail they had spooked on minutes earlier. I personally don't think deer can reason. Click to expand...

thirdhandman said: Been hunting 50 years. Still waiting to hear a deer bark... Do they sound like pit bulls or poodles?:confused2: Click to expand...

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You Spooked Your Target Deer. Now What?

Posted 2019-12-02T00:59:00Z by Bill Winke

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Assess the situation, then put Bill Winke's plan for bumped bucks into action

No one wants to jump a buck. But it happens, nonetheless. One of the top questions I get? What should you do after spooking a buck? Here's the long answer.

It's still possible to kill a buck after bumping it. Here's how. (Russell Graves photo)

Assessing the Damage

Bucks respond to danger in proportion to their level of fear. Bucks that are bad scared alter their behavior more noticeably than bucks that are casually spooked. Not every scare is the same. There are bad scares and casual spooks. Deer will react differently based on which category they fall in.

A badly scared buck is one that really busts out of there. He's running flat out and low to the ground. His No. 1 goal is to put as much distance as possible between you and him. Maybe you nicked him. Perhaps he caught you moving in the treestand. Maybe a heavy dose of your stink slapped him in the face. Regardless, he's hoofin' it to the next farm. He immediately alters his behavior.

In contrast, casually scared means a startled deer. This is not the fight-or-flight kind of fear. A casually scared buck bounds off. He doesn't blow out like a rocket. He knows something is wrong, but the danger isn't imminent. He takes notice, adjusts his movements a bit and go on with his lives. That said, if persistent danger reinforces these casual scares over time, he'll eventually stop using a certain area or become nocturnal.

So, figuring out what to do after spooking a buck starts with figuring out how badly he is spooked in the first place.

Threat Level: Irrelevant

Bucks often spend time outside of their normal home ranges during the rut. If you bump one of these bucks — a buck you don't recognize — he may well be a transient (here today and gone tomorrow). In that case, don't give it a second thought. Go right back in there again as soon as it makes sense. There is no sense wasting a good stand waiting for a buck that may never return even if you hadn't spooked him.

Threat Level: Casually Spooked

Every situation is different. But some things remain the same. These are the most common ways to casually spook bucks:

Bumping a buck in heavy cover while walking to or from your stand or blind
A deer hitting your ground scent during or after a hunt
Leaving scent on objects in the field, such as: gear, trees, etc.

Casually scared bucks certainly become harder to kill in areas incidents occur. That's why the first time you hunt a new stand is usually your best chance for success. Success odds decrease with each subsequent hunt. But this isn't insurmountable.

First, determine how often the buck gets casually scared by people in that area. For example, in residential areas, hikers often come through walking dogs or exploring the woods. In such cases, bucks grow accustomed to the normal level of human interaction for that area.

Let's say a buck catches your scent where he's used to smelling people. That might be a walking path or trail. Or, perhaps you bumped him near a roadway where he often encounters humans. That's no big deal. Continue with your regular routine.

However, he won't be so forgiving if the scare occurs in a place or fashion that's out of the norm for him. Let's say you jump him from his bed in an area the buck rarely sees people. Deer don't like changes or surprises. He'll remember and see it as an invasion. In that case, they'll change their behavior in the short-term. It may be a couple of days before the buck comes back. When he does, he'll likely be cautious. Don't hunt that stand again for a while.

Threat Level: Bad Scared

When a buck is scared badly at a particular stand location — especially if he saw you up there — you might as well stop hunting it for several weeks. I don't know the exact length of time it will take for that buck to come past that tree again during daylight without looking up. It might not happen again until next season. It could take that long to investigate and consider it safe before subsequently forgetting the incident.

In other words, it's best to just move on. That's the safest bet. While he probably won't totally leave the area, he will be much more cautious near where you spooked him. Move at least a couple hundred yards before hunting again. Even farther is better as long as you're still within what you believe is the buck's core area.

My best and final advice? Knowing how to adjust your strategies depends on two things. First, what it was that spooked the buck. And second, how spooked he was. Read each situation carefully, and respond appropriately, so you don't waste valuable stand time this deer season.

Don't Miss: Bump Scouting Deer

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How Spooked Is Too Spooked When It Comes To Mature Bucks

In 2020, I drew a coveted Iowa archery tag . The plan was to hunt public dirt as much as I could in October, because I had some work obligations that would take me away during November. During opening weekend, I hunted, scouted, and found three areas that were littered with buck sign .

When I drove back down to hunt during the middle weekend of October, I realized something. There were a lot more hunters out. I figured the deer would be pushed deeper into the cover, so I went looking with a stand on my back.

One of the heavy-use areas I found allowed me to cross a creek and get over a mile from the road. As I slipped in to look around, I watched a doe and two fawns bound away. Then another, much bigger deer took off. The way they ran led me to believe they might come right back along the river, so I scrambled to set up where I could shoot two different trails.

The first deer to come back was a main-frame 10 with a broken tine. It was the buck I had jumped less than an hour earlier, and he was big enough to wear my tag. That buck, as spooked as he was, wasn’t all that spooked. It was a good lesson.

Ground Spooking

That Iowa buck I killed let me walk right into his bedding area . This probably happens on that chunk of public land dozens of times each season. It barely phased him. He busted out, waited a little while, then walked back in. I’ve seen mature bucks do that other times, too. It never ceases to amaze me, but here’s the thing—even on pressured properties , busting a buck while you’re walking around isn’t that big of a deal.

They are used to it. Now, you might say that a deer that is on a different, low-pressure property, might react differently to someone showing up where people rarely walk. I don’t think so. I think we underestimate how often we push bucks around, because we tend to think of it only in terms of the immediate pre-season, or during the hunting season.

But we bump bucks when we shed hunt and winter scout, too. We bump them when we are looking for morels in the spring, or trying to shoot a gobbler . Even the most babysat deer out there get pushed around, and I’d rate that kind of spooking as low danger. It’s the opposite of getting busted on stand.

Stand Spooking

I’d rather bump into a buck while walking in the woods 10 times than have that same buck bust me in the tree just once. A deer that sees you in a stand or a blind is a deer that is going to be extremely cautious around that stand or blind.

I think the tolerance level here is really low, especially with pressured deer. This might be bananas, but I think even trail cameras can spook deer to the point where they’ll avoid them. If that’s true, then it’s not a stretch to believe that the negative impacts of a buck busting you reaching for your bow in your favorite ladder stand is going to change your odds of ever killing him, there, greatly.

Surprise, Surprise

We all know that the first time you sit a stand is when you have the best chance of killing a big buck. Stand sites can reset if they are rested enough, but it’s a better bet to understand the level that you spooked a deer.

If he caught wind of you while he was 100 yards out, and just kind of turned tail to walk away, maybe he’s killable there in a few weeks. If he was 20 yards out and looked right at you as you drew your bow and shot under his belly , you might not ever see that deer from that stand again. He won’t abandon his home range, but that particular site is probably as good as done.

The more options you have for ambush sites, and the more sneaky routes you have to get into and out of areas, the more you can use the element of surprise. This negates some of the bad effects of spooking deer, which is inevitable. It’s also a good strategy to adopt, regardless of how often you booger big deer out of certain areas.

Remember that this season. Assume you’re spooking some deer you don’t see, and pay real close attention to the ones you can see that you do spook. Each time can (and should) alter the course of your hunting plans, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of the game. You just need to be honest about the level of alarm, and how you’ll surprise that deer later with a new setup.

For more information on whitetail hunting, check out these articles: Early Season Calling Tips , How To Kill An Early-Season Buck In The Morning , and Why Opening Week Is Better Than The Rut For Mature Whitetails .

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'Lying to America': GOP lawmaker blasts his fellow Republicans, vows he won't seek reelection

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., announced he won’t seek reelection to his sixth term in Congress, accusing his fellow Republicans of too often “lying to America” and being “fixated on retribution and vengeance.”

Buck in a video shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, first criticized Democratic lawmakers in Washington, accusing them of not supporting law enforcement, “politicizing student loans” and more.

But after confirming that he will not run for reelection next year, the Colorado lawmaker quickly turned his ire to the colleagues on his side of the aisle. Buck said while many Americans “are rightfully concerned about our nation's future,” if they’re looking to GOP lawmakers, “their hope for Republicans to take decisive action maybe in vain.”

“Too many Republican leaders are lying to America, claiming that the 2020 election was stolen, describing January 6 as an unguided tour of the Capitol, and asserting that the ensuing prosecutions are a weaponization of our justice system,” Buck said in the video.

Buck’s criticism is an unusual move from a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of the House’s most conservative lawmakers.

Buck did vote to certify the 2020 presidential election , despite false allegations from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans that there was widespread fraud in the race for the White House. The Colorado lawmaker last month also opposed Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as a speaker of the House candidate because he refused to acknowledge Trump lost the election.

“It is impossible for the Republican Party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future, while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past,” he added.

“The Republican Party of today, however, is ignoring self-evident truths about the rule of law and limited government in exchange for self-serving lies,” Buck added. “I made a decision to leave Congress because tough votes are being replaced by social media status.”

Buck last month was one of eight Republican lawmakers who voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., from his role in the top job. The Colorado Republican has spoken out against McCarthy launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

But Buck has particularly criticized McCarthy’s approach to spending legislation in the lower chamber, such as the temporary compromise he passed earlier this year with support from Democrats to dodge a government shutdown.

“We are $33 trillion in debt and on track to hit $50 trillion by 2030,” Buck previously shared on X. “We cannot continue to fund the government by continuing resolutions and omnibus spending bills. That’s why I voted to oust @SpeakerMcCarthy. We must change course to sensible budgeting and save our country.”

Contributing: Associated Press

Rep. Ken Buck to retire from House, cites election denialism by others in GOP

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Wednesday that he would not seek reelection next year, expressing disappointment that many fellow Republicans continue to push the “big lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

“Our nation is on a collision course with reality, and a steadfast commitment to truth, even uncomfortable truths, is the only way forward,” Buck said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Too many Republican leaders are lying to America.”

Buck also cited Republicans downplaying the Jan. 6 , 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, in which a pro-Trump mob sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win, as well as the GOP’s claims that the ensuing prosecutions amounted to a weaponization of the justice system.

“These insidious narratives breed widespread cynicism and erode Americans’ confidence in the rule of law,” Buck said. “It is impossible for the Republican Party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”

Buck’s announcement came hours after Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) also said she would not seek reelection next year.

Like Buck, Granger was one of the roughly two dozen Republicans who opposed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for the speakership last month — and who drew criticism from hard-right parts of the Republican base for doing so. The holdouts ultimately forced Jordan to withdraw from the race, and both Buck and Granger later backed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for the leadership position.

On Wednesday, in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Buck hinted that other Republican lawmakers could announce “in the near future” that they would also be leaving Congress. Buck has indicated for some time that he has been interested in pursuing opportunities outside of Congress, confirming to the New York Post in September that he was interested in positions with CNN, Fox News or Newsmax.

Former president Donald Trump cheered and mocked Buck’s decision Wednesday night, deriding the Colorado Republican as someone who “knew long ago he could never win against MAGA” — a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

Buck has clashed with the majority of the Republican conference in recent months, notably for opposing his party’s launch of an impeachment inquiry into Biden. In a September op-ed for The Washington Post , Buck criticized the inquiry as one that relied “on an imagined history.”

“[I]mpeachment is a serious matter and should have a foundation of rock-solid facts,” Buck wrote then.

Buck was also one of eight Republican lawmakers who voted with Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the speakership last month. During the Republicans’ struggle to elect a new speaker, Buck steadfastly opposed Jordan over his election denialism.

Last month, Buck told NBC News that he had received death threats and a notice of eviction from his office in Colorado because his landlord was upset about Buck’s vote against Jordan for speaker. Buck said then that he did not blame Jordan but pundits and groups putting out “misinformation and hateful information.”

“If we’re going to solve difficult problems, we’ve got to deal with some very unpleasant truths, or lies, and make sure we project to the public what the truth is,” Buck told Mitchell on Wednesday.

Buck expressed some optimism that Republicans would unite behind “very important issues,” including funding for Israel and Ukraine, as well as a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown on Nov. 17.

“I think there are a lot of major issues that we will unite behind,” Buck said.

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What To Do When You Bump A Big Buck

Did you "spook" your target buck the hunt doesn't have to be over. consider these strategies for setting up on bumped bucks..

Spooking a buck out of its bed doesn’t necessarily mean game over. Sometimes, it’s just the beginning. Don’t overlook the idea to hunt a “spooked” buck downwind of the bedroom where you spooked him. Photo by Tim Yarnal, Shutterstock

A slight stick break sparks a sudden flurry of action. The big typical 10-pointer stands in its bed 50 yards away. Unsure of the sound source, it slowly turns and slinks out the backdoor, carefully navigating through thick cover as it goes. It turns and looks one final time before disappearing over the ridge. And then, it’s gone.

But not forever. Completely aware of what might unfold, you carefully ease to the downwind side of the bed, quietly hang a tree stand and settle into position. Three hours later, the giant buck returns, and you arrow a deer you bumped the same day. That’s what can sometimes occur from an intentional or unintentional soft bump. Not everyone buys into it, though.

CONVENTIONAL VS. MODERN THOUGHTS

Hunters long touted that a bumped buck was the end of the pursuit for that deer. There was literally no hope after hard spooking a mature whitetail. Virtually every magazine article, newspaper clipping, television episode, seminar speaker and opinion-giver said as much. And so, we all believed it.

It birthed an age where hunters rarely ventured into bedding areas. Hunting sanctuaries led to excommunication. Bumping bucks was an unfathomable mistake. And anyone who said or did otherwise was a charlatan unfit for the deer woods. But it wasn’t, and isn’t, totally true. Oftentimes, outside of opening week and the rut, hunting on the fringes or even within bedding areas is the only way to see mature whitetails, let alone shoot one. While hunting closer to daytime lairs comes with risk, under the right circumstances, it’s risk worth taking.

Still, despite being wrong that spooking a buck is a guaranteed hunt killer, the old guard was right that it’s best to not spook a deer (in most situations). Rather, it’s better to keep a deer in the dark. A buck that doesn’t realize it’s being hunted is almost always easier to harvest. A buck that knows hunters are nearby is much less likely to move during daylight.

They were also right about a second thing — repeated extensive pressure will result in decreased daylight movement, or possibly complete relocation. But that rarely, if ever, happens from a slip-up. It seems to take significant more human intrusion to spark such a reaction from even the savviest of bucks. Still, unintentional bumps can have varying levels of impact. And intentional bumps can be strategically and surprisingly effective.

THE UNINTENTIONAL BUMP

Accidentally spooking deer is inevitable. Every deer hunter has done it and will do it again. Taking precautions not to is great, but responding appropriately whenever it happens is equally important. When it does occur, the first order of business is considering the circumstances. How the event transpired can impact the outcome and how the deer reacts. Understanding this will help you prescribe your own response.

If it’s a local buck, conventional wisdom says chances are greater that it will have more of an impact. At least, more of a noticeable impact for you. In extreme cases, a target buck might completely vacate the area, but it likely won’t. Outside of the buck’s bedding area, it might avoid the location it was spooked during daylight for a short, medium or long period of time. Or it might merely be more careful when moving through there the next time. This seems to be truer when pressuring deer prior to the rut.

In contrast, if it’s a new buck during the rut, the event likely won’t impact the deer too negatively, as the deer wasn’t local to that specific area anyway. Plus, it’s the rut, and deer are much more tolerable of human intrusion during this timeframe.

Video That May Interest You

Speaking of the rut, if a buck is with a doe, and a hunter spooks the pair, the buck is going wherever his girlfriend goes. If they get split up, and go in different directions, he’ll do everything possible to relocate her. In either instance, you can circle around, get downwind of the doe’s position, and likely intercept that buck as he relocates her.

Accidentally spooking a buck in a food source is less intrusive. If it’s the best grub around, chances are good that deer will return. It might not be in daylight for a few days, but if the food is peaking, it will be back. Spooking a deer over a water source is much the same, especially out in the open.

Staging and transition areas are getting closer to bedding areas, but are still mostly outside of a buck’s daytime haunt. Alerting deer here might cause decreased daylight movement for a short time, but it shouldn’t last too long.

Finally, conventional opinions said a bedding area is the last place you want to spook a buck. I agree that if done unnecessarily, and without a follow-up action, it’s wasted pressure that can have lasting effects. However, if done intentionally, or semi-intentionally while scouting, it can play into a hunter’s favor.

THE INTENTIONAL BUMP

While unintentionally spooking a deer once usually isn’t either a hunt-killer or a good thing, intentionally bumping a deer out of its day bed in a designed manner can be a very good thing for a deer hunter. First, it tells you where that buck sleeps during the day. Secondly, that information can help tag it.

Modern findings — both anecdotal and research-focused — have revealed that whitetails tend to circle back into their bedding areas after being spooked from them. This can take a few minutes, or a few days, but bucks almost always return to their bed. Think about it, most deer experience confrontations with hunters and predators regularly. If a mature deer sees, hears or smells danger coming before it reaches it, its bed selection did its job. Over time, a buck can become more confident in a specific bed if it helps detect danger before danger befalls it.

To capitalize on this, you must know where a deer beds, or where it likely beds. Then, chart a route that keeps you downwind of the deer, or at least at a crosswind. Slowly inch along and still hunt through cover. Hopefully you can spot the buck before it sees you. You might even get a shot, be able to stalk closer or slowly leave and return another day to capitalize on that specific bedding location. However, if you move slowly enough, and a bedded deer gets a little squirrely, you can take advantage of this, too.

Granted, if a deer smells, sees and hears you, it might be a day or more before it returns, maybe longer. It might even relocate. But if a deer only hears you, or maybe sees some movement it doesn’t like, it’s much more apt to return sooner. Therefore, a soft bump can push a deer out long enough to hang a tree stand on the downwind side and intercept the buck as it circles back around and into its bedroom. This is a proven tactic that many modern deer hunters are using with success.

CLOSING THE GAP

All things considered, it’s important to pay attention to the buck’s reaction, whether it’s an intentional or unintentional spooking. If a deer blows and runs hard, it likely saw, heard or smelled just a little too much to return soon. In contrast, if a buck slowly or moderately rises and bounds a short distance, and stops and turns to see what you are, odds are greater it will return sooner, perhaps even the same day.

Of course, every deer is unique. Each buck will react slightly differently. It isn’t a cookie cutter tactic. There’s plenty of variation in response to it. But when it works, it works quite well. It’s a high-risk maneuver, but one that comes with high reward, too.

WAYS YOU SPOOK BUCKS (AND DON'T KNOW IT)

Spooking bucks isn’t always known. Oftentimes, it happens without our knowledge. There are certain things that tend to do this more than others. The first of which is ATV use. Over time, deer realize these are associated with hunters. While it’s still okay to use these, doing so carefully is necessary, and driving close to hunting spots isn’t advised, especially the day of the hunt.

Placing gear such as tree stands and hunting blinds in an obvious manner is another way hunters spook deer, even when they aren’t there. It’s best to place these in areas and ways that don’t draw attention. Provide as much cover as possible.

Trail cameras are also capable of spooking deer, if not used correctly. In the days of white flash, some deer would spook at this, while others did not. It seemed to depend on their individual tolerances and tendencies. The same seems to be true for the visual profile of an obvious trail camera, too.

Bad entry routes are among the most common ways hunters spook deer knowingly, but especially unknowingly. Oftentimes, deer are long gone before hunters even realize it. Crummy exit routes do the same. How you get back to the vehicle after the hunt is equally important. Choosing bad paths can alert deer to your presence, and it’s even easier to spook deer in the dark without knowing it.

While obvious, hunting with a bad wind direction can spook deer, too. While deer sometimes blow or visibly spook, you don’t see every deer that picks you off. This is especially true with mature bucks. Sometimes, these older age class whitetails merely slink off, and you’re none the wiser to the education you just gave them. I’d venture to say that hunters spook many mature bucks that they never even know are present, than those they knowingly bump.

Ground scent is another big one. It can alert deer to your presence while you’re there, but it does the same after you’re gone. This is another reason hunters should take creative entry and exit routes that deer are less likely to cross. Consider very shallow creeks, streams, ditches, drainages and other safe routes deer are less likely to use.

Common blunders aside, anything out of the norm has the capacity to alert deer. They are very in tune with their environment. Think of your own home. If you leave, and then return to an unnatural change, it’s going to pique your interest, and not in a good way. It’s the same way with a mature deer when he realizes something is amiss with his home range, but especially his core area.

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As a whitetail hunter and landowner dedicated to pursuing great bucks each season, North American Whitetail's Blake Garlock depends on a lot of motorized gear from September to late January. Whether it's a side-by-side UTV, a chain saw, a tractor, or a powered-up limb saw, Garlock relies on Star brite's Quick Fix Engine Rescue to keep his engines running smoothly for months on end. From planting food plots to trimming up shooting lanes to driving to and from a stand, Garlock depends on Star brite's Quick Fix blend of polyetheramine (P.E.A.) and proprietary Star Tron ENZYME technology to keep fuel systems clean, moisture at bay, deposits removed, and top-end fuel efficiency leading to fast engine start-up and all-season success.

Year-Round Deer Scouting with Moultrie Mobile Edge Cellular Trail Cams

North American Whitetail's Blake Garlock shares his strategies for trail-cam use during four distinct times of the year, from pre-season to post-season, using Moultrie Mobile cams.

Early Fall Tactics for Big Ultimate Season Bucks

There are few things that get North American Whitetail's Blake Garlock more fired up than chasing early season bucks with his bow. While the bucks are still on late summertime patterns, that doesn't mean they are pushovers for a bowhunter hanging high up in a treestand. For Garlock, that means having a quiet pack filled with necessities like a safety harness, an Ozonics ozone generator to keep sweaty scent at bay, and a supply of milkweed to test the wind currents. While the heat is on, he'll also have on hand plenty of water and protein snacks like Old Trapper's various beef jerky flavors, nutritious energy that will help him stay focused on a warm evening sit until that tall-racked whitetail steps out into last light shooting range.

TETRA: Hear The Hunt

Laden Force talks about how the team at North American Whitetail has been able to test the products from TETRA Hearing. TETRA is a company founded by hunters, driven to help and give back to the outdoors community. They set out to protect from a lifetime of noise exposure, so you too can detect game while in the woods.

First Time's a Charm

The North American Whitetail team is going back to the beginning to revisit a few of our very first whitetail hunts.

Big Sky, Big Bucks

Stan Potts bowhunts Illinois and doubles down in Montana with his rifle.

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FIELD & STREAM+

Six ways to find that buck you spooked.

Just because you messed up and jumped a deer doesn’t mean you can’t make a comeback

By Gerald Almy | Published Dec 1, 2020 7:00 PM EST

That’s it. It’s all over, I thought. The 4-year-old 10-point buck that I had scouted, photographed, and painstakingly held off hunting until conditions were absolutely perfect was gone…forever, I assumed, when my arrow flew high and he bounded away in a panic.

That’s exactly what many hunters believe, whether they whiff a shot, bump a buck while heading to their stand, or get busted on watch. Sure, you might get a second opportunity on a young deer, but an older buck? Not a chance.

On a crowded public area, that may be true. But in most cases, you shouldn’t be so quick to write off a mature buck that you bump just once. Handle things right and you could get a second chance.

First, consider what happened. How spooked is the buck? A whitetail that just vaguely notices movement or scents you isn’t likely to permanently leave the area or become “unhuntable.” On the other hand, a buck that has three senses alerted—scent, sight, and hearing—is much tougher to get a second crack at. But the situation isn’t hopeless.

How thick was the cover? Deer in open areas may run a half-mile. In dense cover, a buck might only bound 150 yards and hunker down. Analyze exactly where the buck was and what he was doing. Was he traveling, feeding, hooked up with a doe, bedded in thick cover, pushed out by a drive?

Answers to these questions will help you decide how to set up your rematch. Sometimes waiting several days and returning to the same spot is best if that’s the ultimate ambush location. In most cases, a strategic move is called for.

Here are six spooked-buck scenarios and how to deal with them.

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1. If you bump a buck while scouting.

You get a free pass here. Even an older whitetail buck bumped during the preseason will not likely alter his movements based on one encounter. Back off quietly and plan your hunting strategy as normal. Only now you have one extra key piece of information—precisely where the buck was at a specific time of day.

2. When you get busted in a transition corridor.

I missed that 10-point in this type of setup. A buck typically uses several routes to get from daytime bedding cover to evening staging areas. Spook him and he probably won’t give this path up entirely. But he’ll likely switch for a while to another hollow, strip of vegetation, or spur ridge. Either wait three or four days and hunt that same spot again if it’s a killer location, or locate a parallel alternate route showing fresh rubs and tracks. It’s how I killed the 10-pointer, three days later and two hollows over.

3. When you blow up a bedding area.

This is a whitetail’s core home area—a spot where he feels safe and secure. Fortunately, most bucks bed in several areas. It’s time to get out your GPS and topographic maps and search for secondary sites. Satellite beds are typically farther back from hunter-access points, smaller, and less obvious than primary bedding spots, often in thicker cover and more rugged, remote terrain. They may be 150 yards or a half-mile from the main site. Find one of these satellite beds to relocate your whitetail buck. But stay out this time. Hunt trails leading from it toward evening staging areas.

Read Next: How to Jumpshoot a Whitetail Buck

4. If you scare a deer off of a food source.

When a particular food source is at its peak, such as freshly emerging oats or a frost-sweetened brassica plot, a buck won’t want to forgo it—even if he’s been spooked on or coming toward it. Look for alternate approaches the deer could take by circling to the opposite side or angling toward a secluded finger he can feed in while staying close to thick cover. Set up there, downwind, but expect a later appearance.

5. If you spook a buck searching for does.

Mature bucks use a circuit of routes when the pre-rut kicks in to seek out estrous does. If you’ve done your homework, you should know of a network of these routes connecting doe bedding areas. They typically take advantage of brushy hollows, weedy ditches, and strips of timber for cover. Spook a buck on one of these and it’s simple to move to another nearby doe-check route. Chances are your testosterone-pumped, bumped buck will simply shift to one of those. (And you’ll also stand the chance of encountering other “travelers” from nearby areas.)

6. When you break up a buck and a doe.

Bump a buck that’s hooked up with an estrous doe, and he won’t leave her. Assuming the doe wasn’t badly spooked, hang tight and use grunts, doe bleats, and light rattling to draw him out of the closest cover. That’s probably where he is, unless you also busted his lady friend. If that happened, move to the next nearest patch of cedars, brambles, or tall grass and call there

Want more of the Great Outdoors?

How Long Does It Take For A Spooked Deer To Come Back?

The impact to your hunting area isn’t the result of killing the deer, but rather is the result of recovering it — or at least it can be. As long as you have an efficient way to recover the deer you kill, you can go back to hunting the stand quickly .

What does it mean when a buck blows at you?

The deer forcibly expels air through its nostrils like a greatly magnified sneeze. The deer blows when it detects danger at a distance . … The noise warns all deer that something is radically wrong. The “sneeze” clears the nasal passages, and helps the deer sniff the air better.

Will a dead deer spook other deer?

They can get spooky at te scent of a fresh bloody arrow when the one you shot just ran off. They do notice , but no just a dead deer somewhere or a pile of them, doesn’t spook them .

What time of day are most big bucks killed?

Most of them are specifically between 9:00 and 10:00 in the morning to be exact. It’s a proven time, and it could have a lot to do with the common perception among deer hunters that things slow down once early morning is through.

Will a big buck come back after being shot at?

“After a wounding shot, a buck will associate the area with danger for a few days to a few weeks,” he says. “But if the reason the deer was there in the first place doesn’t change — it is still a quality food source or a major travel corridor or whatever — a buck will return to the area .”

Do gunshots spook deer?

Does the noise of a gunshot spook deer? The answer is “it depends .” I doubt deer are born with knowledge that the noise of a gun or the smell of burnt powder is often associated with danger. Deer can be conditioned to accept or reject smells and noises they associate with danger.

Does cigarette smoke spook deer?

A human has around 5 million. Research has shown that a deer’s sense of smell is anywhere from 500 to 1,000 times better than a human’s. Yes, a deer can smell cigarette smoke . There is no doubt that a deer can and will smell cigarette smoke.

Does Pee scare deer?

Conclusion. So in the end, human urine probably won’t run most deer off , and it may even pique the curiosity of some of them. If you’re going to drop your britches and answer the call of Mother Nature in a scrape or underneath your stand, just make sure that’s all you’re leaving.

How far can deer smell human scent?

ANSWER: Under normal conditions, a deer can smell a human that is not making any attempt to hide its odor at least 1/4 mile away . If the scenting conditions are perfect (humid with a light breeze), it can even be farther. So they are pretty impressive.

Do deer know when they are being hunted?

Re: How does a deer know its being hunted??

Deer certainly notice humans taking notice of them. Think of how nervous deer get when they are feeding near a road and the car abrubtly stops. The wise deer move along quickly. They instinctively are aware of potential danger .

Do deer come back to the same spot?

They leave their home going to a place they know they can feed and then walk back home. As long as this continues to be a safe place for them, they will continue to walk along this same path every single day . Of course throughout the year, depending on what the deer are doing it may be more or less frequent.

Does vanilla extract attract deer?

Registered. Vanilla Extract will attract deer .

Is it better to hunt in the morning or evening?

Hunting the gray light of dawn and dusk is often your best shot at success. Watch the wind to ensure you don’t blow your cover, and stay as silent as possible the nearer you get to your hunting site. Whether it’s by choice or circumstance, hunts during mornings or evenings often yield the best results.

What time of day do most big bucks move?

Early Morning and Late Afternoon

No matter what the conditions, deer move best early of a morning and late of an afternoon. That’s when they’re wired to move most. It’s when their eyesight is most effective. And there are few things that impact this movement, other than pressure.

Do deer travel the same path every day?

Fortunately for hunters, deer often travel the same paths every day , making guessing their whereabouts significantly easier.

Is your hunt over if a deer blows?

Definitely not . Sometimes it will make other deer nervous, sometimes they don’t even seem to care. But it can get annoying when you get the one doe that likes to just stand there and blow for like 10 minutes instead of just leaving.

How often will a buck use the same bed?

My experience with running cameras on beds shows them using a bed about 1 in every 3-4 days that the wind is right. But this would have been on public and before the season started.

How do you keep deer from coming back?

For variety and winter cover, you can mix in a few pines or cedars.

Provide minerals. Maybe you’re fortunate enough to have a natural mineral site on your property. …
Add water. …
Create or enhance staging areas. …
Add shrubs and vines. …
Build big buck bedding cover. …
Create a thermal refuge. …
Plant oaks. …
Give them fruit.

How far away can a deer hear you?

But hunters should never forget a deer can actually hear sounds better than humans. Back to the scrape of an arrow on a bow’s rest. A hunter can hear it up close, for sure, and maybe as far as 10 feet away . It would be hard to hear for a human to hear it from 10 yards away.

Can deer really smell you?

Still, deer have far more scent receptors than do humans, and far more types of receptors. Therefore, deer can detect scents we’ll never comprehend . … Meanwhile, the deer’s nose hasn’t received the scientific scrutiny of noses on dogs and humans. Woods, however, thinks the deer’s nose likely tops both.

Can deer smell human poop?

Human waste and urine does not deter deer .

Can deer smell period blood?

Nunley concludes that male veinous blood has no lesser effect on deer than menstrual blood , though he did not actually test menstrual blood.

How long does human scent last in the woods?

Scent stays on the ground and on the things we touch for about 2-3 days . When it rains, it is mostly washed away.

Don’t Give Up When You Bump a Buck From His Core Area

Spooking a buck in his core area doesn’t mean the game is finished. In some cases, it has really just begun.

By Bill Vaznis

I immediately dropped to my knees and slowly raised my binoculars. Peering over the top of the housing, I stared at where I last saw the buck and looked through the glass, focusing inch by inch into the dark timber. Sure enough, the buck had stopped behind a fallen tree and was staring at me. He remained statuesque for several minutes, and then looked left to right, turned and flicked his tail as he faded like a wisp of smoke.

I remained motionless until I was sure the buck was gone and then stood to investigate the site thoroughly. I had been returning to camp opening morning, walking nonchalantly along the edge of the creek, when I jumped the buck from his daytime lair. If I had not stopped momentarily to watch a gray squirrel scamper up a tree on the far side of the creek, I’m sure the buck would have let me pass within 10 yards of his bed, nestled deep inside the canopy of a fallen red oak.

Get More “Strategies For Whitetails” Now With Great Info!

What happened next, however, forever changed my mind about pursuing a jumped buck during bow season. I’ve tracked plenty of deer in snow during gun season to learn that unless a buck is immediately pursued, it will often bolt for about 100 yards, stop to check its back trail and bolt again. After checking its back trail a couple of more times, the buck will eventually slow down and return to a more relaxed routine. I’ve shot several bucks in that manner when wind and snow conditions were in my favor. The trick is to give the buck 20 minutes or so to calm down before giving chase.

After jumping the bedded buck that morning, I sat, ate an apple and contemplated my attack. Then I hustled along the creek and circled upwind, hoping to catch a glimpse of the buck. After breaching the hillside, I slowed down and still-hunted along an old logging road that cut around the mountain before dropping to parallel a beaver flow. I expected the buck to cross the flow at the dam and hole up on the far side.

My hunch was right. An hour later, I caught the buck feeding on acorns along a ridge above the pond, oblivious to me. His mahogany rack glistened in the late-morning sun. I would like to tell you I arrowed that buck, but another deer caught me in midstep and snorted as I attempted a stalk, ending my fun.

Still, that close call convinced me that spooking a buck in its core area doesn’t mean the game is finished. In some cases, it has really just begun.

Big bucks are smart and crafty, so you have to be smart and crafty, too.

Early Season Late-summer and early-autumn bucks have fairly predictable routines. They remain bedded until twilight and then choose a route to a nearby feeding area until pink light, when they return to a bedding site for the day. If you spook a buck while sneaking to or from your tree stand or during a midday scouting trip, you might push him onto a neighboring farm or, worse, make him go nocturnal. You won’t see him in the immediate area for at least several days while he recuperates from the encounter.

So what should you do when you jump the deer? First, watch the buck as long as possible, noting his body language. If he makes a few short bounds but stops within sight behind a blowdown, he probably doesn’t know exactly what scared him. Drop to your knees and wait him out. Deer instinctively fear the human form, but they have difficulty discerning you when you kneel, provided you remain motionless. You will blend in with the surroundings, and the deer will eventually wander away, no worse for the encounter. Depending on the wind and ground conditions, you might try an end run.

If the buck seems nervous and high-steps away with its tail erect, you might try a fawn bleat. Fawns are rambunctious and can cause quite a stir as they scamper about. One or two bleats from your grunt tube will often calm a spooky buck, especially if he only heard you snap a twig. Even so, remain motionless for 10 or 15 minutes until you’re sure the buck has wandered away.

When a buck bolts as if his life depends on a quick escape, listen to the deer as long as possible. You might get a few clues about his body weight by the thud of his hoof beats, and the twang of a barbed-wire fence might help you define his escape route. File those clues away for future reference.

What if you jump a buck near your tree stand or ground blind? If you’re set up next to a preferred feeding location, you probably won’t see that buck in the area for several days. The best option is to use your grunt tube to help calm the buck down and wait for him to clear the area. Then, move your stand closer to his suspected bedding site. It makes little difference if you jumped the buck in the morning or afternoon, because if you spooked him badly enough, he’ll be wary about moving during daylight.

A second option is to set up a stand near a more protected feeding area, such as an overgrown orchard or small oak grove, and wait him out.

Check Out This Great Southern Buck Hunter’s Collection!

The Chase Phase If you can hunt several consecutive days as the rut is about to break loose, you might jump several bucks from one location. At first, you might think the bucks high-tailed it out of the area, but don’t believe it. They’re likely part of a pack of bucks in hot pursuit of a doe nearing estrus, and you stepped into the middle of the commotion.

In such cases, several bucks typically zigzag behind the doe to keep tabs on her as she attempts to elude her suitors by running in circles and ducking in and out of cover. The closer she is to estrus, the more likely a mature buck will be leading the charge. However, if she’s still several hours from ovulating, the old buck will be satisfied to remain nearby and let the satellite bucks chase until the doe is ready to stand and breed. Only then will he move forward to claim mating rights.

What should you do? Use your eyes and ears to keep tabs on the doe. Invariably, she will give some of the bucks the slip. Don’t fret, however, as that can be your golden opportunity. Let me explain.

When a rutting buck loses contact with a doe near estrus, he will frantically use all his senses to reconnect with her, often throwing caution to the wind as he searches desperately. He might boldly strut across openings with his head erect and ears cocked to pick up any sight or sound indicating her whereabouts, such as a doe bleat, a snapping twig, two bucks sparring, the flick of a tail, the rustling of leaves, a sapling swaying back and forth, or a tending grunt from another buck. The buck’s attention will suddenly focus on almost any sight or sound that might be interpreted as another deer. The buck will continue to circle, periodically dropping his nose to the ground to catch the doe’s scent trail, until he finds her or gives up.

What can you do? Give the buck what he’s looking for. Get the wind in your favor, and try some vocalizations. My first choice is an estrous doe bleat or a series of estrous bleats followed by a series of moderately-toned tending buck grunts. A buck seeking a lost hot doe might interpret your renditions as that doe being courted by another buck. Stomp the ground and shake some brush to add realism to the ruse.

During such times, almost anything will work. One season, I stumbled on several bucks chasing a diminutive doe through a long-abandoned corn lot. The doe crossed the field with several of the bucks in tow — but not all. I hunkered down and was pulling my grunt tube from inside my jacket when I heard something moving through nearby brush. I reached down, retrieved a foot-long dead branch from the ground, snapped it in two and scraped the ground with the broken halves. Suddenly, an 8-pointer broke from the brush and rushed toward me, stopping at 10 yards. He was obviously looking for the doe making all the racket and paid no attention to me crouched by a fallen log.

I dropped my head and hid my eyes under the brim of my baseball cap to avoid eye contact. I waited for the buck to look away so I could grab an arrow from my quiver. Just then, the doe reappeared, and the 8-pointer took off after her. I, however, was shaking like a leaf.

I learned from that encounter that you must be prepared to shoot before you try to lure a crazed buck close for a bow shot. Now I nock an arrow and drop to a knee before I begin calling, and I bring my bow to full draw when I believe a buck is approaching. You must act quickly, as there’s little time to waste.

Buck Tending a Doe It’s not uncommon to jump a buck trailing a hot doe during the breeding phase, and the deer often split up and go different directions. Your first impulse might be to chase after the buck, but that’s not always best. The buck will leave the area for 10 minutes to a half-hour but will eventually return to where he last saw the doe. The urge to mate is powerful, and if you wait downwind of where you last saw the doe, your chances of getting a shot at that buck are quite good.

Three seasons ago, I jumped a buck tending a doe at first light. The doe went north into a woodlot, and the buck bolted south into a thick, impenetrable brush lot. I got the wind in my favor and waited. Sure enough, 20 minutes later I caught the buck sneaking out of the brush lot into an adjacent overgrown farm field. There was no doubt he was looking for that doe as he carefully worked through the goldenrod, briars and tall grasses, stopping often to stare into the woodlot.

As the buck neared the woodlot, it picked up the pace, but it was not fast enough. I came to full draw from a kneeling position, and at 22 yards I swung my bow and released a razor-tipped shaft in one fluid motion. The buck died within seconds from a double-lung shot.

If you jump a buck from his core area this season, don’t concede defeat. Consider the phase of the breeding season, and weigh your options. The fun might just be starting.

— Bill Vaznis is a veteran whitetail hunter from New York.

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OUTDOOR LIFE+

3 reasons why spooking a buck isn’t always a bad thing.

Don't despair—scaring up a deer can actually be a very good thing

| Published Oct 2, 2017 10:39 PM EDT

It seemed more like an eruption of dried brush and leaves than the classic flight path of a fleeing buck. I’d blown it big time, and by the time I’d regained my wits, the big 8-point had jumped a creek and was zigzagging his way up a wooded hillside before disappearing into a thick stand of hemlocks. The unmistakable noise of his wide rack snapping dead branches suddenly stopped, however, as if the buck had either broken into an opening or had stopped dead. But I knew that there were no openings.

I immediately dropped to my knees and slowly brought my binocular up to my face. The buck had indeed stopped behind a fallen tree and was staring at his backtrack. He remained still as a statue for several minutes, then looked left to right momentarily, giving me just enough time to put a .30/06 round through his chest.

What I learned that morning convinced me that spooking a buck does not necessarily mean game over. In fact, in some cases it means the game has really only just begun. You can pull out all the stops.

Besides, what have you got to lose?

1. The First Chance

Bucks are fairly predictable in late summer and early autumn. Spook a buck early in the season, however, and you risk pushing him onto a neighboring farm for the rest of the season or causing him to go nocturnal. So what should you do?

Begin by carefully reading his body language. If he makes a few short bounds only to stop within sight behind a blowdown, he probably does not know exactly what scared him. Drop to your knees and wait him out. You could get a second chance.

If the buck seems quite nervous and high-steps away with his tail erect, try to make him think that you’re a fawn. Instinct tells bucks that fawns can be rambunctious. Don’t move a muscle, but bleat at him a few times to calm him down.

In those cases where the buck bolts as if his life is in mortal danger, the jig may be up. Follow him with your eyes and ears for as long as possible to learn his escape route. File it away for future reference. If you jump a buck while getting to your treestand or ground blind before first light, adjust your location. Move your stand closer to his suspected bedding site or to a more protected feeding area, such as an overgrown orchard or a small oak grove.

Jump the Chase Phase

As the rut is about to break loose, the risks and rewards of spooking a buck—or multiple bucks—climbs. There have been many occasions when I’ve found myself amid a pack of bucks in hot pursuit of a single doe nearing estrus. If you mess up, don’t despair. The ability to regain contact with the buck has actually never been better.

A rutting buck that is scared off an estrous doe will be tenacious about picking up her scent up again. He’s likely to circle about, periodically dropping his nose to the ground to catch her trail. Hang tight for 30 minutes or so to let things settle down before making a move, whether you decide to head off in the direction he fled or circle around him.

Give the buck what he is looking for. Try some vocalizations such as an estrous doe bleat, or a series of estrous bleats followed by a series of moderately toned tending buck grunts. He will hopefully interpret your renditions as that of a doe being seriously courted by another buck. Stomp the ground and shake some brush or even snap a nearby dead branch to add realism to the ruse. Light antler rattling can also work.

Break out the scents. Attach an estrous-scented drag rag to your boots and keep a can of aerosol scent in your pocket. As you move along, occasionally spray the estrous scent, keeping a careful eye downwind as well as ahead of you.

Will Deer Come Back After Being Spooked?

Do deer snort? A buck’s snort is a warning signal to other deer. Fortunately, they do not use the snort to identify humans. Instead, they use their foot stomp, which releases a powerful scent from the interdigital glands on their forefoot. But you may be wondering if a dead deer can make a buck come back after being spooked.

You Will Learn

buck chases deer after being spooked

What do you do if a buck chases after you after being spooked? The first step to take is to move. Bucks are not good at leaving the area they have been spooked, so it is a good idea to move a few hundred yards before you begin hunting him. If you cannot move a couple hundred yards, you should hunt him within his home range.

If you spooked a buck in his homestead, you need to consider whether it was an obvious spook or just a harmless spooky sound. The buck might have been spooked by the human scent or a gust of wind, but it could be that the buck was simply frightened on principle. It may have heard an unfamiliar noise or seen an unusual light, but it most likely heard you.

Whitetail’s snort is an alarm signal

A whitetail’s snort is one of its most distinguishable vocalizations. A snort is a single, explosive sound that a deer emits in response to danger. During the rut, a deer begins giving snorts to prepare for mating. A hunter can hear a whitetail’s snort as he approaches the woods.

While a deer’s snort may be unattractive, it is one of the most effective ways to attract a buck. This alarm is produced during rutting season, when bucks are scouting for does. The doe’s tail is fully fanned. When it is bouncing, the tarsal glands in its rear knees emit an ammonia-like odor that marks the area as dangerous for days to come.

Buck’s snort is a warning signal

Buck’s snort-wheeze is a characteristic agitation sound, and it is usually a last warning to intruders that they should back off. It is easy to imitate this warning call without actually calling them. You can imitate this sound by clenching your teeth together and extending your voice while breathing hard.

Deer snort to warn their fellow deer that danger is near. This snort is similar to a human’s sneeze, but instead of a long, drawn-out “whoosh,” buck’s snort is a single, explosive sound.

Buck’s foot stomp is a warning signal

The stomping of a buck’s foot is an effective warning signal to deer, as it sends a vibration to the ground that alerts the rest of the herd that a potential threat is nearby. The stomping action is common among all prey species, including monkeys, which follow deer groups because they use the sound of their feet to alert their fellow monkeys that they may be in danger.

When deer are threatened, they may snort or blow several times. This process is designed to clear their nasal passages and frighten predators away. A deer can make this pattern repeatedly if the threat is persistent enough, and it is usually used during mating season. A dominant buck will display aggressive body language such as stamping his feet and swaying his antlers. It is important to stay away from deer when they are spooked or approached, as they are prone to attack humans if they approach them directly.

Buck’s snort is an alarm signal

Deer use several body language signals to communicate with each other. The buck snort, a tail flick, and a frightened stomp are all warning signals. These signals alert other deer to danger and serve as visual confirmation for the group. The buck snort is the most well-known alarm signal for deer.

A buck’s snort can be heard anywhere, but its most common frequency is within the range of human hearing. It is the last sound a buck makes before attacking another male, so it is an alarm signal for hunters. It sounds like a sudden explosion of ruffed grouse and stops time for a second. The alarm snort is rarely made by a mature buck, who prefers to blend into the forest.

Wait a few days before going back to that stand

When you’ve been spooked, it’s important to give yourself some time off to get back into a good hunting stand. Many bucks spend time out of their normal home ranges during the rut, so you may have bumped into a transient buck. While it may be tempting to abandon your stand in this situation, it’s more important to wait a few days before returning to that stand. You also don’t want to lose any good stands by not returning to it a few days after the incident.

One way to reduce the chance of spooked bucks is to wait a few days after being spooked before going back to the same stand. A mildly scared buck will likely be more cautious than an otherwise unfazed one, and he’ll probably take the omens as a warning to leave. The best chance of success is to hunt in a new area until the buck forgets about the incident.

Will A Big Buck Come Back After Being Spooked?

No snorting. In 26 years of hunting maybe had one or two snort at me. Bucks will definitely blow at you . It is usually just a blow and go in my experience as opposed to does that will hang just out of range and blow and blow and…

How far will a buck run when spooked?

If the buck is bad scared, he will immediately alter his behavior. He will bust off for a short 200-yard dash and then keep moving away cautiously for maybe another 200 yards before settling down. He will not soon forget what happened and every time he is near that area for weeks to come, he will be cautious.

Will a deer blow if it sees you?

Out of the Ordinary Sound

Like some of you reading this article, I can tell you from experience that deer will blow when they see or smell something that is not right . More often than not, it means the deer that you are hunting smell you.

Why do bucks snort wheeze?

Snort Wheeze Call

While bucks use grunts to communicate intent to fight all the way to a general contact call, a snort wheeze can mean only one thing: “let’s get ready to rumble!” A snort wheeze is produced when a buck rapidly exhales air through his nostrils (similar to an alarm blow, but more drawn-out).

Do whitetail bucks snort?

That’s classic alert behavior among whitetails. … The whitetail’s snort is an alarm signal . They make this distinctive sound (you might even say it’s a deer call) by expelling air forcefully through their nasal passages. The “whoosh” sound is created when the expelled air flutters the closed nostrils.

How do you tell if a deer is near?

the silence was deafening.

Hearing the signs. An angry squirrel barking or a blue jay sounding the alarm can often alert the hunter to an approaching deer. …
Hearing the movement. Leaves rustling or an animal walking through leaves creates a predominately high-frequency sound. …
Localizing direction. …
Communication.

What time of day are most bucks killed?

What is a deer scared of?

As neophobes, deer fear new, unfamiliar objects . Though they aren’t always attractive, scarecrows, sundials, and other garden ornaments—especially those with movable parts—make deer skittish. Use them in combination with wind chimes or bright lights to keep deer out of your yard.

Will deer blow at a dead deer?

They behave normally. Blowing can happen, seen it happen . Have even seen hit deer come back to the spot to find out “what the hell was that, that just happened” and get another shaft.

Will a doe blow at a buck chasing her?

Registered. Yes , does will at time blow at bucks that are harassing them.

How far away can a deer smell you?

Do deers bed in the same place?

Deer sleep anywhere they bed and may do so singly or in groups. According to Charlie, they are creatures of habitat and they may bed in the same location day after day and month after month. Dominant bucks have favorite bedding spots, and they’ll even kick subordinate bucks out of a bed.

Can a deer see me in a tree stand?

More often than not, a deer will smell you before seeing or hearing you when you’re in the tree stand . One of the most tried and true hunting tips is to play the wind when you hunt. If you’re always downwind, they can’t smell you. … Start your hunt with D/Code scent elimination products by Code Blue Scents®.

How well do deer see?

When it comes to vision, however, a deer’s vision is poor at only 20/100 vision. Although a deer may sense something is around them, they cannot focus on it unless their nose is pointed up for both their eyes to see. … All in all, a whitetail deer can see 50 times better at night than humans!

Does peeing in the woods scare deer?

“ Deer aren ‘t genetically programmed to be able to identify human urine. For them to do that, they’d have to follow a hunter around and wait for him to urinate, or catch him urinating, and then go check it out.” In the woods, urine from deer and predators is everywhere.

Do deer move when its windy?

It seems that for both males and females, deer move MORE during a windy day , but theyll move LESS during a windy night!” … Wind does effect whitetail movements while not effecting whitetail movements at the same time, and it is important to understand both how and why.

What attracts deer the most?

Plants that typically attract deer include red clover, chicory, and orchard grass . Certain high-protein crops, such as peas, soybeans, turnips, alfalfa, sorghum, kale, or corn, are also attractants that the animals enjoy feeding on. Deer like the nutritious nuts that come from chestnuts and acorns as well.

How far can deer hear?

Can you hear a deer walking?

Even deer themselves make many different noises while moving around. Many times you will hear a rhythmic stepping or possibly a faster trot. If you happen to hear a stick break on the ground you have a better chance of it being a deer.

Do squirrels scare deer?

Squirrels: Fox squirrels offer first-rate natural alarm systems and warn of intruders entering their area. When deer hunting, if you spot a squirrel frolicking and feeding normally on the ground, but it instantly stops and hightails it for the closest tree while barking and chattering, something is up.

Why do deer make a screaming sound?

The loudest sound you might hear from a deer is when it screams. Deer make this shrilling sound when they get startled or sense danger . They might also scream after getting injured.

What does it mean if a deer stares at you?

The deer is not especially worried or afraid, but merely checking out the strange two-legged animal in their location. Sometimes a deer will stare and fix its eyes on a person or object to decide what to do. In other words, the deer wants to know how to react to you.

What does it mean when a deer bows to you?

So bowing is basically begging . They’re too scared to approach you and be hand fed, but they will pick it up if you throw it on the ground.

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Offseason shooting 101, pressure shooting situations | owen’s blog, final hunt of the 2022 season, what a season | mike’s blog, josh’s blog | early shed bucks, targeting tight 9, choosing the best food plot location, summer trail cameras, how to plow down clover, hang & hunt tips.

i had a mature buck walk under me and he spooked and he ran about 60 yards and stoped he stood thair for a few min. and walked off will he come back and will he be leary

Aaron,He may come back at some point if he is a resident buck. The thing is, at this time of the year, none of them are particuly patternable and he may be a buck that lives a ways away and is only passing through. That happens a lot. You may never have seen him again even if you didn’t alarm him. I wouldn’t try to make too much of that one encounter. If you see him again, it is time to start thinking and scheming. Until then, forget about that buck and go back to hunting great stands in good areas, but keep your eyes open.

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Plan B When You've Spooked a Buck

You've blown your chance, but have you blown your season.

See if you remember this moment: You are approaching your stand and hear a crash in thick cover to your right. You whip your head around in time to see a big set of antlers bouncing above the brush. Oh, rats , you think. Only you didn’t say “rats.” You’ve been after that buck since you first laid eyes on him during the summer. He is the one you came in here to hunt. Now what?

Here’s another example: You are in the stand. The morning sun is starting to make your eyelids heavy. You decide a little rattling would be a good idea before climbing down. After a 30-second battle, you hang them up. Ten minutes later, you give in and start pulling your pack out from under the seat. That’s when you hear that sound again — a loud crash. He was there, hiding in the brush 50 yards away, and now he turns inside out before vanishing in a trail of vapor. He had you dead to rights. Rats again. What next?

I receive many questions on my website; real questions from real hunters. It’s a great way to learn what I should be writing about in my articles. The question I get more than almost any other is, “What should I do after spooking a buck?” So, here we go.

Damage Assessment

As you may have guessed from these two scenarios, not every scare is the same. There are bad scares, and there are casual scares. A buck that is “badly scared” is going to react differently than one that is “casually scared.”

A badly scared buck is one that really busts out of there. He is running flat out, low to the ground. His No. 1 goal is to put as much distance between you and him as possible. Maybe you nicked him, or he saw you in the stand and recognized you for what you are; possibly, he picked up a heavy dose of your scent that hit him like a slap in the face. Regardless of why, he is flat-out hoofin’ it.

I remember a buck that came in to a grunt call one day many years ago. There was fresh snow on the ground, and when he finally spotted me in the tree at just 15 yards (I decided not to shoot him), snow literally flew in every direction when he turned inside out. I saw him a week later from the same tree; he stood on the other side of the field studying my tree. That’s what I am talking about when I say “badly scared.”

Casually scared is more like startled. This is not the fight-or-flight kind of fear you get with badly scared deer. A casually scared buck will bound off rather than blow out like a rocket. They know something is wrong, but the danger isn’t imminent. The deer doesn’t feel it is about to become venison.

Why It Matters

Bucks will respond to danger in proportion to the level of fear they sense. For example, bucks that are badly scared will alter their behavior more noticeably than bucks that are only casually scared. Bucks are casually scared almost every day. If they dug a hole and pulled the dirt over the top every time they were casually scared, they would all have suffocated a long time ago.

Instead, they take notice, adjust their movements a bit and go on with their lives. If persistent danger reinforces these casual scares over time with more casual scares, the bucks will eventually stop using a certain area or become nocturnal.

Video That May Interest You

If the buck is badly scared, he will immediately alter his behavior. He will bust off for a short, 200-yard dash and then keep moving away cautiously for maybe another 200 yards before settling down. He will not soon forget what happened, and every time he is near that area, he will be cautious, probably for weeks to come.

So, figuring out what to do after spooking a buck starts with figuring out how badly he is spooked in the first place. I’ll dig into that concept a bit more in the next section.

Hunting Casually Scared Bucks

If you bump a buck while heading to your stand or the deer hits your ground scent, he is likely casually scared. I have already gone over that. (Don’t forget: They can also hit your ground scent after dark and you will never know about it.) Casually scared bucks certainly become harder to kill in that area. There is no question you have damaged your chances for success. That is the main reason the first time you hunt a new stand is usually the best time.

Now, we need a plan. First, figure out how often that buck gets casually scared by people in that area. For example, if you are in a residential area and hikers often come through walking their dogs or messing around in the woods, the buck is accustomed to some human interaction and has learned to accept some of it as normal. If you alerted the buck in a way that he might consider normal for that area, you can treat it differently from a situation where he was surprised. For example, let’s say he hit your scent where he is used to hitting scent, on a walking path or trail. Or you bumped him up near a roadway where he often encounters people. It is not a big deal.

If that is the case, I will keep hunting the stand as I normally would, in my regular rotation, resting it as often as I might if I had not spooked a buck. My bump was normal operating procedure. He will be back, maybe even later that day.

However, if that scare occurs in a place and in a fashion that is foreign to the buck, he will not be so forgiving. Let’s say you jump him from his bed as you are sneaking in to your stand. You are in a ditch slipping into an area where the buck rarely sees a person. He is bedded right on the edge and bounds off 50 yards, then stops and looks back before trotting over the ridge. You think, He didn’t look that spooked.

Maybe he didn’t look that spooked, but deer don’t like surprises, and they don’t like anything new. They will remember it. If they are not used to seeing a person doing what you just did, they will see it as an invasion (as they rightfully would when encountering you in their bedding area). In that case, the deer will change their behavior in the short term. It may be a couple of days before the buck comes back, and when he does, he will likely be cautious, possibly only coming through that area at night.

If it is the rut, he may do something stupid, but likely he will still exercise greater than normal caution. If he encounters the threat again in the same general area (or evidence of it, such as human scent on the ground after dark), he will be even more reluctant to travel that area naturally during daylight.

In such a case, I will not hunt that stand again for a while. I may wait a few days longer than I normally would in the hopes that he will pass through the area a few times when the coast is clear and begin moving naturally again.

Hunting Badly Scared Bucks

When a buck is badly scared from a particular stand, especially when he saw you up there, you may as well stop hunting it for several weeks. I don’t know exactly how long it will take for that buck to come past that tree again during daylight without looking up. It may not happen again until next season, after he has investigated it many times, found it safe and subsequently forgotten about the incident.

In other words, when a buck is badly scared from a particular tree, you need to move on. That is the safest bet. He probably won’t leave the area completely, but he will be much more cautious near the stand where you spooked him. So, you need to move at least a couple hundred yards to start hunting him again — even farther would be good as long as you can stay within what you believe is the buck’s home range.

You Make the Call

I have seen bucks come back to the same field 15 minutes after a passing pedestrian or slow-moving car bumped them off, and I have seen them disappear off the face of the planet after I put the fear of God in them from my treestand. Knowing how to adjust your strategies depends entirely on what it was that spooked the buck and how spooked he was. Read each situation carefully and cut your losses when necessary so you don’t waste valuable stand time hunting ghosts this season.

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IMAGES

What To Do With a Spooked Buck
Spooked Buck heads to the Three Rings on his own in Mountain Monsters
Buck Returns
Buck gets spooked
buck spooked
Spooking Bucks While Deer Hunting

VIDEO

HERE COMES A BUCK!
He got SPOOKED 🎃

COMMENTS

If you spook/bump deer, how long before they'll return to that spot
#1 · Oct 17, 2018 Any chance a doe will return to that same spot on the same day (after blowing her distress call etc)? Or are you basically done for a day, a few days, a week etc? What about a buck during the rut? Will a buck come back the same day after a few hours? Or are you better off coming back the next day? Just curious what you've found.
What To Do With a Spooked Buck
When a buck is badly scared, he knows that the source of his shock is a human and he knows exactly where that human was positioned at the time of the scare. He now associates that location with danger. Often he will turn inside out and bust out of the area. Maybe he saw you in the stand and realized you were a human.
You Spooked Your Target Deer. Now What?
What should you do after spooking a buck? Here's the long answer. It's still possible to kill a buck after bumping it. Here's how. (Russell Graves photo) Assessing the Damage Bucks respond to danger in proportion to their level of fear. Bucks that are bad scared alter their behavior more noticeably than bucks that are casually spooked.
How Spooked Is Too Spooked When It Comes To Mature Bucks
That buck, as spooked as he was, wasn't all that spooked. It was a good lesson. Ground Spooking That Iowa buck I killed let me walk right into his bedding area. This probably happens on that chunk of public land dozens of times each season. It barely phased him. He busted out, waited a little while, then walked back in.
Who is Ken Buck? Republican lashes out at GOP, won't seek reelection
2:19. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., announced he won't seek reelection to his sixth term in Congress, accusing his fellow Republicans of too often "lying to America" and being "fixated on ...
Republican Rep. Ken Buck will not seek reelection
Republican Rep. Ken Buck, a hardline conservative who has clashed with his own party, will not seek reelection, he announced Wednesday. "Our movement has always been fueled by immutable truths ...
Spooked Buck
"Oh rats." Only you didn't say "rats". You've been after that buck since the season started - he is the one you came in here to hunt. The wind was in your favor and there was no way he could have seen you - he had to have heard you. But now he's spooked. What next? Here's another example. You are in the stand.
Rep. Ken Buck to retire from House, cites election denialism by others
3 min. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Wednesday that he would not seek reelection next year, expressing disappointment that many fellow Republicans continue to push the "big lie" that the 2020 ...
What To Do When You Bump A Big Buck
October 19, 2023 By Josh Honeycutt A slight stick break sparks a sudden flurry of action. The big typical 10-pointer stands in its bed 50 yards away. Unsure of the sound source, it slowly turns and slinks out the backdoor, carefully navigating through thick cover as it goes. It turns and looks one final time before disappearing over the ridge.
Six Ways to Find That Buck You Spooked
Deer Hunting Whitetail Hunting Six Ways to Find That Buck You Spooked Just because you messed up and jumped a deer doesn't mean you can't make a comeback By Gerald Almy | Published Dec 1, 2020...
Will a buck return after being spooked?
Will a buck come back if he smells you? Spooked deer will return to their bedding area, but when they return depends on how much the intrusion frightened them. If they can't pinpoint the threat, they'll likely return sooner than if they saw or smelled you. ... A mature buck will snort at you, and here's the video proof. Any deer hunter ...
How Long Does It Take For A Spooked Deer To Come Back?
The answer is "it depends ." I doubt deer are born with knowledge that the noise of a gun or the smell of burnt powder is often associated with danger. Deer can be conditioned to accept or reject smells and noises they associate with danger. Does cigarette smoke spook deer? A human has around 5 million.
Hunting Spooked Deer
However, you may not have completely dashed your hopes. There are two levels of mildly spooked. The first one is when the buck encounters you, or your scent, where he is used to running into humans. If you alerted the buck in a way that he might consider normal for that area, you can expect little negative reaction.
Will a spooked buck return? And when?
Will a spooked buck return? And when? tmorty Sep 8, 2023 1 2 Next Sep 8, 2023 #1 T tmorty FNG Joined Jun 7, 2023 Messages 10 I've found an amazing buck for this archery season. I made one stock on him and his buddy busted me at 35 yards, they both spooked and ran off. I'm curious what they odds are they return?
Though it is fairly rare, It is...
You spooked the buck you were hunting, now what? Do you need to change spots? Will he return? midwestwhitetail.com. Spooked Buck - Now What! - Midwest Whitetail. ... Will he return? ...
Don't Give Up When You Bump a Buck From His Core Area
If you spook a buck while sneaking to or from your tree stand or during a midday scouting trip, you might push him onto a neighboring farm or, worse, make him go nocturnal. You won't see him in the immediate area for at least several days while he recuperates from the encounter. So what should you do when you jump the deer?
3 Reasons Why Spooking a Buck Isn't Always a Bad Thing
1. The First Chance Bucks are fairly predictable in late summer and early autumn. Spook a buck early in the season, however, and you risk pushing him onto a neighboring farm for the rest of the season or causing him to go nocturnal. So what should you do? Begin by carefully reading his body language.
Will Deer Come Back After Being Spooked? • BowBlade
One way to reduce the chance of spooked bucks is to wait a few days after being spooked before going back to the same stand. A mildly scared buck will likely be more cautious than an otherwise unfazed one, and he'll probably take the omens as a warning to leave. The best chance of success is to hunt in a new area until the buck forgets about ...
Will A Big Buck Come Back After Being Spooked?
How far will a buck run when spooked? If the buck is bad scared, he will immediately alter his behavior. He will bust off for a short 200-yard dash and then keep moving away cautiously for maybe another 200 yards before settling down. He will not soon forget what happened and every time he is near that area for weeks to come, he will be cautious.
I missed a buck; how long until he comes back to the 15 acre field
Bill responds, Thomas,Thanks. Depends on if the buck knew what happened or not. If he didn't see you in the tree of smell you, all he knows is that the tree spit something at him and made a thump noise. If he isn't too hunter-savvy, that won't register as a mortal threat and he will be back again when his cruising brings him that way again.
Will he return (whitetail buck) : r/Hunting
Will he return (whitetail buck) New-ish at hunting. Saw a nice buck this morning, but I didn't get the opportunity to take him down (kinda far away and my view of him was too obstructed to get the kill shot). Was wondering if it were safe to assume that he'll be in roughly the same place at roughly the same time another day (assuming no one got ...
I spooked a buck; will he come back?
Midwest Whitetail > Ask The Team aaron from asks, i had a mature buck walk under me and he spooked and he ran about 60 yards and stoped he stood thair for a few min. and walked off will he come back and will he be leary Bill responds, Aaron,He may come back at some point if he is a resident buck.
Gerald Almy: How to hunt spooked bucks
Handle things right and you may get a second chance. The first step is to analyze the situation. How spooked is the buck? A deer that just vaguely notices movement or scents you isn't likely to permanently leave the area or become "un-huntable.". On the other hand, a buck that has three senses alerted — scent, sight, and hearing — is ...
spooked buck will he return?
Whitetail Deer Hunting - spooked buck will he return? - Went out hunting today.Had been sitting for a couple of hours watching the same spot.I turned my head to look at a spot to my side and then turned my head back to the spot I had been watching and saw a buck standing there broadside looking at me about a 100 yards
Plan B When You've Spooked a Buck
You are in a ditch slipping into an area where the buck rarely sees a person. He is bedded right on the edge and bounds off 50 yards, then stops and looks back before trotting over the ridge. You think, He didn't look that spooked. Maybe he didn't look that spooked, but deer don't like surprises, and they don't like anything new.
Buck Showalter will not manage Mets in 2024
Showalter will not return as Mets' manager in 2024. October 1st, 2023. Anthony DiComo. @ AnthonyDiComo. NEW YORK -- The first hint of emotion betrayed Buck Showalter as he revealed the news, in his own way, that he would not be returning to the Mets. "I want to make sure I get this right," Showalter said early Sunday afternoon, his voice ...

If you spook/bump deer, how long before they'll return to that spot?

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You Spooked Your Target Deer. Now What?

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Assessing the Damage

Threat Level: Irrelevant

Threat Level: Casually Spooked

Threat Level: Bad Scared

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WAYS YOU SPOOK BUCKS (AND DON'T KNOW IT)

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How to Develop the Best Fall Food Program for Your Deer

Understanding Non-Verbal Whitetail Communication

The Anatomy of a Summer Scouting Pack

Kansas Hunter Perseveres Through Medical Condition to Tag Big Typical

Hunters Must Lead the Fight Against Invasive Species

A Look Back at No. 1 Pope and Young Bucks Before They Were Beat

How to Find Big Buck Sanctuaries in the Spring

Missouri Hunter Shoots 25-point Ozark Giant with Limited Time to Hunt

Oklahoma Hunter Shoots Target Buck That's Locked Up with Another Giant

Two Brothers' Shed Hunting Strategy Yields Non-Typical Match Set in Missouri

Adirondack Bowhunter Still-hunts His Way to a New York Giant

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FIELD & STREAM+

1. If you bump a buck while scouting.

2. When you get busted in a transition corridor.

3. When you blow up a bedding area.

4. If you scare a deer off of a food source.

5. If you spook a buck searching for does.

6. When you break up a buck and a doe.

How Long Does It Take For A Spooked Deer To Come Back?

What does it mean when a buck blows at you?