Spooked buck

This morning I went for a walk instead of sitting in the stand. I was in some really thick brush and CRP. I stopped to glass the hillside ahead of me, and after putting the binoculars back into the harness I see a big set of antlers 15-20 feet away. The deer was bedded down and must have been sleeping. I was so caught off guard at how close he was I just froze trying to figure out what was going on. Long story short while taking my mitten off to shoot the plastic clip hit the muzzleloader and the deer was gone.

I’m wondering what you guys think is the appropriate time to leave him be before going back in after him? Do you think he will quickly move back into that bedding area? Will he even use that bedding area again at all in the near future? When he took off he never blew and only ran about 50 yards before stopping, and then slowly walked off across the hill side. He didn’t seem overly spooked after he stopped. I won’t be hunting tonight due to the snow storm, but I’m considering walking back into there tomorrow morning. Will I just be screwing things up worse by putting more pressure on him?

If he didn’t Wind you I’d be going back in tomorrow. Move slow and deliberate.

I would but with the weather change going on he may not be there, and I would expect him to not be in the exact same place general area only.

Can’t shoot one from the couch. I much prefer the more aggressive approach. Move slow, glass, and keep the wind in your face. Go kill him!

It’s looking like I should have a very similar wind again tomorrow so I think I’ll give it a shot. It’s sort of high stakes with this only being about 8 acres of CRP and timber that I have access to on this side of the road. I have always had the same mindset as you ajw, so we’ll see what happens!

I think I’d sneak in well down wind of that area and glass alot.

Well he wasn’t back into the area this morning. The wind swung more to out of the East and from what I was seeing the deer were on the hillside across the road today. It made sense for the wind direction. I did sneak past this deer this morning at about 40 yards. I’ve passed on him a couple times this year but hadn’t seen him since before gun season. It was good to see he made it! I tried to catch up to a group of does, but by the time I got up to where they were they had already crossed the road.

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Hall blood has a great book on tracking deer that should still be on amazon. I believe his motto is 30 mins. On the deer I have tried this on, he is spot on. A lightly bumped deer will only go a 100 or 200 yards and then stand waiting to see if it was followed. I actually have had that happen on a younger buck I shot at, so maybe it can be bumped harder. Bump that deer while looking and it will hit the road and not stop for while.

Hopefully he wasn’t spooked to bad. I was tempted to go back after him yesterday with hopes he would just bed back down, but figured if I screwed it up he would be gone! The good thing is the farm I hunt has lots food compared to the others in the area that till their fields. I still have a month to track him down. 3 cameras went up today, and hopefully I can get a few more up this week on the other side of the road.

I know the season has probably closed, but thought I might put in my 2 cents. sometimes if you jump a deer and he/she isn’t sure what you are, they make a little circle just out of sight and go right back to where they were laying. I had this happen a few years ago. I jumped a deer(I didn’t see if it was a buck or doe). For some reason I remembered what I had read in the book “How to bag the biggest buck of your life” from Larry Benoit of Vermont about the deer making a circle. So I moved over about 50 yards to my right to the edge of a small grassy area. I got behind a dead fall, dropped my pack and waited. 10 minutes later a small 8 point walks right to me and passes by at 12 feet! He never even saw me or smelled me. He went right back to where I had jumped him. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! Next time you jump a deer give it a try, you might just get him.