Originally Posted by iSnipe

The actual gut pile will be a curiosity as well as alarming to deer because they encounter similar events in their line of travels; just may not be a deer. What will alarm them is your odor, the sounds and other disturbances you left behind after the event. Most gut piles around here don't last more than 48 hours and if they do, it's because it's in thicker brush where it's location is out of view from ravens, crows, vultures and eagles. Once your predators like fisher, bobcat, fox, coyote and timberwolves find it, then carcass will be dragged from the location until it starts getting pulled apart section by section.

I've shot several deer like you have and done the same thing, except my haul wasn't as long and have killed deer within 75 yards of the gut pile or where it was... all within 24 to 72 hours later.

The mature bucks are a different story. LOL! They don't tolerate near as much as does will, so hopefully if one encounters that spot, it won't be scared off far enough where he won't be killed at that location.

The big thing I don't like about gut piles that are hidden from view of the feathered creatures, is that the carcass lasts longer until the coyotes find them... then you have coyotes in the area and you don't want any more than there already are in that spot. They'll spook deer from that spot until the carcass is gone, but coyotes and fox have a tendency to come back and visit that spots for up to several months later if there's enough lingering odors and bits of scraps left somewhere near.

Oh, I'm also tired right now. I re-read what I just typed above and realized I was also thinking of the carcass, rather than just a plain gut pile. LOL! Sorry my bad, but you get what you paid for. LOL!

If you plan to hunt an area again, but want to gut it there, it's best to gut it in the open so the feathered predators find it faster.

iSnipe