I guess I' ve never gotten a satisfactory answer from friends, so I will post the question to the online community- what do you do when you are pinned in a treestand at dark and you are surrounded by does? The other night I had a half dozen does move in on me when I had already lowered my bow. It was definitely too dark to shoot. I tried blowing by buck grunt, to no avail. I didn' t want to just start making human noise because this spot is a good one. Finally I used a flashlight and shined it in their eyes for a few minutes. This pushed them off, fortunately un-spooked. Anyone have any bright ideas (no pun intended) out there?

I know your pain. I waited it out when it happend to me. I watced them for as long as I could possibly see. Then I listened closely for 30 minutes. I then climbed down the ladder picked up my bow and went back to the car. I didn' t hear them jump on my way out so they most likely weren' t spooked. The fact I saw the same group a few days later helped too.

Try throwing something down like your safety belt or a branch. It will usually scare them off and they don' t really know what it was. It could have been a raccoon for all they know. If that doesn' t work I will snort at them and they usually run off.

Here' s what I do in that situation....

I carry a diaphragm turkey call with me. If I ever get pinned at dark by deer, I give a few yelps then slap my leg with my hand a few times (loudly) and spook the deer. After they run off, I give a few more yelps with the turkey call, as if the turkeys were in the tree.

I break a limb, preferably a dry one that cracks real loud, it will spook the deer, but they will have no idea what it was. Limbs cracking in the woods happen all the time so deer will spook, but they don' t really know why.

I break limbs too if I can. If not I usually do my best impression of a snort until they leave.

I will break sticks and drop them on the ground. I read in a magazine of a guy who carried a few rocks and a fold up slingshot for this very purpose.

i always break a limb or throw bark onto the ground. this usually scares them off. i then try and wait a few minutes before i sneak down.

I usualy wait them out for a little while. Deer aren' t as likely to spook after dark. I have walked up to 20 yards of them in fields before, and they just look at you. When they do run, there not very spooked, and usually stop after 50 yareds.

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