Shot and Strings

Deer will spook on movement orscent alone. I wouldn't put too much faith in what does and fawns do, I've had does and fawns watch me move to look at another deer further in the woods or off in the distance and they sometimes don't spook.

NY Bowhunter

Tell that to a 5 1/2 year old buck.

aldo88

You are all right, I shouldnt have made an such a quick response without saying time of year, amount of hunters, pressure etc..... If you go hunting in the second week of deer, they are more spooked about everything around them. However if you go out during the first week of small game season they arent as spooked. I also should have said in some scenarios.......but in my experience of deer that I have spooked, they always have had 2/3 senses sensed. Remember their senses are alot higher than ours, so the slightest movement or the slightest of noise ismore exaggerated to them even if we cant hear it or see it.

Jimmy S

That's becauseyou never noticed the deer that were spooked by using only one sense. They were gone beforeyou even knew they were there...

tatonka

Deer cannot see colors like people can. I've read that it has something to do with the number of cones and rods in the eye.....I'm not sure of the technical jargon, but I can assure you they cannot see blaze orange. I rarely hunt from treestands any more. Recently I was on the ground and had a complete blaze orange vest on (required by law here). I had two bucks and a doe and two fawns walk within 12 yards of me. I didn't even blink and they never saw me. I've had this happen many times before. Being motionless is the key. I don't not believe in camo and do not wear it.....I did at one time, but I've had too many instances like the one I just described to make me believe camo is necessary. The camo manufacturers sure want us to believe otherwise.......but its nonsense. Camo may make the hunter feel like he is hidden, but it's a false sense of security....

And deer do not need to have 2 or their 3 senses alerted before they will bolt. Let them get one good whiff, and their gone (especially the mature bucks).

aldo88

So your saying if they smell your footprints from the day before they will automatically run? Or if they smell where you took a leak they will run? Im not being sarcastic by asking those, but will they run just from those things alone?

Scrapdawg

I too have had deer walk up on me wearing BO while hunting from the ground. Granted the wind was in my favor and I was in a little hole/dip. (about 1 foot below ground)

DougMD

The key is to be in a fat tree so you don't stick out. I think deer will notice (look at) any one color that is not broken up with a pattern,but being still will cause them toreturn to simply walking through/browsing.Moving and getting winded is what'll kill you, but being winded isn'ttoo bad if they can't quite pinpoint the location or smell. Most deer that wind me are certainly in shotgun range, andsimply come through nervously. I make a point to moveSLOWLY, particularly in windy or wet conditions whendeer can be very close without your being able to hear them.

Shot and Strings

Deer will spook from footprints from days before or even in areas that you may have brushed up against a tree or brush. I always try to wait for a rain to make any significant changes or even spend a significant amount of time in an area I hunt, hoping that atleast some of my scent is washed away.

tatonka

Contrary to popular belief, deer will not spook from smelling human urine. I have an old fencepost behind my house that the deer rake up every fall and they make scrapes under a nearby tree.Just for the fun of it, I peed in the scrape one afternoon a couple of years ago. The next morning the scrape and been torn up. I covered it over with some leaves and peed in it again...same result the next morning. For what it's worth, I can look out my window and see the post and the tree where the scrape is (they are about 300 yards behind my house. I've lived in this house 16 years and have never seen a buck there during daylight hours during the rut. I've seen a few during January when it's cold and they are bunched up, but I've never seen one visiting the scrape or rub.

I don't know if a buck would spook from smelling day old footprints or not....I've never had a way to test it. What I'm saying is that if you are out hunting and a deer passes downwind from you, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will not need to see or hear you before they head for the hills if they get a whiff of you. A young deer may hang around for a bit, but an old buck will vanish. Also, an old buck will rarely snort and blow and bound off......they'll just turn around and sneak away. If you hear a deer snorting and blowing after scenting you, it's usually a doe.

Good Hunting!