Spread Some Knowledge or Your Best Guess
11-04-2009, 03:36 PM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 616
Spread Some Knowledge or Your Best Guess
Here is the scenario, you can give your best guess or spread some of your knowledge!
You are hunting from your stand and a deer comes within range, it is about 45 minutes before dark. It is an easy shot of 20 yrds so you let the arrow fly. You watch as the deer turns to run and realize that you hit a rib and the deer runs off across a creek and field with your arrow sticking out of it's side with only about 9 inches of penetration. You watch the deer disappear out of sight.
So you get down and start tracking the blood trail. The trail is not real good because the arrow is plugging the hole. Of course you run out of daylight and track as far as you can using flashlights but lose the trail in thick grass and ceder trees.
Giving up for the night you return at sun up to continue tracking. This is a real pain because there is only a couple of drops of blood every 10 yrds or so. You travel about 200 yrds and have to search a 20 acre overgrown field of 4 ft. high grass and ceder trees thick. And then Bingo you finally locate your deer after a couple of hrs, Only to find it mostly eaten by coyotes. You know it is your deer because there lies your arrow.
Here is the question: After driving on the field covering all that ground and running deer out of there beds and also running them off the field when you get down to start tracking, with your scent being probably across 80 acres,
How long do you think it will be before you see deer back in this hunting area?
Let me know what you think!
You are hunting from your stand and a deer comes within range, it is about 45 minutes before dark. It is an easy shot of 20 yrds so you let the arrow fly. You watch as the deer turns to run and realize that you hit a rib and the deer runs off across a creek and field with your arrow sticking out of it's side with only about 9 inches of penetration. You watch the deer disappear out of sight.
So you get down and start tracking the blood trail. The trail is not real good because the arrow is plugging the hole. Of course you run out of daylight and track as far as you can using flashlights but lose the trail in thick grass and ceder trees.
Giving up for the night you return at sun up to continue tracking. This is a real pain because there is only a couple of drops of blood every 10 yrds or so. You travel about 200 yrds and have to search a 20 acre overgrown field of 4 ft. high grass and ceder trees thick. And then Bingo you finally locate your deer after a couple of hrs, Only to find it mostly eaten by coyotes. You know it is your deer because there lies your arrow.
Here is the question: After driving on the field covering all that ground and running deer out of there beds and also running them off the field when you get down to start tracking, with your scent being probably across 80 acres,
How long do you think it will be before you see deer back in this hunting area?
Let me know what you think!
11-04-2009, 03:43 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
They will be there most likely the next day, but will be on alert and skirt areas where they smell you the most. Bucks are different. They'll be there, but under the cover of darkness, unless chasing or tending a doe.
While it's not ideal for that hunting area and sounds like you are short on hunting areas, you may be better off laying off a few days to scout more areas to hunt.
While I've killed deer the next day after doing similar things, except the wait and tracking, I have followed the blood trail, tagged it, gutted it and dragged it out of there... only to kill another deer within that same area.
Most often the more you hunt an area, the less deer you will see. There are a 100 exceptions to that, but generally it's sound.
Good luck,
iSnipe
While it's not ideal for that hunting area and sounds like you are short on hunting areas, you may be better off laying off a few days to scout more areas to hunt.
While I've killed deer the next day after doing similar things, except the wait and tracking, I have followed the blood trail, tagged it, gutted it and dragged it out of there... only to kill another deer within that same area.
Most often the more you hunt an area, the less deer you will see. There are a 100 exceptions to that, but generally it's sound.
Good luck,
iSnipe
11-04-2009, 07:43 PM
#3
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 616
Of Course you all knew that I was gonna say this happened to me....... and yes it did last nite. After going back and searching for 2 hrs this morning and covering alot of ground, busting deer out of their beds and basically leaving scent all over the place not to mention driving into the field, I returned to the same stand and had another deer walk within 60 yrds of my stand tonight.
Looks like it's less than 8 hrs and the deer have returned. Also as I was leaving 2 does walked right down the road I drove in on and walked about 4 times. The deer I hit went down this road. Isnipe I have about 320 acres to hunt I'm not pressed for places to hunt. This place is just an awesome place. It's where I killed the 15 point back in September. Lots a coyotes though. Can't say I blame em when I'm serving free dinner on the hoof!
Looks like it's less than 8 hrs and the deer have returned. Also as I was leaving 2 does walked right down the road I drove in on and walked about 4 times. The deer I hit went down this road. Isnipe I have about 320 acres to hunt I'm not pressed for places to hunt. This place is just an awesome place. It's where I killed the 15 point back in September. Lots a coyotes though. Can't say I blame em when I'm serving free dinner on the hoof!
11-04-2009, 10:01 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
I just assumed right from the beginning it was an experience you just had. LOL!
As for not being pressed for places to hunt, I guess 320 acres is a good chunk to some, while for others, it's not. I'm lucky being here in MN where there are 2 National forests, plenty of county land and gobs of lumber company land to hunt on... all without asking owner permission.
As for those coyotes, get yourself camoflauged up, grab a call and bring 'em runnin'! .... POW! DRT!
iSnipe
As for not being pressed for places to hunt, I guess 320 acres is a good chunk to some, while for others, it's not. I'm lucky being here in MN where there are 2 National forests, plenty of county land and gobs of lumber company land to hunt on... all without asking owner permission.
As for those coyotes, get yourself camoflauged up, grab a call and bring 'em runnin'! .... POW! DRT!
iSnipe
11-05-2009, 02:59 AM
#6
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location:
Posts: 819
Deer are territorial. Just because they are disturbed even under threat of death, doesn't mean they will leave the area. they will run off but only far enough to get out of the danger. When they think the threat is gone they will come back, especially if there is food water or cover in the area the disturbance occurred. They only have a finite area in which they live. If they never went back to an area where something happened or they smelled human or other predatory scent they would have no where to go.
11-05-2009, 04:57 AM
#7
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 12
I think you just proved to the deer that their bedding areas are safe, Sicne they escaped without a hitch....woudln't expect a whole lot of impact from your travels... I also had a 10 pointer that I shot, have partial loss on the rear end due to the Yotes....Only mine was only after 2 hours...
Last edited by z24pride; 11-05-2009 at 05:00 AM. Reason: added line
11-05-2009, 05:47 AM
#8
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 616
It is amazing how fast coyotes will devour something. Anybody who watches those hunting shows on tv has seen that most of those hunters that shoot a deer at sundown will wait till morning to recover it. As they walk up on it here is their deer in perfect shape after laying there all night. Not so for me coyotes usually eat half. Also good suggestion Isnipe on the yote problem! 
Thanks for all the replies.
Thanks for all the replies.
