Spooked buck
 

I hunted over a scrape today and a big buck came in. I had pics of him yesterday morning and he came through this morning also so I am assuming he comes through just about every day. I took a bad shot at him and missed. He trotted about 15 yards stopped looked around blew and then trotted down the hillside. So he was not spooked to bad. I am thinking about hunting there again Thursday think that will be okay?

bad shot with what? gun/bow

how bad did he blow? once or did he come unglued?

he probably has no idea what happend, I would stay put, and shoot better.

He blew several times. But he didnt bolt or anything like that. Bow.

thought i was readind my own story.
tonight........................shot a doe w/ lighted nocks. nock didn't light......doe ran off.

15 minutes I go look for arrow..no arrow.

climbed in stand. no more then 5 minutes.

light a smoke to think.

boom. to my left from behind a doe.

i said i'll watch her and think...BOOOOOM a friggin 8 w/ stickers right behind her.

shot top pin for 15-20........well.....23. MISSED THE FRIGGER.beauty deer.

He ran a darted and she ran........no blowing.

I think they may think they scared each other ?

He was mello rutting and eating and following.

Think I'll see him again?

I know the doe....resident deer.

Probably see it again right?

What do yall think? Hunt it again Thursday wait longer or hunt it again immediately. I am hunting off the ground at this particular location behind a brush pile. Timber was logged last year or the year before so its very thick.

Id say wait til the weekend, if I were you id check the weather and wait for a good wind and hunt it. If he or she smells you it could be the last time you see him daytime.

Wow, I was going to start a thread about a spooked buck. Here's my story.

Friday morning I saw nothing out of my ladder stand so I decided to go somewhere else. An old guy in my club told me about a section that no one has been hunting so I decided to check it out. I took my lever action 30-30 (iron sights!) a seat cushion and a rattle bag. I walked down the old logging road and the brush was pretty thick on both sides but there were lots of hardwoods and acorns everywhere. The topography was such that it fell away steeply on both sides of the road. My strategy was to step into the brush on the side with the wind in my face and look down a draw until I had some good shots. Then I would sit and rattle a bit to see if I could get something to come up. Hammer back, safety off. After 45 minutes I would push the safety on, go back to the road and try to find another spot. It was a fun way to learn about that section. I reached the end of the road and found a good sized scrape. I was standing there facing into the wind, trying to figure out where to go when some squirrels started to bark. I thought I had been busted when I saw some movement in the brush. There's a deer walking straight toward me from up wind. I looked at the scrape about 3-feet from me and thought, "There's a buck coming up here to check this scrape!" I raised the 30-30 and froze, waiting for him to get out of the thick stuff. He got to about 25 yards and seemed to not have a care in the world. I couldn't count the points but his antlers were way outside of his ears. He took one more step and I pulled the trigger and the hammer fell. "CLICK" The safety was still on. He froze. He did that little head fake where he pretends to bend down and eat then lifts his head quick to see if anything moved. I pulled the hammer back. "click click" He bobbed his head side-to-side, snorted and was gone. I looked at my watch and it was 12:20 PM. He would have been the buck of my season but I forgot the safety. As I walked out, I found a good spot where I could sit with some cover and watch that scrape. I marked it with a reflective tack and some flagging.

So here's my idea for going back. He's spooked and probably won't come back during the day for a while. I need to encourage him to do that. I'm thinking of getting some of that dominant buck urine in a little spray bottle. I’ll hunt one of my ladders Thursday morning until about 9:30 or 10 AM. Then I’ll go to back to that section, spray the dominant buck urine on his scrape and leave. I’ll hunt somewhere else Thursday night. Friday I’ll do it again. Dog hunt Saturday (club doesn't allow still hunting on dog hunting days) and try to not get tore up at a neighbor’s Halloween party (wife says we have to go). Then go back to that road Sunday morning or afternoon ready to ambush him. The idea is to make him think another buck is hitting his scrapes during the day and maybe he’ll come out again to confront him. What do you think? Will this work or can you think of something better?

Just get back in the stand. Dont change the environment. Hes already coming in.
I spooked a nice buck yesterday at about 4:30 and shot him at 6:15 from the same stand.

It worked and I got him. I was a little dismayed Thursday morning when I checked the sign in board and saw that someone else was also hunting that area. The old guy must have given that advice to him too. But I saw that hunter at lunch and he said he was going home. I sprayed the buck urine and left. Friday morning I hunted a different ladder stand then went back to this section. I didn't spray any more scrapes but I found a new one near another oak grove. I hunted that from the ground. Near sunset I hit my doe bleat a few times. As it got too dark to see I heard him grunt from the other hill side. I thought, "Now I know where you sleep." I didn't hunt Saturday for domestic reasons and stayed at the party too late. I finally convinced the Mrs. to go home at 1 AM. Fortunately we only had to walk across the street. I got up at 4 AM and got ready to go. I went back to the end of the road and climbed a small pine about 50 yards from the original scrape. I had a nice sweet gum branch screening my lower body. It was 37 degrees (3 C). Around 11 AM things got very quiet so I decided to try rattling. He came out about 10 minutes later looking for a fight. He stopped to check that scrape and I took him down. I think I'm prouder of this one more than any other because of all the work it took to get him to come back to that spot.

I have found that if a buck only blows (snorts) he is trying to figure out what the heck the noise was. I think there are 3 or 4 different kinds of snorts. Anyway my point is I have found that if they only snort (blow) at me, but they didn't see me or smell they, they do come back. However if they see me I found they come later (i.e. after dark) or take an alternate travel route by circling around where they saw me for a while.