Spooking Does and Fawns - Can it Ruin Your Chances?

[Northcountryman]

8 hours ago, DirtTime said:

Spooking deer can't make them leave for very long. In the days of old when hunters wore blue jeans and did a lot of drives they would hunt the same areas often, and continue to do drives and still kill deer.

Yes , but In the old days , drives were more coordinated and involved more participants so that’s a little different situation IMHO - reason being , deer don’t necessarily entirely vacate their Home range after being spooked, but avoid the immediate area in which it occurred as a consequence . And , if nicks nearby take this as a cue ,ya also avoid that area . 

[Northcountryman]

3 hours ago, Just Lucky said:

I think there is a difference in spooking vs. Disturbing deer. 

Spooking deer, I think results in  that deer, or group not returning.  Shooting, bow, or gun results in spooked deer. Sneaking around with bow does the same.

Disturbed deer, such as jumped when bedding, move and circle back. Casual walk to and from stands with bow I think disturbs. Or moving stand, cutting wood, ect.

Alot of my success with gun hunting depends on disturbed deer looking for me on a particular path. Deer will pattern us as we do them. I jump shoot alot of deer coming in the back way after they have me patterned.  3 out of 4 of my biggest bucks have been killed that way.

That’s awesome Buddy ! Are you sure that’s Exactly the way it went down , though ? Elaborate please cuz that’s interesting !! 

[Just Lucky]

28 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

That’s awesome Buddy ! Are you sure that’s Exactly the way it went down , though ? Elaborate please cuz that’s interesting !! 

When I go in the woods to move stands, or bowhunt I will use the same entry/exit ways. Not sneaking around but moving and looking.  I pay attention for bedding areas, trails and watch for deer movement.  I will use an example of an old dug road I always use to access one of my stands. I will also still hunt up it with gun, but not much luck, more sign then anything.

After doing that say 5 times, I will come from the other direction on another dug road. I will catch deer laying in the area facing/ looking  toward  the dug road I normally would use. I call it peek a boo. My father taught the tactic to me.

I have 2 eight's and a 10 from 3 different properties doing this. I have also gotten smaller bucks, and does. Also missed quite a few. The hardest part was learning to look for laying deer by logs, brush, dips ect. The deer blend in very well and when laying movement is minimal, maybe head lift or ear flicker.

I deer hunt with bow, crossbow, gun and muzzleloader.  I enjoy all 4, but for me still hunting with 12 gauge 870 and fixed 2x scope is my favorite way. 

 

[DirtTime]

8 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Yes , but In the old days , drives were more coordinated and involved more participants so that’s a little different situation IMHO - reason being , deer don’t necessarily entirely vacate their Home range after being spooked, but avoid the immediate area in which it occurred as a consequence . And , if nicks nearby take this as a cue ,ya also avoid that area . 

I'm not sure how there's a difference. Spooking/jumping deer is spooking/jumping deer. One person walking to a stand and alerting deer is less intrusive then 20 people walking around stinking up the woods.

I'm sure we have all blew stands, but go sit 50-100 yards away and the deer are still there.

[Northcountryman]

3 hours ago, DirtTime said:

I'm not sure how there's a difference. Spooking/jumping deer is spooking/jumping deer. One person walking to a stand and alerting deer is less intrusive then 20 people walking around stinking up the woods.

I'm sure we have all blew stands, but go sit 50-100 yards away and the deer are still there.

What I’m saying is , that deer drives are much more effective ( if coordinated properly , that is ) than hunting solo , so if you’re spooking deer while in a drive , doesn’t matter and actually , is intended in order to achieve success on the hunt . Hunting alone , however , is less effective and there is no intention whatsoever to spook deer ( well , at least for most of us lol). 

[Northcountryman]

11 hours ago, Just Lucky said:

When I go in the woods to move stands, or bowhunt I will use the same entry/exit ways. Not sneaking around but moving and looking.  I pay attention for bedding areas, trails and watch for deer movement.  I will use an example of an old dug road I always use to access one of my stands. I will also still hunt up it with gun, but not much luck, more sign then anything.

After doing that say 5 times, I will come from the other direction on another dug road. I will catch deer laying in the area facing/ looking  toward  the dug road I normally would use. I call it peek a boo. My father taught the tactic to me.

I have 2 eight's and a 10 from 3 different properties doing this. I have also gotten smaller bucks, and does. Also missed quite a few. The hardest part was learning to look for laying deer by logs, brush, dips ect. The deer blend in very well and when laying movement is minimal, maybe head lift or ear flicker.

I deer hunt with bow, crossbow, gun and muzzleloader.  I enjoy all 4, but for me still hunting with 12 gauge 870 and fixed 2x scope is my favorite way. 

 

So you’re saying establish a behavior pattern so that they anticipate your travel route , then Switch suddenly to throw them off , correct ? I like it !! Peek a boo is worth a look lol!! 

[dbHunterNY]

Agreed - you can get away with a lot more with does and immature bauds than you can the big boys . 

I'm general. I've taken 8.5+ yesr old doe in the past that could school any mature buck. They've seen every stand on the property. Will come in with you pegged the whole time. Have to ride it out until they calm down. Even then they do this stupid I'm feeding but really watching thing.

I hunt a lot with a climber and constantly switch up trees in same spots as well actually let them live. Despite those old doe can have you pegged in the tree coming in they keep their patterns and home ranges tighter. Rest if the doe family group follows. During the rut so do the bucks. Noticed when I shoot some matriarch doe the others think for themselves and sometimes change their home range to somewhere else.

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