I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

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Crazinamatese
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I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Sun Oct 30, 2016 12:35 pm

I hunted a small public section today. I like to take my time and still-hunt my way to the tree. Taking a few steps and stopping, looking, and listening to everything around me. I have killed a couple from the ground doing this. This morning's rain dampened the leaves so I didn't make too much noise.

Anyways, there is a NW wind and Im traversing east through the woods. I got up to the top of a draw. A spike buck busted out to my left and ran about 20 yards east down the ridge and stopped to look.

I stood still as he was trying to peek through the trees at me, but couldn't figure out what spooked him. After a few minutes of standing still he decides he was gonna walk toward me. He stops again and lets out a few loud snorts. He walks away from me again. Then he stops trying to find me at the top of the draw but he is still confused.

He is snorts again. He is very curious though. So he decides to slowly walk down into the draw, which is downwind from me, to try to catch a whiff of me. He gets right in the middle of the draw and he finally catches my scent. He didn't run out of there though. He lifted his tail and walked down the draw with hard footfalls, as if he is trying to alert other deer, or maybe he is feeling intimidated???

I know many hunters wonder why a deer sometimes snorts when they have been spooked. This experience leads me to believe they snort because they are not sure what it is that spooked them. Maybe Im wrong? This isn't the first time I experienced a deer snorting at me. Just this one time I had an opportunity to see up close how a deer behaves when it can't really figure out what spooked it.

Anyone have similar experiences or thoughts?


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john1984
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby john1984 » Sun Oct 30, 2016 12:54 pm

Yeah earlier this year I missed a doe, she blew, but then she came back, she was trying to use the rising thermals to scent check me to see what I was, but she stayed about 40 yards away as I was hiding in my natural blind and I didn't have a 2nd shot. Once she got my scent she blew and ran out of there.

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stash59
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby stash59 » Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:16 pm

Yeah I've seen it alot. At all times of the year!!
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby grydsrt » Sun Oct 30, 2016 7:52 pm

Crazinamatese - good looking out and yes I have seen the same/similar. In his book Real World Whitetail Behavior Jim Roy notes that whitetails will not blow or go into full flight until they have detected danger with two of their three senses. I wish I could take credit for this discovery because I made it when out training with night vision in the military, however Jim Roy beat me to the punch many years previously. Basically however deer are like any other creature because they do not feel like running away in full panic flight unless absolutely necessary. Therefore in my observations if the deer detects you with only one of his three senses or sight, smell, sound it will then attempt to verify what it believes it has detected with a second sense. This is when the deer begins circling downwind or looking in the tree. When they confirm you with their second sense that is when they throw up their tails, begin blowing, and excrete the metatarsal fear pheromone Jim Roy mentions that then alerts all deer that pass through the area for the next amount of time that there is extreme danger nearby. Jim Roy therefore recommends killing any does that happen to alert to your treestand location because otherwise that location is forever shot.

One observation I have personally made is that at night the whitetails sense of hearing is just short of supernatural. For the example, I have made noises with the zipper on my jacket at night in the same location that have caused deer to go into extreme alert (as I could observe through my night vision device) that later after the sun came up would not cause another deer in first ones tracks to even lift their head. How this applies to daytime hunting I am unsure? Perhaps simply to illustrate that a deers hearing is far better than the deer typically lets on. At any rate this is a good posting.
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nor' easter
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby nor' easter » Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:30 pm

I had a spike pick me out in my tree a few years back on a crosswind. He would blow, stomp one of his feet, make eye contact with me, turn take a few steps, come back, blow, stomp, etc. He wasn't quite sure what I was, but he did assume I was a threat. He didn't want to commit to walking all the way across the opening in front of me to get down wind, so he made as much noise as possible and finally turned to walk away. As far as the 2 out of 3 senses go, I have had plenty of deer that I know couldn't see me or hear me catch my wind from behind me and blow, snort, and fly out of there. I believe their nose trumps all other senses.

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headgear
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby headgear » Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:49 pm

When I think back it has probably been around 60/40. 60% of the snorts have been because they have winded me while the others blew but didn't wind me, however they either saw me or knew "something" was there but wasn't sure what, I see it all the time so fairly common. I've also bumped them and just had them trot off and had them smell me and not make a big deal about it many times too, plenty of all of the above, just different reactions from different deer under different circumstances.
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:10 am

Good observation - I agree deer snort for all sorts of reasons - its more of a "what's that?"...also I think the hard stomp is more of a "danger!" signal. At least that doesn't carry as far as a snort.

Keep in mind yearling bucks can be as dumb as a box of rocks too. So he might not even know what he is trying to say.
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Rutnstrut
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Rutnstrut » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:46 am

To add to this. Don't think that because one deer snorts that it ruins your hunt. I have many times had mature bucks come in after other deer have snorted. Deer snort all the time and I think sometimes hearing it arouses their curiosity. I had a 2.5 year old buck catch me drawing on a doe Friday eve and snort. Not 2 minutes later a 4.5 year old 140" 9 pointer came in looking for what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately he got downwind of me a few yards short of a shooting lane. I've had too many similar experiences with bucks coming to check out the snorting for it too be coincidence. Not that I am going to add snorts to my calling sequences.
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Matty
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Matty » Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:26 am

Good observation, pretty common response from semi-spooked deer around this area.

The heavy footfalls as they walk away is leaving extra interdigital gland scent that alerts the next deer through there that danger was encountered. Could also be an auditory thing too I suppose.

Not something I've really seen mature bucks do though. They usually hold tight or stand dead still as long as possible and then take off full sprint when they're finally sure of danger. Them snorting is kind of 50/50 in my experience.

Older does seem to love to snort though. They will sit and blow and blow...They want every deer in the area to know theres danger.

Another thing I'll add is, especially with younger deer, you can snort back at them (when they are doing the unsure snort, not just blowing at know danger)....and sometimes they will relax and go back about their business. They figure they heard or saw another deer that startled them. You could also try another deer vocalization, but I usually just imitate them. I do it all the time and it works pretty often. There's definitely a difference between blowing at danger and blowing because they're unsure. It doesn't work when they have you nailed though. If they saw and smelled you, they're blowing to let every other deer know theres danger.
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Crazinamatese
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:36 am

Thats some cool info Matty.
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Jonny
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Jonny » Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:03 pm

My experience has always been that if a deer really knows you are there, its very obvious and they run like crazy. But if they just catch a glimpse of you, or a whiff of you and aren't sure. They just act weird. Most often in my case a deer will notice something isn't normal and will circle downwind just out of bow range. Deer don't spook and start running until they are sure that a predator is there. I honestly can't remember having a deer spook because of me and full sprint out of sight besides one where I accidentally sneezed. Its almost like they don't really care until more than one sense is acting up a lot. I can't believe how many deer I have seen walk by when setting up my climber. And I use a summit so its a 110% guarantee to have a couple metal to metal bangs and some choice words as well mixed in. They just go through without a care almost
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Edcyclopedia
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:51 pm

Yeah - a few times.
Unfortunately :? not the big ones though...
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creepingdeth
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby creepingdeth » Wed Nov 02, 2016 8:23 am

good post guys, something to ponder while in the tree :think:
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby jbone23 » Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:34 pm

If a deer blows while your on stand would you say that stand is done for the year?
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Crazinamatese
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Re: I wanted to share this learning experience from today.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:57 pm

jbone23 wrote:If a deer blows while your on stand would you say that stand is done for the year?


Personally, I don't think so. I spooked a couple does off bedding last Sunday and they snorted hard. I set up right over their beds and they came back 3 hours later and I ended killing one of them.
The cave you fear hides the treasure you seek!!!


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