Interesting bump story

[Grasshopper]

Yesterday we had very strong gusty winds, the kind that breathe back and forth even in areas that should be steady. My plans turned out to be go hunt a "stupid spot" that you wouldn't expect to see anything. So I start working my way out into a new area. I start getting into a little more cover and see a pretty decent scrape. The debate ended with me pressing on rather than setting up. I started going up a small ridge not far from the scrape and I tell myself to slow down and crest it with ease. I get to where I can see over and stop to survey the area. A buck jumps up 20 yards from me it was hiding in a tree that appears to have blown down in the last 24 hours. He runs about 60 yards and stops to survey what spooked him, then trots out of sight. I quickly decided to setup about 60 yards down wind of his bed hoping he circles. As I'm pulling my bow up I see him trot on a straight line right to where I was standing. He sniffed around a bit then trotted back to where he spooked.
It was awesome to see, but boy I wish I wouldn't have adjusted for him to try to circle. I consciously knew somehow that he was going to come back and investigate what scared him. I guess I overthunk it. I decided not to relocate afterwards, I kinda wish I would have gotten down and scouted around some more, but I ended up seeing a big bobcat and another deer I'm guessing was a doe that didn't like the bobcat very much and decided to run it off.

[brodie1978]

interesting. similar thing happened to me a few years back, bumped an old buck and decided to sit on a log and wait and see if he returned...within 15 mins or so he came back straight to his bed the way he exited it without circling downwind.

[LateRiser]

I'm a new guy here, and many thanks to everyone for the incredibly valuable information.

I had a very similar experience this past weekend, hunting a ridge in big woods. North/South ridge, wind out of the southeast, so I figured there would be a buck on the northwest point, which happens to be a very steep hill/cliff overlooking the most obvious saddle on two connected big ridges. It was raining, so I could go very quietly, and I had set up the prior 2 days about 75 yards from where I thought the bed would be (just southeast of the potential bed, my scent blowing east of the buck in theory), but had no luck, so decided since it was my last morning to push it a bit.

I crept up the shallowest part of the northern edge of the ridge in the rain, found an obvious deer trail and followed it. Sure enough, just as I was about to reach a bench about 2/3 of the way up, a giant buck jumped up 20 yds to my right and runs up and over the ridge. No way he smelled me, and if he saw me it was just the top of my head - I think he just heard me take a step. I took two more steps after he was gone, and could clearly see the bed, on a flat area about 8 feet square, in between a blow down and about 5 feet from the steep cliff edge, facing directly northwest. But there was about 20 feet of thick tangle directly north of the bed that backed up to the steepest part of the cliff. It was downwind of the bed, and I could crawl in therefrom where I stood and never leave a track on the the only way he could get back to the bed.

I crept in there and found a place I could sit against a tree, 15 feet from the bed, with a clear shot. I sat there with my bow for 45 minutes, hoping he'd come back, but he didn't. I was soaked and freezing, so I left, but I regret that now. Unless he saw me when he first busted out, which I think is doubtful, he would not have smelled me, and I'm convinced he had to come back to that bed, I just ran out of patience and stamina. I mean, he would have been looking right at me once he actually got on top of his bed, so I'm not sure what I would have done, but I really wish I'd had the fortitude to stay there. Not sure it's possible to fool a buck only 15 feet from his bed, even downwind, but it would have been fun to try.