Busted! What do I do now?

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Randyflash
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Busted! What do I do now?

Unread postby Randyflash » Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:45 am

Got a question for you veteran beast hunters... Last night I was setup in a bedding area over a fresh scrape anticipating some good action. Wind was WSW switching to WNW. I thought my wind was perfect based on where I had marked beds in the spring. HOWEVER, I heard the buck get out of bed behind me and ended up working his way directly down wind of me. I did get eyes on him and he was a shooter but he blew for about 10 minutes and vacated the area. on the walk out I marked his bedding exit trail from that bed. I determined that a south wind and a slightly different approach to may stand would be needed to fix the setup. Here is the question... Tonight happens to have that south wind. Is it too soon to try and accomplish this? Keep in my I have several dozen other spots that have equally good sign from the spring including a swamp island that I'm very excited about that would work great with a south wind. What would you guys do in this situation? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Paca
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Re: Busted! What do I do now?

Unread postby Paca » Wed Oct 09, 2019 5:40 am

I always ask myself how many times has that deer been scared by a 4 legged predator? In that location? Does a deer have the intelligence to actually differentiate between us and other predators? Is that deer intelligent enough to have a long term memory of the contact with you?
I have my opinions but no one has scientific evidence I’m aware of.
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seazofcheeze
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Re: Busted! What do I do now?

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Wed Oct 09, 2019 6:55 am

You got winded, my experience says the game is over for a while there. If they spook from a visual, I think the odds are much higher you get a second crack in that area, but not if you get winded.

Of course, there is no "always" and "never" in whitetail hunting, so you might see him again this soon.

I would try another high odds stand location or two in that general area (let's say within a mile radius, if you have access to surrounding area) first before getting after him again in that same exact area.
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BackCoverBowHunter
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Re: Busted! What do I do now?

Unread postby BackCoverBowHunter » Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:16 am

Hunting the scrape was fine for you to go back in and hunt, even being busted. Walking into that bed during season was probably your mistake. To that deer, the bed worked. He was able to detect you and then get out of dodge. Smelling you in there he most likely wont use it for awhile.

Hunting that scrape from a new tree conducive to your wind should be okay. Use the new wind direction in your favor, different tree and yardage. Sounds like it is where he is hanging out. Just realize he knows he is being hunted now. Good Luck!
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Randyflash
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Re: Busted! What do I do now?

Unread postby Randyflash » Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:34 am

BackCoverBowHunter wrote:Hunting the scrape was fine for you to go back in and hunt, even being busted. Walking into that bed during season was probably your mistake. To that deer, the bed worked. He was able to detect you and then get out of dodge. Smelling you in there he most likely wont use it for awhile.

Hunting that scrape from a new tree conducive to your wind should be okay. Use the new wind direction in your favor, different tree and yardage. Sounds like it is where he is hanging out. Just realize he knows he is being hunted now. Good Luck!


I did not go into his bed just found his exit trail... but after lots of thought, I am going to hit another high probability spot near by and give that spot a bit of time to cool off... appreciate the insight fellas!


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