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uzi
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bump n dump question

Unread postby uzi » Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:43 pm

I've had a little success with this before i knew about the beast (not bragging, cause if you dont know what you are doing its just luck ;). But heres the scenario... When you are scouting/hunting in the early afternoon for an evening sit Let's say you bump a big one out of his bed. Do you set up right over the bed? or downwind 75 to 100 yard, maybe just off wind to the side you expect the buck to circle from? I know many will try to hunt him in the a.m. but as many on here have said, They will come back before dark. Thanks in advance.

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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby dan » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:14 pm

Thats a good question and one I have struggled with myself. I bumped a big mature buck as few years back and set up right where I jumped him cause I was not positive where he would come back from... I heard him comeing when he came back and got a few glimpses and he did a wide circle till he got straight down wind then blew and ran out of there. Bummer, but I shot him 100 yards from that spot the next year anyway...

Last year I bumped one and set up over the bed, and cause of the layout it would of been tough for the buck to circle, and so he didn't. He came straight in, but at 10 or 15 yards with no ethical shot present he hit my scent pooling or saw me move and spooked.

Down wind might be better in some cases, and not in others. When choosing the spot, think about how easy it would be for the deer to circle you, if he is suspicious from being bumped, and there is a good rought to wind the bed (which there usually is, he is likely to try and smell if the area is safe 1st
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:04 am

This is good info......... I guess I was always thinking the buck relocates for the rest of that day, and then the next morning, he comes back to that original bed that he was bumped from. I didn't realize they would come right back to that bed on that same day..... I'm sure it's not an "Always" thing, but good to know they do it at all.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby JoeRE » Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:02 am

I have had more success when I bump a big buck determining what other bedding sanctuary they are probably going to and setting up there instead of setting up right where I bumped them. I have never seen a big buck come back to his bed the same day as getting spooked, to me that seems like a dumb thing for the buck to do, return to where a predator spooked him the very same day - not saying it can't happen cuz obviously you guys have seen it, just seems low odds to me? What tells you to set up where you bumped him versus set up at a different bedding area/sanctuary that that the buck might head to?

Obviously I am refering to setting up the same day as bumping him, setting up there the next morning is sort of different and I can see that being higher odds.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby Widerack » Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:43 am

On average, how long does it take before he attempts to come back?
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby uzi » Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:45 am

JoeRE wrote:I have had more success when I bump a big buck determining what other bedding sanctuary they are probably going to and setting up there instead of setting up right where I bumped them. I have never seen a big buck come back to his bed the same day as getting spooked, to me that seems like a dumb thing for the buck to do, return to where a predator spooked him the very same day - not saying it can't happen cuz obviously you guys have seen it, just seems low odds to me? What tells you to set up where you bumped him versus set up at a different bedding area/sanctuary that that the buck might head to?

Obviously I am refering to setting up the same day as bumping him, setting up there the next morning is sort of different and I can see that being higher odds.



In both cases where I had this work for me ( I don't believe) the buck knew what I was and came back to the bed that "works". For me it depends on how bad I spooked him.. If i bump a buck at 30-50 yds and it sounds like the woods exploded when he busts out of there then I will probably look to hunt him at a nearby bedding area. If I just catch horns going through the woods at 75yds or so and I don't feel like the buck really knew what I was then I will try to set up on that bed.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby uzi » Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:55 am

dan wrote:Thats a good question and one I have struggled with myself. I bumped a big mature buck as few years back and set up right where I jumped him cause I was not positive where he would come back from... I heard him comeing when he came back and got a few glimpses and he did a wide circle till he got straight down wind then blew and ran out of there. Bummer, but I shot him 100 yards from that spot the next year anyway...

Last year I bumped one and set up over the bed, and cause of the layout it would of been tough for the buck to circle, and so he didn't. He came straight in, but at 10 or 15 yards with no ethical shot present he hit my scent pooling or saw me move and spooked.

Down wind might be better in some cases, and not in others. When choosing the spot, think about how easy it would be for the deer to circle you, if he is suspicious from being bumped, and there is a good rought to wind the bed (which there usually is, he is likely to try and smell if the area is safe 1st



Good stuff Dan thanks. In both of my cases the bucks circled and came in downwind and I just happened to be set up 75 -100 yds downwind of the bed and things worked out. I guess its just a matter of reading the land as quickly as possible when you bump a big one, set up, maybe say a little prayer, learn for next time.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby uzi » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:00 am

Widerack wrote:On average, how long does it take before he attempts to come back?



My experience it has been less than two hours. Again probably depends how bad he was spooked. Interested to hear what others have experienced.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:04 am

Dan and uzi when you guys had this work for you how long was it after you guys bumped the deer till the time they returned? Just wondered if it was hours later or minutes later?

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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby JoeRE » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:47 am

Bowhunter4life wrote:Dan and uzi when you guys had this work for you how long was it after you guys bumped the deer till the time they returned? Just wondered if it was hours later or minutes later?

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uzi wrote:

My experience it has been less than two hours. Again probably depends how bad he was spooked. Interested to hear what others have experienced.


I see what are you are talking about then....if you barely nudge them and they decide it was nothing maybe they will come right back. To me I think they would circle down wind if they are at all suspicious about something being where they are bedding, before coming back. I guess I had something similar happen this past fall, bumped a mature buck and a smaller 8 point bedded next to him. They didn't know what happened and only moved maybe 80 yards....since they were so close I could not actually get to where they were bedded I just had to sit on the ground right were I was on an exposed hillside. They did come back my way eventually and I almost got a shot at the big buck before the smaller one got down wind and busted me. I only got them to come that close because I drew the small one in with a soft grunt and the big one followed like I hoped he would - but if I had somehow been able to get 30 yards closer to where they were bedded I could have shot the big buck as he returned. That whole process took about 2 hours.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby Stanley » Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:29 am

Great thread. Any buck that I have ever bumped did not return to that bed again. The bucks that I did bump saw me and knew I was there. That may be a factor in when or if they return. Plus if the area has unlimited good bedding that will be a factor.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby Bigburner » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:26 am

first week of this season (Sept.) I bumped a buck walking up some railroad tracks leading to a spot in the middle of a pine platation that had been burned a few years ago. It had a lot of heavy regeneration in the understory . There was a pond in the middle of it and I had killed several deer there over the years in dry weather on evening hunts. It was an incredible bed on his part b/c every hunter that accesses that tract of land uses the railroad tracks. As soon as he hears the gravel he's out. He was laying in this particulaly thick patch. I stood there for a minute as he took off not 15 yards from the railroad bed. I went home at that point. I waited 3 weeks later and came in from another wind direction ( not off the tracks) and figured I was about 100 yards from the bed on the edge of the pond. 15 minutes before the end of shooting light he came right in slightly up-wind @ 25 yards. I gave him a look and decided to pass on him b/c it wasn't what I was looking for. he was a solid 3.5 yro and big bodied but I was going to hold out. He then circled down wind (counterclockwise) and bedded 27 yards from my tree dead down wind . It was so cool. Perfectly postured with the wind to his back looking toward the direction I came with the perfect amount of cover in front of him. I didn't get winded which was a miracle and he eventually got back up and worked his way around back toward the direction that he was bedded. I could have laid him out 20 different times but it was a great encounter. I figured on the same scenerio next year he might come around, but these flatland bucks from my neck of the woods are tough. They come from any and every direction. I may check that spot in a few weeks just to see whether or not that was a primary bed.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby dan » Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:59 am

JoeRE wrote:I have had more success when I bump a big buck determining what other bedding sanctuary they are probably going to and setting up there instead of setting up right where I bumped them. [glow=red]I have never seen a big buck come back to his bed the same day as getting spooked[/glow], to me that seems like a dumb thing for the buck to do, return to where a predator spooked him the very same day - not saying it can't happen cuz obviously you guys have seen it, just seems low odds to me? What tells you to set up where you bumped him versus set up at a different bedding area/sanctuary that that the buck might head to?

Obviously I am refering to setting up the same day as bumping him, setting up there the next morning is sort of different and I can see that being higher odds.

You may have never seen this happen cause you never stayed to find out.... I see this trait a lot. Andrae has a few brutes on his wall from bumping deer and then killing them at the bed the same day. I know quite a few others who have had simalar success... Your right in that they don't always do this, and its probably the minority, but it is common enough that I think its a very good tactic.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby dan » Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:08 am

Widerack wrote:On average, how long does it take before he attempts to come back?

I have had them come back in an hour, and I have had them wait till just before dark.


I think they trust there bedding area as safe... This works best with a soft bump. They are not quite sure what you are. I think its ok if they see you as long as you don't appear to be slowly stalking them. But if they smell you, I think its low odds. They don't trust there eye sight like there nose. I think they want to wait till the danger is gone and then come in and smell the ground scent to see exactly what was pestering there bedding area....

This tactic was not something I came up with, it was more Andrae. He bumps bucks and then hunts them the next morning as everyone already knows, but he likes to set the stand up after busting the buck and he just started sitting the stands till dark since he set them up and started noticing a lot of the time they came back the same day, and if they did not, possibly the next morning...

I think when you soft bump them if they don't have another great bedding spot close by they don't want to go wandering around in daylight danger so they go to where its thick near the bed and listen to see if the danger passes by or is still there. After a while of no smell or sight or hearing of trouble they sneak back to see if the coast is clear...

When there is good bedding close by, that might be a deer that returns the next morning.
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Re: bump n dump question

Unread postby dan » Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:12 am

JoeRE wrote:
Bowhunter4life wrote:Dan and uzi when you guys had this work for you how long was it after you guys bumped the deer till the time they returned? Just wondered if it was hours later or minutes later?

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uzi wrote:

My experience it has been less than two hours. Again probably depends how bad he was spooked. Interested to hear what others have experienced.


I see what are you are talking about then....if you barely nudge them and they decide it was nothing maybe they will come right back. To me I think they would circle down wind if they are at all suspicious about something being where they are bedding, before coming back. I guess I had something similar happen this past fall, bumped a mature buck and a smaller 8 point bedded next to him. They didn't know what happened and only moved maybe 80 yards....since they were so close I could not actually get to where they were bedded I just had to sit on the ground right were I was on an exposed hillside. They did come back my way eventually and I almost got a shot at the big buck before the smaller one got down wind and busted me. I only got them to come that close because I drew the small one in with a soft grunt and the big one followed like I hoped he would - but if I had somehow been able to get 30 yards closer to where they were bedded I could have shot the big buck as he returned. That whole process took about 2 hours.


Thats pretty much text book. So, it has happened to you. They just stopped to close for you to get in there and set up.


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