Spooked buck

[Waterwolf22]

Had a real nice 10 pointer show up on last Saturdays evening bow hunt. I was hunting in a fairly quiet, remote farm area with no other hunters in the area. The location is a small grove with only 20 acres of CRP swamp surrounded by corn. The problem was he was running, only stopped once (no real good shot was offered as he was in thick tree/brush area at 40 yards) His mouth was open and kept running by. Is he spooked from the area? I did not get busted by this deer, but yet he was running.....Any chance he will come back? I did not hunt there today and I will not have the chance to hunt there again until next Saturday. This deer is a dream buck and I hope I see him again.

Wondering if it is too early to use a doe decoy to try to get him closer to my stand. Do doe decoys only work during the rut?

[deerminator]

It could be anything. I'd be out there again on Saturday.

[matchset]

in my experience, you'd be better off using a buck decoy. assuming he's a dominant buck; he'll wanna challenge your decoy. make sure its scent free; and wait him out!

[Bear55]

If there is any chance he did bust you I might let it rest until late Oct, he also could have or will smell that you have been in the area so it might be wise to let this area rest until late Oct.

If he was spooked by something else I would get back in the asap but only if I have a favorable wind.

[mabr]

Judging by what you said, he just kept running by. Id say you werent the reason he was running at all. Kicking, bucking, shaking head, running, or what alot of people think are deer playing are often deer trying to get away from misquotos or flys. Ive seen both wild and pen raised deer use this to get away from biting insects.

IMO, If you were the cause, you might have seen him run by one time. Plus with mouth open (panting) tells me he's been running for a while.

I wouldnt hesitate to be back hunting him again is short order.

[Waterwolf22]

Yes, at first when I saw him he was running directly toward the tree I was sitting in.... Right about 30 yards, he started angling away (all in thicker cover) Since he was heading toward me at first, I feel fairly confident I was not what made him run. And because his mouth was open, he must have been running awhile. No chance I will get out again until Saturday, but I will be there ready and waiting! I have a brand new flambeau Babe Doe decoy and I realize it is not the time of the year when bucks will want to sniff out does but maybe I will set he out in front of the stand and see what happens. Anything to get this boy in range.... thanks for the info

[deerminator]

I'm not a big fan of waiting weeks or months if you spooked a buck or doe once (or thought you did), especially if they did not see you or were not sure what was up. Instead I would give it a week like you are and then give it another shot. A week is plenty of time for him to cruise through a couple of times without worry and have a sense of normalcy again. They key factor is pressure. Shooting five times at a big buck with a slug gun and missing is going to give him an education. Having him sense something is up or even sending an arrow over his back is going to ruffle his feathers a bit but not drive him out of the area unless it beomes a pattern of spooking him.

[Huntin&Fishin]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but i thought you aren't allowed to use decoys??

[Archerysniper]

Deer decoys are 100% legal

[Waterwolf22]

If the wind is right, I will be out there again Saturday morning with no decoy at all. It will have been 8 days since was there last and with good weather forecast, all should be good. The other thing I thought of is that most likely I was not the cause of him running (he was running right toward the tree I was in) so it was something else. I will keep trying to get this buck by waiting him out. I will post photos if I am fortunate enough to harvest this great deer!

[Wanderer]

Any idea where he was running to? He might have tipped you off to one of his hiding spots since he was likely headed for safety.

If you can gauge where he might have headed and have access to the area, you might want to investigate that a little further.

You might wait out a LOONNNGGG season hoping to see the same buck in that spot if he was just running through. No telling what made him take that route at that time.

Speaking from experience on this one.

Good luck!

[leech~~]

The 10 point on the right side of my Avatar went running by me at about 100mph in thick fog one year, but I got him in the same spot the next season walking. So, they do hang around. Good luck!

[eyehead]

I would get back after him.

I missed a 150" 10pt opening morning of muzzloader season last year. Exactly a week later he came back by the same stand......the outcome was the same as the first time I seen him . Still makes me sick even thinking about it.