I had a great encounter with a awesome buck today and he was at 20 yards but then was staring at me for what felt like 20 minutes straight but reall was actually 5 and then he turned around and walked back right where he came from. Now he just walked away and out of the 8 deer i saw today he was the only one who looked up at me and turned around. The mature ones are very smart but is there any chance i would see him again tomorrow in the same stand??
Well, it could be assumed you only had a 50/50 chance of seeing him there the first time so if you cut that in half because of the encounter then you're down to about a 25% chance of seeing him again there. Then again...deer have a way of flipping the bird to odds so you may be back up to a 50/50 shot. If that's the buck I wanted, I'd probably just let that stand rest a week and try it again later if I had other good spots to use.
I wouldn't count on it, it's rare to be busted by a good buck and have him make the same mistake twice.
He may come back. But they got to be big for a reason. He didn't high tail it out of there so I think you are still good. He probably suspected something was wrong but didn't quite know what. I am sure he will look and examine your spot well before you even know he is back before he even walks out. So I suggest you sit extremely still or change to a slightly different spot. And use every means to kill your scent because he may just circle down wind. They trust their nose. I wouldn't count on the rut to make him careless, I have on camera some really nice bucks who even during the rut only came out at night. Good luck.
Don't give up on him. Crazier things have happened. Change spots but stay in the area and who knows, with the rut coming your luck could change. Good luck!
the way it sounds is you didnt really even spook him. you dont know how many times a week that deer does that in the woods looking at something that isint a human. sounds like he just got that 6th sense about him and he went on his way. deer really dont have much for memory but i bet he wont walk by that spot again. i would move your stand 50 or 100 yards if possible
It's hunting, anything can happen at anytime. That's the beauty of it you can you do everything possible to put the odds in your favor but you just never know! I would let that spot rest a week or so, but you can't kill him if you don't hunt him! Best of luck!
I agree w jpeeples. I would leave that stand where it is but put another one off to the side with plenty of cover. Zip tie oak branches or whatever to break up your silouette. And like covey said, i would let it rest. Let him look up at that stand and get used to seeing it empty. If he didnt smell you and blow away you might have just made him uncomfortable. He'll probably be back.
