I want to share what happened to me on November the 12th 2011. First I'll start by saying that this is my first year to hunt with a bow, however I have been hunted whitetails with a gun ever since I could shoot. So I was up in my stand in East TX and not seen a deer all season from my stand, when along comes a nice mature deer. He looked to be about a 10 pointer, not to wide but had nice tine length. I am hunting in the woods over where two major buck runs intersect. So hes probably 40 yards away when I spot him and I stand up and grab my bow "while his head was behind some brush", and he continues toward me and right as I start to draw on him from about 20 yards away he all of a sudden turns around and halls ass back the direction he came! This stunned me and I cannot figure out what I did wrong. I had perfect wind for the stand. Needless to say I felt sick! Any advice for a novice bowhunter? I'll be hunting him again this coming weekend!
Could he have maybe seen your movement in the tree as you drew your bow? Like was said above maybe he smelled where you had walked. The other day I had a small buck do this to me. Sprayed down before I walked to my stand, then walked about 1/4 across a plowed corn field, then across a creek. I come out of the creek and walk about 10 yards along a trail to my stand without touching anything but my boots to the dirt. About 15 minutes later this buck comes along and stops at the exact spot I exited the creek. Tail goes up, nose starts working, and off he goes back in the other direction. I was scratching my head to say the least.
I had a little buck cross my trail last saturday. He only crossed it, as soon as he hit it he immediately locked up and started nosing around. After a second he found the rest of my trail and started blowing and was out of there. I actually would have been able to get a shot off while he was nosing around but he was too small. So here's what I did: Hoosier Daddy on here swears by vanilla extract. So I tried some. I got a travel size spray bottle, put in some vanilla extract and some vegetable oil. Right before going in the woods I spray my boots. The next day I was at another location. This time my boots were sprayed. Well a doe crosses my path and turns down the trail I just walked. She instantly goes nose on the ground. This time there was no spooking. She knew something was different but it wasn't quite a human scent. Basically, it confused her enough not to put her on alert. Give it a try, may work.
He might have crossed my trail before I saw him but it must not have bothered him if he did because he was coming straight towards my stand like I had him on a string. Also I spray down before I walk to my stand. The only thing I can think is the wind must of swirled and he caught my scent that way.
How high is your stand? If it is 13 feet or less you have to be extra careful when drawing. It also depends on how much background cover you have. I would rather be 10 feet off the ground and have a good brushy backdrop than to be 20 feet off the ground in a bare pencil looking tree.
What about spooking deer walking to your stand with a flashlight before first light? How do I do that without spooking the deer?
I have spooked deer with my headlight but just kept walking past and got in my stand. Still saw deer that morning.
Hunt as high as possible... move only when his head is down, when he is looking away and his eyes are covered. (If you can see his eyes, he can see you) Use a loc-on stand if possible so you can be in a tree with limbs for cover. and make sure you can draw completely quietly. Obviously... he either smelled you, heard you or saw you. One thing to remember is to move slowly, especially in a smaller tree because the whole tree can shake when you shift your weight. Imagine walking through the woods and an entire tree starts shaking next to you for no apparent reason. You'd run too. We've all been there... keep trying. I agree with the vanilla extract trick... it works great.
