CONFIRMED!!Deer long term and short term memory Any and all advice is appreciated I nicked a big buck Sunday night and he took off like a rocket. He did not see me, smell me or hear me. He just heard the bow and felt the nick of the broadhead. Will he return. He was giant. An experienced deer to be that big.... I'm rattled I missed him. Just want another shot. He's local. I have been watching him all year. He has no pressure. I hunt in an enclave with no other hunters. Pressure outside this boundary push them in. However, I think he's gone for good. I have heard guys tell me he will be back in four days and some say I'll never see him again. I guess Saturdays camera results will tell the tale. Comments welcome.
I think he'll be back. While they do pattern, I doubt he's going to leave your boundaries entirely simply because of a strange sound and a haircut.
hate to be the debby downer but i personally believe a mature buck will no longer frequent that area after an encounter like that. they are smart thats how they get that big .. not by going back to where they almost died haha! but if he does return make no mistakes because i bet hell be on high alert
He might come back albeit ALOT more on edge. Something about that spot will always keep him on guard.
I did the same thing! so mad at myself. except I didn't hit the buck, I drilled a limb. So upset. I killed two does and they went smoothly, I usually take 7 a year. Lately every time a nice buck comes in I loose my mind? Been hunting for 20 years and I just started this crap, getting all worked up over a nice one? I have messed up other times when they seen me, and came back the exact time and trail. I also have seen times when he never came back though, probably because I hunt in south E Indiana and there are a lot of hunters here. I think in your case you will be fine, no one else to take him from you. I have always been told they only travel 5 miles.
I have a friend who has video of a buck avoiding a trail camera either because of the flash or the noise, in my opinion, I'd slightly alter your treestand location, perhaps toward the direction the deer came from.
I doubt it will matter if it was in fact a grazing shot. They are not genius level, Not canine smart, not even swine smart. They run on instinct more then intelligence. I'm sure in a life time of living in the bush they have been poked with branches and fallen in a hole or a low spot, crashed into fencing, slipped on ice, spooked by thunder etc. He did not know it was a human hunter, it was a snap sound and a stinging feeling...... and then gone! My guess is 20 minutes later he could not recall it happened or where. They still live and work the same area every day. As stated above when the rut kicks in most other past experiences good or bad are erased quickly for about a month.
I did the same thing on Sunday I missed a 140/160?? class buck and also my 1st buck with a bow arrow just touched the hair on his back. He ran 20 yard stopped and looked around then walked off like it was no big deal. I expect the buck I missed will be back because I feel that I did not spook him bad. I think that you will get another chance just like I think I will. Deer are not all that bright, they run on instinct.
I'm in the crowd of "no way of knowing". I've witnessed solid 3-5 year old bucks get shot at...and poof you never see them again. However, I also know first hand stories from a hunting buddy of mine about one mature buck he shot in bow season and wounded it with a shoulder shot, he even tracked this deer and bumped it twice before realizing the thing was gonna live. He then saw it later that same year on the same exact stand but never got a shot. He then shot it in that same stand a year later and it was aged around 5 years...so not a yearling dumby and the harvest date of it was the first week of October so not rutted up time where they get crazy. Hard to say...it helps he didn't bust you or see you....but it's quite possible either way and really you shouldn't be surprised either way. It is that time of year where his memory may get a little fuzzy if a hot lady crosses his path.
Deer are somewhere in between as dumb as some people think they are and as smart as others think they are. There was a buck I was after a couple years ago that saw something in my stand he did not like. I know he did not wind me or see me move. After that, he always went wide around that stand even when no one was in it. He avoided my arrow, but a gun hunter got him last year.
Proof that they return: Post miss on 11/6 Almost three hours after I miss him he returns... Very short term memory...For those that says they dont recall events long...congrats.... For GA this is a stud.... I'm very thankful I may still have another shot at him...
Depends on the deer really. Some are just naturally wary and will avoid anything they don't like. Others are far less. A long time ago, I shot and missed a buck that jumped, ran a few yards, stopped and looked around for a while then wandered off. Three hours later, here he came again, following a doe. My second shot didn't miss. I think especially during the rut, bucks get stupid and will do dumb things such as this. If you just nicked him, who knows, he might have thought a limb hit him, etc. Deer get poked by all sorts of things during their daily lives.
I think thier memory isnt that good at all. I had two does pass me last weekend, then a buck followed. They passed and then came back around with another buck. The second buck picked up my doe n heat scent, and I shot him at 10 yards, almost next to the other buck. It wasnt 10 minutes later, and that other buck was standing right where I shot the other one. It was cool.
I missed my bruiser Sunday morning. Shot went right over his back & he trotted off. Of course he may of heard my uncontrollable sobbing. I'm staying outta that stand for now (work), and hoping by the weekend that his pattern will be the same as then.
