How long until deer return to normal patterns?

[Mr. B]

I missed a large buck on Sunday evening does anyone have any thoughts on how long it takes for a spooked deer to return to its normal activities? I am the only person that has permision to hunt a rather large tract of land so as long as the deer stays on the property it should make it through the rifle season.

[Dockter]

He will do one of two things usually, go noctournal until the season ends, or he will go right back to normal like nothing happened after a day or two, sometimes right away. I have seen both unfold. Wait a day or two and go back and see where everthing is at.

[Neighboor]

A buck in the rut will be back to being his goofy self in about an hour. Quicker if he gets the scent of hot doe.

[Mr. B]

The interesting this was that this buck did not act like it was in rut. It was not acting stupid or interested in any of the scent I had out (that I could tell). It took about 40 minutes for the deer to travel 50 yards. I do not think that I have ever been that still for that long. I just kept wishing I had my rifle and not my bow. Oh well I have until the end of the year to get him.

[huskminn]

Mr. B,

You'll probably get as many answers to this as their are possibilities, but...heregoes..

If the buck isn't being pressured by other hunters, then he will probably go back to his "normal" routine within a day or two. He will most likely use his same bedding area and will feed in the same general area as he did before, but he may not be traveling the same route that you saw him on. He might abandon that route for another that offers more cover.

The thing that may screw up this theory is the rut. As others have mentioned, the rut will cause him to change his habits. If there are does already there, then he will probably return to his same bedding area each night until he gets on the trail of a hot doe. Then he will follow her until he has a chance to breed her.

If it were me, I would abandon that stand site until after the rut is over. Change locations but stay in the same area. Search for other bedding-feeding routes and be darn quiet when you're setting up and traveling to and from your stand. A buck that is spooked once will not always abandon the area, but he probably has a heightened paranoia. One that is spooked twice might leave for good, though.

Good luck!!

[bigbucks]

Here's the other thing, did he even know there was a hunter there or did he just hear something hit a branch or the ground, or just whiz past him? If it was primarily just a strange noise, it probably won't affect him much. If he saw you & knew you were a person, you might need to move to somewhere nearby. With no other hunter pressure close by, I would expect he'll act pretty much the same. He quite likely doesn't know it's hunting season yet.

[Mr. B]

From what I can tell he never knew I was there. He was up wind of me, facing away. I do not think he knew anything was wrong until he heard the arrow smack in to the oak tree. If the wind is right I think I am going to give it a try from the stand this weekend.

[96trigger]

I have missed deer bowhunting, if the deer doesn't snort wheeze, or show signs that he had seen me, I would be back up in the stand. If he figured out you where there, (like you got of the stand and pushed him away) he will change his pattern.

[bigbucks]

I missed a doe one time, that just plain moved right as I released, I think she heard the arrow, but I'm not positive of that. She left my sight, I grabbed the grunt call, pulled her back in, & smoked her. She still had no idea there was a person there.

Sounds to me like going back to the spot's the right thing to do.

[IceBound]

I would hunt they same stand...sounds like it has no clue what it was. I missed a doe 2 years ago and then shot her 2 days later out of the same stand at almost the same time of day. It didn't appear that she changed her habits any. Now, had he spooked and worked his way around to get a whif of you...then I would set up in a different tree. I had that happen one time, I moved my stand about 40 yards away. The buck came from the same area a week later and stopped about 60 yards from the old stand location and looked up and around...sniffing. He knew I should have been there...I didn't ever get another shot on him, but I wasn't busted either. Good Luck and stay positive...if it is meant to be...it will be!