Thread: how long before red deer return to pattern after spooked?

Hi

How long does it take a red deer to resume there normal pattern after you spook them? I know there is no right answer but I am curious what other hunters have experienced. Should you leave it for a couple of weeks ?

Pops

I was talking to a guy a while back he reckoned if you spooked one, sit there for an hour or so. He reckoned 9 times out of 10 they came back.. Dunno if that's true or not.

I ususally give it a few weeks, cause it depends on how far in I was, what the weathers gona be like ( for me) etc

I do not know the answer but here is what I would suggest is the case from observing there behaviour on my farm over the last seventeen years. The flight instinct is deeply ingrained and if you have spooked a deer and it has gapped it, it will stop and check for the threat once it believes it is a safe distance away. If it still perceives danger it will gap it again. Once it has put sufficient distance between itself and it's perceived threat it will settle but remain wary for quite some time but within an hour or so it will slip back in to normal activity. Certainly after a period of sleep it will not awaken still harbouring any concerns of a threat.

Translating this to the wild I would not imagine it to be any different. That said the issue with return to the scene of the incident or immediate area will be the potential for leaving of scent odour markers left by the hunter and the fleeing deer that may deter deer (not just the one that gapped it) from return. The time for this to dissipate will depend much on environmental factors (e.g. if it pissed down with rain the time elapse period would be much shorter than if it had not).

I guess it would be hard to give a rule of thumb when there are so many variables: sometimes when they spook they haven't smelt you, that would make a big different, you've probably scented up that area, how much rainfall there is will make a big difference in how long that scent stays around. To be honest I wouldnt have a clue, someone with lots of trail cams might help, hit up Ivan Kane haha.

Today I was crashing through some thick stuff when I heard a deer crash off a bit further on, I carried on in that direction and I found a deer bed that had a pretty strong smell still on it so I figured I must have spooked it from its bed. I was about to carry on when I smelt deer real strong on the wind. I stood there for probably 15 mins, smelling deer when the wind changed in the right direction. In the end I tried to move in on through the windfall and thick crap it but I never saw it. The wind was good so it wouldn't have smelt me at all I don't think and it probably didn't go that far either. Just a smart arsed deer who knew to be cautious I guess.

How long is a piece of string?

I think it would depend on how they were spooked,and the situation. Ie if they heard or saw you walking up a river flat in the evening they might be back half an hour after they were sure you are gone...maybe there are no hard and fast rules.

likewise if your pestcontroling a crop for instance and there are lets say 7 on it and you shoot 5 it is unlikely they will be back for a day or two.

On fb there was a trail cam pic of a guy and then another pic of a stag that walked right where he was earlier on that morning.

Make of that what you will

I can across 6 deer in total in a day, but could not get a clear shot . When I saw 3 they barked a ran off, so me being me I ran after them thinking they will stop and check and i might get a go. Not in this case. Other two did not see me just heard me.

I was climbing through two tree trunks and saw another hind but could not get my rifle up on time as she looked , barked a ran off. I was happy to see the deer with in 30 meters as I have been working on my stalking a lot.
Was thinking about leaving the spot for a week or two depend how much rain comes in.

Boy can they run fast

Originally Posted by Toby

On fb there was a trail cam pic of a guy and then another pic of a stag that walked right where he was earlier on that morning.

Make of that what you will

think i have one somewhere of some deer milling around 5-7min after i had been there.

and then other times takes a few days for them to show up.

They are where you find

Ive shot a red yearling one evening and returned to the same spot 2 evenings later to drop the hind that was with it.

To me if you spook them by your self they will normally be back in a day or two, but if your Dog spooks the ,then it's bye bye for some time.