Walking into a deer bedding area before first light - what do you do?

[Harvest the Land]

So, say you're walking too your hunting spot at 5am in the dark before first light (that you've previously scouted in the summer), and all of a sudden you are seeing glowing eyes staring at you from either side of the trail and its a bunch of does and fawns (and maybe the odd buck on the outskirts). You realize you've stumbled upon a significant bedding area and you've basically walked (slowly) right into it, so the deer aren't really spooked because its dark and they cant smell you right away and aren't quite sure what you are. What do you do at this moment? (say in early October, vs. late October/Early November)

1) Keep walking slowly and quietly through the bedding area and keep going to your hunting spot? (and make a note to hunt that spot in the future)?

2) Turn around, slowly and quietly back your way out of there the same way you came in order to disturb those deer as little as possible (and make a note to hunt that spot in the future)?

3) Do you hunker down where you are (preferably near some kind of cover and down wind) and be as quiet as possible and hope that some of the deer will stick around until first shooting light?

4) Other - please tell me what you'd do if not any of the 3 above

Look forward to any/all suggestions - thanks!

[fuzzy 63]

hi , option three for me . my thoughts are that you don't leave fish to go find fish .
good luck out there .
cya

[itsy bitsy xj]

Start blasting !!
just kidding I would hunker down wait and watch

[squamishhunter]

I'd sit down and not move. If you leave, they may think you are circling them/stalking them and may run off.

[brian]

Running into deer is part of moving around before first light. But what would I do in the situation you laid out... unspooked deer with the wind in your favor and deer that have already bedded down. I would do 4. I'd make a show of turning around and going the other way. I'd get just out of sight with hopefully a good wind and wait for first light. Then I'd still hunt the best route I could find to where I last saw them and see whats really there.

If you leave, they may think you are circling them/stalking them and may run off. I don't think deer have the mental acuity to strategize like this. I could be wrong about this but I have made a show of backing off in the past and then successfully stalked back around on a deer. If you think about it, if the deer did not spook out right away on you then they did not think you were a big enough threat to take off in that moment. If you do not act in a threatening manner and you make noise and you don't try to hide on them then they will be more at ease rather than less. Staying put is a tried and true deer survival strategy. I would most worry about the wind betraying me.

[squamishhunter]

I've had it happen when wind was going crazy, so probably a factor

[Shooter Jr.]

Running into deer is part of moving around before first light. But what would I do in the situation you laid out... unspooked deer with the wind in your favor and deer that have already bedded down. I would do 4. I'd make a show of turning around and going the other way. I'd get just out of sight with hopefully a good wind and wait for first light. Then I'd still hunt the best route I could find to where I last saw them and see whats really there.
I don't think deer have the mental acuity to strategize like this. I could be wrong about this but I have made a show of backing off in the past and then successfully stalked back around on a deer. If you think about it, if the deer did not spook out right away on you then they did not think you were a big enough threat to take off in that moment. If you do not act in a threatening manner and you make noise and you don't try to hide on them then they will be more at ease rather than less. Staying put is a tried and true deer survival strategy. I would most worry about the wind betraying me.
I believe it depends on what the deer "know"... If the deer feel you hadn't seen them, backing out may work well. But they usually will leave if they feel threatened, and feel it is a safe time to do so. Regardless I don't think a big buck would stick around once he spotted you, no matter if he thinks he was spotted. I know from past experiences deer like to bail the moment you leave their view.

For me, I'd probably wait them out, but depends on the situation. If I was far enough away, and thought they hadn't winded me, or spotted me, i might quietly back out if possible. If we've spotted each other but its too dark to make each other out, I'd wait them out.

[Big Lew]

I did that very situation while bow hunting blacktail that bedded down adjacent to
a logging slash feeding area. The area was very steep and rocky on the side of a
mountain so the deer had made several well worn paths through the boulders, drop-offs,
and marginal virgin timber the loggers left. I couldn't rely on the wind because it always
swirls in those conditions so I had washed all my clothing, guillie camo suit, and body with
the appropriate soaps and sprayed my boots liberally with a scent block. As I slowly creeped
into the area I came upon a buck and doe standing about 40 yds ahead of me. I stayed put on
my knees hoping I'd have a chance for a clear shot. While I was waiting I gazed around me and
was totally surprised to see 3 other does lying around me not more than 20 yds away. They
hadn't seen me, and apparently hadn't smelled me either. I waited for at least 1/2 an hr but that
buck always had his doe between me and him. Finally my patience ran out and I tried to move
closer which spooked them all.

[Shooter]

Here's my take on what you have said. First off the eyes are staring at you so you are busted. They don't appear to be too alarmed yet because they most likely feel that you haven't busted them yet. IMO one sure fire way to lose this stand-off is to try to hunker down and wait them out until first light. They know you are there and they will know when you are trying to hide from them and they won't like that. Come first light there won't be a deer there. I too would back out again and most likely would do so in a manner that would not seem threatening to the deer, meaning there is very little point in trying to be overly quiet. Go at least 100 yards away and then hunker down and wait for light before skirting the area again looking for deer.

I would NOT be going back into that bedding area. In fact a better move would be to back out of the area completely and come back another day after learning the lesson on the first approach. When returning to the area I would be setting up on entrances and exits to the "bedding" area and hunting those, not the bedding area itself. They begin areas where they feel safe and will continue going to places that they feel safe. That knowledge is a feather in your hunting cap, if you make them feel unsafe then all bets are off and you are back at square one wandering around looking for where they feel safe.

Another thing.... When you are trying to make a deer feel less threatened AVOID PROLONGED EYE CONTACT!!!

[brian]

I believe it depends on what the deer "know"... If the deer feel you hadn't seen them, backing out may work well. I did it once when both the deer and myself were out in the relative open. No doubt about it we'd both seen each other. The key was the deer was not overly alarmed by my presence and did not feel immediately threatened. Its true that the deer could have any reaction to this situation. Some like the deer I stalked might hold tight while others (probably the ones that live longer) will sneak out any chance they have. They make individual choices.


I would NOT be going back into that bedding area. In fact a better move would be to back out of the area completely and come back another day after learning the lesson on the first approach. When returning to the area I would be setting up on entrances and exits to the "bedding" area and hunting those, not the bedding area itself. They begin areas where they feel safe and will continue going to places that they feel safe. That knowledge is a feather in your hunting cap, if you make them feel unsafe then all bets are off and you are back at square one wandering around looking for where they feel safe. In my first year hunting one of my current spots I went into bedding areas regularly and deer were bedded in them regularly. Week after week I kicked deer out of the same spots. The deer were relatively safe because the bedding areas were so good. I stay out of the bedding areas now because I know it is relatively fruitless to hunt them there, but I wouldn't hesitate to go in if I think I had a real chance at them. One thing to consider is I am talking about blacktails here that are homebodies, from what I hear about mulies all bets are off in this regard.

[tigrr]

Deer rarely bed down while it is dark. You go in early to intercept them from the feeding field to their bedding area. Spot and stalk can run into a bedding area, during daylight. Go in the bush and learn something.

[Harvest the Land]

Deer rarely bed down while it is dark. You go in early to intercept them from the feeding field to their bedding area. Spot and stalk can run into a bedding area, during daylight. Go in the bush and learn something.

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!

Tigrr, this happened to me on opening day a couple weeks ago. I was walking to my blind that was located about 100 metres into the timber, around 5am through a cutblock in pitch black with a headlamp on and walked right through an area where there were mule deer does and fawns bedded (not sleeping, more like resting and chewing their cud) and some were standing. They were staring at me on either side of the quad road, I kept walking slowly and stopped counting at 20 deer - there were a lot more than that. I decided to keep walking to my blind and only one or two of all the deer I saw were slightly spooked and bolted a few steps when my headlamp shined directly on them.

So I did go in the bush and learn something - I learned where a major mule deer bedding area is in the very early morning hours. It was pretty cool!

But I think there's a good chance this might happen again in a blacktail spot in region 2 that I've been scouting hard all summer, and just want to get some insight on what other more experienced hunters might do if they encountered the same scenario.

Thanks again for the feedback!

[walks with deer]

Stay up all night drinking then Bring a bigger light and a shotgun shoot them all then check them after.

[markathome]

If you think you're onto a bedding area for BT in Region 2, I'd hunt the entrance and exit - not the zone. Use the wind and sneak in so you're in the entrance/exit when they're getting up - I wouldn't walk into their bedroom - they'll never return. But then again - it's coastal blacktail we're talking here. For all we know, they wait at our trucks for us to come limping back down the mountain.

[Steelpulse]

I would move around them slowly and continue on my regular planned hunt, if I could work that into the hunt maybe but usually I'd just pass that opportunity and keep note of it for a later date, given the timing early October we might still be finding does together and bucks together, with maybe a little intermingling but with the goal,(my goal) of a mature deer I'd move along and hunt the area I had planned. If goal was a smaller buck for any buck season for sure a great chance at a buck in the group, so maybe just walk back and move in when a little lighter.

If if this happened at a later date late October nov for sure would want to get a better look as rut will be heating up and always a chance for a big buck starting to get curious on some doe's.

All of of this is generally speaking, Of course there could be a monster In the group of doe's in early October I just play the odds more

good rule to follow, a legal deer can walk out in front of you or behind you at ANY moment during legal light so be aware

[brian]

So I did go in the bush and learn something - I learned where a major mule deer bedding area is in the very early morning hours. It was pretty cool!

What you ran into was most likely a nighttime bedding area, it is often more exposed and closer to or right in their feeding areas. If you ever find beds on a grassy hillside beside a clear cut, then you have found nighttime beds. After the deer have been feeding for a while and their rumens are full, they will either stand there or lay down and chew their cud. Sometimes they'll lightly snooze and chew cud. I would suspect that these deer Would be gone by day break and heading up to more protective cover. I mean no guarantees of that, just what it sounds most likely to me. Opps I reread your description, that is exactly what you found. They are not committed to these spots like they are to their day time bedding spots.

Now the problem, to get to your hunting spot you had to go up a road which crosses where deer are crossing. You are leaving a fresh scent trail to get to your hunting spot. Are you closing off a good area of deer use on your way in?

[boxhitch]

I would move around them slowly and continue on my regular planned hunt, if I could work that into the hunt maybe but usually I'd just pass that opportunity and keep note of it for a later date, This. you already had something planned out or wouldn't be sneaking about blindly before first light. Stay with the plan, satisfy the first problem, then look at others.

[hotload]

You have done yourself a great service in learning where the bedding area is. IMO, I would have nonchalantly just left, show them your leaving, your not fooling them at this point, they know your there. Your job is not to alarm them and make them feel their bedding ground has been compromised,you don't want them to find other areas. They come across other animals out in their perimeter all the time, they just want to know it was just passing through, like you are trying to show them. Now find the entrance and exit points and hunt that. Wind is your friend.....................Good Luck

[boxhitch]

You are not going to ruin an area by being there once..........or twice or multiple times. The deer have a zone and use it all, a hunter coming along once or twice a year does not compromise anything for any length of time.
Most areas see traffic of some sort or another and if deer were always running or changing habits they would be a whole lot skinnier.

[Harvest the Land]

What you ran into was most likely a nighttime bedding area, it is often more exposed and closer to or right in their feeding areas. If you ever find beds on a grassy hillside beside a clear cut, then you have found nighttime beds. After the deer have been feeding for a while and their rumens are full, they will either stand there or lay down and chew their cud. Sometimes they'll lightly snooze and chew cud. I would suspect that these deer Would be gone by day break and heading up to more protective cover. I mean no guarantees of that, just what it sounds most likely to me. Opps I reread your description, that is exactly what you found. They are not committed to these spots like they are to their day time bedding spots.

Now the problem, to get to your hunting spot you had to go up a road which crosses where deer are crossing. You are leaving a fresh scent trail to get to your hunting spot. Are you closing off a good area of deer use on your way in?

Brian, I think you're exactly right with this being night time bedding area. I hunted this general area last fall and scouted it plenty this past summer, and at first light I only ever saw the odd doe here and there (but tons of sign everywhere). I never saw more than 3 deer at once in this spot during day light hours in the past. So when I walked through this area on opening day in the pitch black I was not expecting to be walking through all of these deer staring at me. It's quite amazing what you can get away with while walking in the dark as opposed to daylight - there's no way those deer would have stuck around during day light.


You have done yourself a great service in learning where the bedding area is. IMO, I would have nonchalantly just left, show them your leaving, your not fooling them at this point, they know your there. Your job is not to alarm them and make them feel their bedding ground has been compromised,you don't want them to find other areas. They come across other animals out in their perimeter all the time, they just want to know it was just passing through, like you are trying to show them. Now find the entrance and exit points and hunt that. Wind is your friend.....................Good Luck

Hotload, thanks for your insight. I did exactly what you would've done, I just kept walking slowly and steadily through the area and didn't stare the deer in the eyes for very long as I made my way through to my spot that I was intending on hunting in the first place. I'm pretty sure I've nailed down where their entry/exit point is into the timber (I've seen does run towards this exit point when they busted me), I know which way the wind blows predominantly in this area and have the perfect spot (about 175yds away) to sit and hunt this area later in October. Definitely will not walk through their bedding area ever again now that I know where it is, and can access the hunting spot from a different route in the dark.

But like Brian suggested, will they still be around come first shooting light? Can't wait to find out!

I've enjoyed reading all the responses, everyone has chosen at least one of the options I listed, which makes this even more interesting.

Also just want to more prepared if I ever encounter this scenario in a different spot in the future. Walking in the dark seems to make a big difference in being able to get closer to the deer.

Cheers!