Whitetail’s State of mind

[omer]

Hello experienced hunters or hunters with knowledge. I am an inexperienced hunter with some lucky success over the years. On 10th September i head out to region 8 for my whitetail. In the evening i saw 3 bucks and 2 does in a field and after spotting me they ran towards edge of dense forest. I could still take a shot but i waited and they were gone. Same day i had seen a young buck in the same field early morning. Now for the next 2 days i spent in that field but no deer at all. Seemed to me that this ground was their popular spot. But i am really disappointed as why they never showed up again. Were they too spooked? Any thoughts? I regret not taking they shot now :-|

[hawk-i]

Whitetail are at least twice as alert as muley's...they may or may not be back again for quite some time during daylight hours...:)

[weatherby_man]

Could be a few things, spooked, you were winded and they smelled you, they were watching you from a vantage point,,,or they just hit another spot to feed after you spooked them the first time. Keep trying, make sure you know where they came from and whether wind is a factor, maybe youre too close to where they come into the field. A lot of variables. Then again could just be some plain bad luck, which will eventually change, keep going!!

[praire dog]

Have a look around for rubs, scrapes....very territorial. I have had a lot of success with grunt calling and rubbing/bashing an antler on small saplings. Obviously works better closer to and during the rut. Whitetail bucks respond very well to this method. Watch carefully, sometime they appear silently out of nowhere and sometimes they roar in like a freight train.

[Linksman313]

My locale in R8 has become prone to extreme and devastating windstorms as of late (will start another topic as to why when I have more facts to discuss)
it is also tremendously smoky and hard on the eyes currently

The family and I went out to my brothers fav hunting spot on Sunday (first b-day since passing in March) to hang out and honor his memory
observed 5 whitetails total (3 doe, 2 buck one closing day shooter) and found them all to be extremely skittish (spotting scope with the kids observing)
i would guess the lack of visibility and smoke masking predator scent would throw them off their typical routes - especially when entering/exiting food areas (farm field)
I would look for the super impassible cover for their entries and as always find the water, find the deer
In times like this i have started lacing up the good boots and creeping my way up creek beds or drainages when the wind is right to find their hiding spots
Good luck, sounds like you have the first part down, you found them


P.S. just for an example of weird behaviour amoungst the ungulates with this smoke: Observed a small herd of elk Sept 10, 2020 lets say approx 17-20 (two bulls - no shooter :( ) standing in the middle of the river on an island (dry gravel bar) a ways north up the Granby Valley, smoke surrounding them in every direction. Bull walked back and forth for hours while we watched checking each shore multiple times but unsure what side to lead the herd off. Never seen that before! Was awesome for the kids to see the herd idle for that long to sit and watch.