Spooked a buck, should I let the stand rest?

[DANNY-L]

Don't move your stand because they don't like change,put up another where you can still cover the same area.

 

[stetsonoverton]

I would give it a few days

 

[AZ_hunter117]

I'm with the others that if he didn't get too upset or you shot at him it won't drastically change his behavior. For the most part they tend to follow paths, if they changed every single time they got spooked i don't think they'd have beaten in paths like they do.

But it's been a bit, did you go back? Seen him again?

 

[mmcdonough]

I'm with the others that if he didn't get too upset or you shot at him it won't drastically change his behavior. For the most part they tend to follow paths, if they changed every single time they got spooked i don't think they'd have beaten in paths like they do.

But it's been a bit, did you go back? Seen him again?

I did go back for one evening. Didn't see anything but does and a spike though. He came back to that stand a couple of times at night but now that the pre-rut is about to start he's been in a completely different area. Found a big community scrape that I caught him using a few days ago. Only problem is that he's using it at like 3 am. Hopefully things start to switch once this lull is over!

 

[WCB]

If there are other shooters going by that stand I would hunt it like you normally do. If that is THE buck you are after sure let it rest but I have jumped bucks bedded right by my stands and one actually caught me climbing up the tree and he came back the next night.

 

[huntngolf]

Its so hard to tell how a deer is going to react to being spooked. Just like humans, they all respond differently to situations. I've had some deer that get bumped multiple times but will still continue to stay in the area, and other deer that seem to get the slightest hint of danger and they are gone forever.

That is good that you have still got pictures of him. Not surprised that he is in a different area, seems like most whitetail bucks will have a shift in their areas once the pre rut is just about to start

 

[skeen]

I'm with the others that if he didn't get too upset or you shot at him it won't drastically change his behavior. For the most part they tend to follow paths, if they changed every single time they got spooked i don't think they'd have beaten in paths like they do.

But it's been a bit, did you go back? Seen him again?

I'm with this line of thought too. Whitetail deer spend their lives being spooked by something, or another.
I've seen 'em spook from squirrels, snort at turkeys and run from armadillos. If they altered their travel everytime they spooked, they'd spend their lives confined to a bed.
Go on back and hunt - he's traveling that area for a reason.