Had the chance on a nice public 9pt this evening. Came right under my stand, but I go to stand up and he spooks trots out to about 35yds and I miss. Grr... my question is what do I do now. Keep hunting this spot in hopes to catch him again another day. Do they tend to hang in one general area? or good chance he has moved on? This is prob a deer hunting 101 question, but new and trying to learn.

did he look up at you? if he only ran 35 yards he prolly wasnt too scared but you can bet your azz he gonna be weary next time he strolls thru there.

I'd personally lay off and not pressure him if hes a goodun. let him cool off

just reread that and realized you spooked him to 35 first, then shot. I would definitely try and catch him somewhere else cuz he knows that area has some bad juju about it now

IMO Id hunt the spot. Ive jumped a buck in a spot. Killed a separate buck in the same spot a couple hours later before dark.Went back to the same spot the next morning and the first buck came through. Couldn't get a shot but he was right back in there.

Thanks!

Just a little advice if you don't mind me giving it to you. Stand as much as you can take and never get caught sitting down, ever.

Yeah tough lesson learned today!

Let it cool off a day or two. If a no show camp out there when the rut gets close in ur area and you’ll probably get another shot.

You can hunt it again however if possible try to move 75-100 yards up because if he is a decent on he will now try to avoid the area but he may just swing around 75 yards or so

What was your reasoning for hunting that spot to begin with.

this^^^^ from a real deer killer.

Stand yer lazy arse up and stay ready. You should of seen him coming way before he got too close. Put the damn Iphone up and keep alert.

I agree with standing a lot but also know when you can stand and when you can't. Learn to shoot sitting down. I have killed a bunch sitting down

PawPaw gonna teach y’all something if you’ll listen.

One question though, how do you get yer walker up in the tree with you?

We have shooting rails. We leave our walkers on the ground and phones in our pockets, turned off.

If you could still hear, you wouldn't have to worry about one sneaking up on you while playing with your phone..

Especially on a windy day or when the ground is wet. If it's a calm morning, you don't have to worry about it as much.

Personally, I rotate standing and sitting. More because I can't sit for that long than anything. I always position my left hand side towards where the deer will come from.

That's awesome!
I wish I could always know which way the deer was coming from.
Do you always know WHEN they're coming too?
Cause that would be super handy!

LOL Mark. I rarely sit, and then only for a few minutes. If you get caught sitting yer chances of arrowing that buck go down dramatically. And if non targeted deer get under you and a good buck approaches good luck in getting stood up without spooking the other deer. Hell, if my old ass can stand so can you youngsters.

When I first hear a deer, my next step is standing up whenever possible. Some folks shoot sitting down. Haven't shot sitting down since I don't know when.

Y'all keep getting caught sitting down and you'll start standing.

Shot my first bow kill sitting. Didn’t even realize I did it til after he crashed. Shot a doe the other evening sitting in my climber. First time for that. Not by choice either but I got it dun. I do A LOT of standing. Even better when I’m in a spot with no cell service to tempt me!!

Well yeah, I normally know when they are coming.... Put your hearing aids in next time you go and you will too.

youd probably lose your mind over this, but I've got me a Louis lamour book stuffed in my pack for today. Gonna be a long all day sit in the stand.

Why sit all day?
You know which way they're coming and when they're coming. Just read the book at camp and go set up 1/2 hour before the deer arrive
J/K good luck!

dang kids. I NEVER carrry a book or look at my phone to "occupy"my time in the stand. I came to kill a deer. Looking down at yer lap WILL cost you deer. Period.

No telling how many times all I see of a deer is a 2 second glimpse at 75 yards. Rattle or grunt and you may have a chance. Keep reading and yer done.

You, nor I, can twist and shoot a deer to yer strong side when sitting, but standing gives you way more mobility. And I can't predict where a deer will come from most of the time so I try to be prepared. Girls sit, men stand.

We all hunt different and with different intensity. I don't read books during bow season or the rut but I've been known to do so at other times. I'm out there to relax and enjoy gods creation. Sometimes that includes reading a book and sometimes it includes spending the whole time in the stand glassing. Just all depends on my mood, time of year, work load, etc. heck I've even taken my laptop to a shooting house and worked on reports/projects while hunting.

It depends on how bad you spooked him and how old he is. It doesn’t sound like he was spooked too bad but he’ll definitely be more cautious with that area. I would keep hunting the stand as you normally would with good conditions and rest it as you normally would. But, I would give him time to come back through the area without having the same scare. Basically, give him a few extra days on top of the normal time in between hunting that stand. They don’t typically leave an area completely unless really scared so at most he will probably just alter his route for several days.