Busted!

How to find and tag the buck you spooked

- Gerald Almy

That’s it. It’s all over, I thought. The 4-year-old 10-point buck that I had scouted, photographed, and painstakingly held off hunting until conditions were absolutely perfect was gone…forever, I assumed, when my arrow flew high and he bounded away in a panic.

That’s exactly what many hunters believe, whether they whiff a shot, bump a buck while heading to their stand, or get busted on watch. Sure, you might get a second opportunity on a young deer, but an older buck? Not a chance.

On a crowded public area, that may be true. But in most cases, you shouldn’t be so quick to write off a mature buck that you bump just once. Handle things right and you could get a second chance.

First, consider what happened. How spooked is the buck? A whitetail that just vaguely notices movement or scents you isn’t likely to permanently leave the area or become “unhuntable.” On the other hand, a buck that has three senses alerted—scent, sight, and hearing—is much tougher to get a second crack at. But the situation isn’t hopeless.

How thick was the cover? Deer in open areas may run a half mile. In dense cover a buck might only bound 150 yards and hunker down. Analyze exactly where the buck was and what he was doing. Was he traveling, feeding, hooked up with a doe, bedded in thick cover, pushed out by a drive?