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Did I make the right decision?

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
As some of you may know I went hunting tonight despite the weather. I wasn't going too go but the rain ended up holding off for the most part of the hunt. I arrived and was in stand at 3:30 and sat until 7:15 when it decided too rain. When it started too rain I took into though what bowhunter1027 had said to me earlier and decided too pack up and leave not wanting too loose an animal or have anything else go wrong. Well when I reached the bottom of my stand and took the first step into the field there was one of my target deer 25 yards away and immediately bolted off. I guess what I'm asking is will this affect anything? I felt like I made the wrong choice too get down early but yet felt like it was the right choice. Smh…
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
If it rained with hail and blew like it did here you made the right decision.
 

rsmith

Member
1,835
52
As some of you may know I went hunting tonight despite the weather. I wasn't going too go but the rain ended up holding off for the most part of the hunt. I arrived and was in stand at 3:30 and sat until 7:15 when it decided too rain. When it started too rain I took into though what bowhunter1027 had said to me earlier and decided too pack up and leave not wanting too loose an animal or have anything else go wrong. Well when I reached the bottom of my stand and took the first step into the field there was one of my target deer 25 yards away and immediately bolted off. I guess what I'm asking is will this affect anything? I felt like I made the wrong choice too get down early but yet felt like it was the right choice. Smh…

Hate to hear that, that's always tough but if it was getting dark and it was about to rain it was for the better. Out of personal belief I would just give him a week to calm his nerves and let him be able to come in unalarmed and undisturbed, stay out of their if you can for the at least a couple days before going back and he should be back into the swing of things. He may though, maybe, stay away for awhile or worse may not come back, big bucks don't put up with pressure of disturbances but I think if you just made him a little uneasy that he'll bounce back
 

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
I have some other places I will go too for a few. I hate to scare the deer away after working hard too get them there. This is the only time I have had a good chance in this woods since I was started hunting there when I was 8. I don't want too spook them. I just hope he comes back. He just recently started too show up on my cams about a week ago. Just hope he comes back.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Hey now, don't go blaming me! LOL. Like I said in my post, I'll stick it out when warranted. That close to the end of the hunt, I'd stay put. Actually, I would have climbed down about then anyways if it appeared the coast was clear. It was less than 10-15 minutes to the end of legal light which is TOO dark to shoot IMO. Especially on an overcast evening. Climbing down was the right thing to do IMO. What difference would it have made had you climbed down at 8 in the dark? You still spooked him and he'd have still seen you. Only difference is you wouldn't know what deer you spooked.
 

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
I'm not blaming you! Lol. I just took your advice because that what I ask for earlier! I just have too give him some time and I hope he will return!
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,944
139
I'm not blaming you! Lol. I just took your advice because that what I ask for earlier! I just have too give him some time and I hope he will return!

you made right choice. scent will be washed away. Also go figure you shot him tonight and dont find him cause its pouring, then what? Now you know he is alive, and he doesnt know if you were a hunter or a limb falling off a tree from the storm.

Good luck!
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
You made the right choice. Sticking a deer in the rain or just before a rain can end badly real quick and I have seen it done by a few people over the years with horrible outcomes. NOTHING worse then loosing a deer and knowing it could have been avoided by not taking the shot. It would have hung around and you would be playing the "What If " game. It's one thing to take a shot and miss your mark because that just happens from time to time but loosing one from something you could have avoided is a complete different story.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,762
274
North Carolina
If I was on stand and it started too rain like hat I'd of waited until dark.... Probably wouldn't of shot anything risky and looked too see if anything was moving and from which direction they came from..... You made a mistake and may have educated one of your targets.... Is it the end of the world??? Heck no..... Learn from it and move on, we all make judgment calls that we later regret.... Stuff happens.....
 

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
I know where they normally come from especially the bucks. They have been coming from the same place since I was 8. They only come from the way they do is because the little maple woods they stay in they can see and hear all the way around because its all field. I'm not going too return for a few days and hope everything works out. Although on a good note I'm a believer in the scent smoker now. He was down wind and with the winds today I was surprised. He never ran till he saw me and that was before I saw him. Never knew he was there till it was too late and it was getting dark. One thing i learned is that it will happen even if you try to avoid it. Like stated above its not the end of the world but it could have gone better.
 

yotehunter

Member
1,527
36
spencerville oh
I know where they normally come from especially the bucks. They have been coming from the same place since I was 8. They only come from the way they do is because the little maple woods they stay in they can see and hear all the way around because its all field. I'm not going too return for a few days and hope everything works out. Although on a good note I'm a believer in the scent smoker now. He was down wind and with the winds today I was surprised. He never ran till he saw me and that was before I saw him. Never knew he was there till it was too late and it was getting dark. One thing i learned is that it will happen even if you try to avoid it. Like stated above its not the end of the world but it could have gone better.
Or it could have gone worse. If he hasn't been pressured he will be back, eventually. You may have too make small adjustments but if you didn't bump him off the bed he will stay in the area. He may go nocturnal when he goes by that stand but during the rut who knows were you will catch him. He is better alive then killed without you finding him.
 

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
Yea it could have been a lot worse. I didn't bump him off a bed as he was on the edge of a bean field making his way toward me. I never saw him until it was too late. Lol
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,633
234
Licking Co. Ohio
Everything happens for a reason.....remember that.
Personally, I would have stayed. My shot would have been more selective though. JMO but if I am out already, I'm staying. (You can't shoot one from the couch) Again, JMO.
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Everything happens for a reason.....remember that.
Personally, I would have stayed. My shot would have been more selective though. JMO but if I am out already, I'm staying. (You can't shoot one from the couch) Again, JMO.
Yup. When something doesn't go your way, or you get impatient and it boogers a hunt up, you're always gonna second guess yourself. Don't do it. That's just part of hunting big deer, and that's why it's not called killing. Saddle back up and get back after him. It'll either happen, or it won't, but you can't change what happened last night, so don't beat yourself up over it.
 
Xbowguy and Fluteman said it for me. If you decided to not shoot anything due to the rain that's fine but getting out early runs the risk of blowing out deer you didn't want. Yes you could also do it after it was dark but the likelihood of him knowing exactly what you were and where you were would be different. He knows you now and if you pressure him too quickly from the same spot he's going to avoid it altogether. That may have been enough to get him to stray further out for a while anyways. As others have said, rain to me just means my shot selection gets much tighter. Always look at the forecast and make your decision how much is too much before you go out. If you would have shot that deer a half hour earlier you would have been tracking in the rain anyways.
 
I'm thinking it is not that big of a deal. I agree with Jesse 100% that most of the time you can't see good enough to shoot at legal quitting time anyways. I am for the most part hunting one particular deer. As soon as I know that I could make a misjudgement as to the identity of my target buck I get out of my stand. This is usually about 20 minutes before the law says I have to quit. I hunt in the woods and if one hunted fields they could hunt longer with out a doubt.

So you bumped a buck you are hunting, not the end of the world. I'm sure you are not the first human he has encountered, he will not leave the county. Just get back at it and see what happens.