Stay or leave when a Deer blows

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A week ago I had a doe blow at us. 30s later, 2 very deep grunts back at her from the thicket we were next to. Although he didn't step out, he was clearly pulled in investigating.
 
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Deer often blow at things they are not sure about. They blow at sight or sound of a predator. It isn't necessarily a message to flee the area but more of a message of alert. Sit tight. Never give up that well chosen seat, especially when the deer are maybe paying a little more attention. Other deer will also look towards the one blowing unless they can see which way it is blowing / looking.
 
... try to put it out of your mind and keep hunting.
This is the truth! A doe saw me approaching my stand yesterday afternoon. She blew and ran away. After sitting in my stand for 5 minutes, she returned and began looking for me. She circled my stand twice trying to smell or locate me. It was like she knew that I hadn't left, but couldn't find me. 30 minutes later, a 1.5 year old 5 point came and pushed her off the ridge. I grunted a few times and a 2.5 year old 7 point came to the base of my tree. I have a terrible mental battle when deer bust me, but I have learned to sit tight and watch.
 
I saw 5 today after having some blow at me that were bedded down on the logging road I was using to go to my tree. It was still dark when I bumped them.
 
I agree with staying put especially if the deer did not pick up your scent. Deer will snort at sights and sounds they don't like. If they wind you and snort, that deer is unlikely to return unless on high alert. Last week I was moving slowly to a stand and got snorted at three times by deer up wind of me. After I got settled into my stand, I snort wheezed back. Less than 30 minutes later I had two bucks walk down and under the stand. I was videoing the first buck and then surprised by a shooter. Both came from the direction of the snorts which was very close. Scent control was key to sealing the deal. The smaller buck crossed my trail and fed on acorns down wind of me. The larger buck followed a few minutes later and gave me a 15 yard quartering away shot.
 

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Stay. A lot of blowing right now is at pestering bucks.
Yep, seen that many times, or could be coyotes. Had a young deer blow right after I got in the stand a couple weeks ago. No way the deer winded me, and shouldn't have seen me. Later on watched a little deer come across and stop and stared to my left. Looked over where the deer was staring, and there was a not so wiley coyote. Shot the yote and shot at a second yote and went on to see more deer after the commotion.
 
Stay. This morning I was walking towards my back parcel and stopped behind a brush pile to watch some does feeding on acorns about 150 yds away. I stopped, hoping a buck was nearby. Unfortunately, I did not see a sentry doe that was between me and the group, hidden behind an oak only 40 yds away. She blew and ran towards the other does, stopping where they stood. They looked up, one stomped two times, then they all (including the doe that blew) went back to feeding.

This is only one of several times this season a doe blew but nearby deer either didn't react by leaving the area. Other times one blew and left, but deer came in after the fact.
 
Deer blowing is a good sign your in an area with deer. It may be they aren't blowing at you. I always check the wind to see if the sound is from down wind. Sometimes a blowing deer will attract other deer too. I keep a deer blowing call handy and when they blow, I'll blow back at them. I can't say it works but it does usually stop them from blowing more.
 

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