Years ago, after setting up my ladder stand, I climbed in to see what I could see. A 7-point came through, following my trail and obviously sniffing my tracks. He kept coming down the trail and then proceeded to chew the branches over a scrape about 30 yards away before moving on. I killed him, or his twin brother, on opening morning from that stand.
He obviously smelled my tracks and obviously didn't GAF about it in the absence of other danger signs. Maybe a older and wiser one would have.
I killed a buck in November with my ML. A spike that was with my buck fidgeted around after the shot, smelling the fallen deer now and again, and in general acting confused about the situation. He finally wandered off in the direction from which they had come. I got down from my stand and my son came over and helped me dress out the buck. Then we went back to our stands, leaving my pack lying next to the dressed buck. Soon after, the spike came back, repeated the sniffing business with the deer and my pack, actually touching it with his nose. Again, he eventually turned and went back the way he'd come from, agitated, but not panicked.
I've seen similar behavior. I've never seen a mature buck do such though.
We all gage mature differently at times. What I can say is we've shot a trash buck, and had it fall over for some reason instead of run off on the place where we have to hunt out of stands and with feeders.... and later a more mature buck will come by and eat next to the dead one. 5.5 is about the oldest I can age one on the hoof IE guessing, and for sure I"ve had 4.5 year old ones do it.
Years ago I had shot a spike and a 4.5 year old buck came by later, not large enough for my tastes and kicked the arrow out of the way while eating the rest of the evening...
This is not common though from what I"ve seen.
Abnormal sights/scents/sounds is what gets them IMHO. Around our house, you can hunt without having taken a shower or changing clothes generally without a worry, although from the bow stand up close now and then it will get you.
One of the best bucsk I've shot with a bow over the yeras, shot at 15 steps, and had come downwind of me coming into the stand, I'd just drive home in the drizzle, put on a pair of ski pants and an old goretex mil jacket and sat down 5 minutes earlier... that deer was aged at 6.5 He was not full downwind, but he was about 90% of the way there, when he angled and came on in.
But that stand is at the house, couple hundred feet away, the dog barks at the deer half the time, we go in and out of the house, barn etc... drive in and drive off and most of the time the deer don't care. Obviously the mature ones are a bit spookier than the young ones but thast to be expected overall.
