Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting PA Deer hunting question

This question is for the folks who hunt the "big" woods in north central PA. If you happen to bump deer/a deer while moving through the woods and you sit down and get really quiet, do they circle back into the same territory you bumped them from or do they run into the next time zone. The reason I asked is that in my youth while hunting Carbon/ Susquehanna Counties (smaller plots of woods) the aforementioned happened often offering you another shot.

I think that's very dependent on the deer and situation.
For example was an older buck that knows what hunting pressure means. Did the deer just smell you and bounce off? Did the deer smell you and see you as well? I think your chances are much higher on a slightly "bumped" deer that's not over used to hunting pressure.
A deer that knows the gig and not only smelled you but also saw you probably isn't slowing down anytime soon

Depends how pressured and how smart they are!

It never happens for me. I try sitting there because I was told that once that given an hour or so bumped deer will circle back. But it's never worked out so I quit believing it. And yes I hunt the northcentral big woods

It's been along time since I hunted PA. They may not come back right away, but they didn't venture far from their home territory. Not like mulies. We hunted mostly around Medix Run and Renovo

Both of these statements ring pretty accurate in my 50+ years of hunting PA deer, no difference if it was big woods or not.

My experience on bumped deer has been how badly you alarmed or scared the deer. Deer that just winded you or busted you from a distance usually will not move very far until they settle down and feel safe again and sometimes will circle back around the same day. If you really scare the hell out of a deer and it gets out of town in a real hurry chances are it will travel much farther and take a longer time to settle down. You probably wont find that deer in the same area as you jumped it until it has spent at least a night in the woods to forget about the confrontation.

it's been about 11 - 12 years since i still-hunted big woods, but i would say no.

most of the deer stay still, until you are walking straight at them. i can't count how many deer stayed still while i was still hunting. how many deer that stayed still that i never knew of? i betcha it is alot!!!