Took a doe from a group of 8

[Short Track]

I took a doe from an elevated blind at 20 yards. Group of 8 doe that crossed this path every evening like clockwork.
I had my camera on this path for years.
Since I took this doe, not 1 doe has crossed the path since. It's been 8 days.

Is that possible they are that smart, and changed their behavior?

When I killed the doe, I had to chase the others away who were standing there not sure of what just happened. It's not like I killed the lead doe, or the matriarch.

 

[KenLee]

You freaked them out. I hunt properties with houses all around and still never go into live deer after a kill.
I throw stuff, bark at them, even play heavy metal music on my phone, wait them out, or slip out the back and drive truck/tractor/4 wheeler back in.

If you killed the lead doe, the next 2 in line are probably having spats over what to do.

 

[Skerhunter]

I would say that is pretty normal. If doe use a trail daily and they bust you the smart ones aren’t coming back.

 

[Nine Banger]

I essentially only shoot into big groups of does in my AO.

Did you shoot with a suppressor? If not, get one.

With a suppressor they usually circle their wagons and look as a group, and almost always in the wrong direction and the opportunity for multiple targets is the norm.

They will come back.

Are you in the southeast? Daylight patterns are changing daily right now with breeding activity. My herd is starting to break up into smaller groups and the button bucks are moving away from their mom and look like solitary does if you aren't careful.

Its probable that some of those "does" in a group of 8 are male.

 

[Macintosh]

You freaked them out. I play heavy metal music on my phone, and drive truck/tractor/4 wheeler back in.

This. Or pop country. Works every time. Just not waylon, they’ll stick around forever.

 

[KenLee]

Another thing I thought of: if the doe bled like a stuck hog and you didn't throw dirt over the blood or rain wash it away fairly quickly, that could be a problem.
More likely if they are rural deer.
Urban deer will eat bloody corn

 

[*zap*]

it was the first in line?

 

[KenLee]

This. Or pop country. Works every time. Just not waylon, they’ll stick around forever.

How did you see the Waylon hat on my dash?

 

[KenLee]

it was the first in line?

Lead doe is the boss, no matter location in group.
Earlier I missed where OP said he didn't kill the lead doe. He probably should have. He left the smart one.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

i had a similar set up - used to be able to kill multiple deer per year on exactly the same trail. killed the lead doe in 2018, did not see a single deer take that path again until 2023.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Why did stop shooting at one is the bigger question? Daily limit?

 

[Dexter Grayson]

You might as well move your elevated blind now. That whole group of does know that spot as danger now and will avoid going close to it. Which in the long term means they aren’t going to bring a buck by when they are in rut. It’s best practice to not kill does from permanent blinds.

 

[Short Track]

Maybe some corn will change their minds : )
Corn ---- danger zone : ) Tough choice...

 

[Boarmaster]

Where I hunt I can shoot a groups of doe and they might come back in an hour. But if they actually see me they might not come back through for 3-5 days.

 

[Drenalin]

I've hunted several places where killing a doe didn't make any difference to their movement patterns, at least after a few days. One season, I shot a doe out of a small group at 8:30 a.m. on opening day, then another exactly one week later out of the same stand walking the same trail. However, when I've been picked off by a group of does, and especially if it happens more than once, they're going to change things up. I like to shoot the old floppy eared b***h out of the group if I can.

 

[fatlander]

Deer can seem to fickle creatures, but I’ve found that all have their own personalities and tendencies.

Here’s long story about about a doe remembering that I killed the rest of her family:

6 years ago, I killed a really big doe in October with two fawns feeding on a specific oak ridge. at the very end of the season, end of December, I killed what I thought was a mama doe with a doe fawn on the same ridge. It was a button buck, so actually the doe fawn’s brother. For the next six years, that doe would seek me out anytime I hunted the area. The deer are like clockwork on this farm on how they feed and utilize the landscape. I would see multiple family groups of does/fawns in the same afternoon over the years hunting this same area, but lo and behold this one doe always found ways to find me. She was easy to spot, she walked around looking up. I hunt mobile on that farm, so I was hardly ever in the same tree. Sometimes, she’d hit my thermal dumping out 100-150 yards away and march back looking for me, blowing her brains out, getting just close enough to let everything else know where I was but never actually give me a shot with the bow.

I finally killed her last year. I’d seen about a dozen deer that evening within 50 yards. She caught my wind at 100 yards after feeding by at 20. Marched her way right to my tree, looked up and me and went bonkers. She briefly stopped at 35 yards, long enough for me to sneak an arrow in. She had two fawns with her.

We’ll see if the trend continues. When I slip in there in late October.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N2TRKYS]

Just depends on the area. I could shoot a bunch of does and does would be right back in the same area the next day.