Bumping deer...

[buckhunter21]

I've seen a lot of hunters on here talk about this, and ask ways to avoid this or keep it to a minimum.  Whether this is bumping deer in the woods on your way into a stand, or bumping them in a field on your way out, we'd love to hear what everyone does!

[Woods Walker]

If you are entering and leaving the woods in the dark, then bumping deer is a "cost of doing business" to a large extent. Some of the ways to alleviate this are to map your approaches and retreats through areas where you know that your chances of bumping deer are reduced. Traveling to and from so that you make sure that your scent doesn't blow to where you suppose deer might be is also a method.
 
The last few years that I treestand hunted, there were several of my woods stands that I wouldn't even go to until after full light, so that I was basically stillhunting into my stand. I was actually amazed on how well this worked, and after the first few times where it was a real effort to NOT "hurry" to my stand, I was slowing down to the point where it was taking me longer and longer to get there, until I just started stillhunting all the time.
 
This won't work on all stands of course, but if you have to travel through prime deer habitat to get there, you have an ideal spot.
 
Besides, spending hunting hours actually HUNTING your way in beats hell out of amusing yourself with video games! [;)]

[buckhunter21]

Good point.  Do any of you grunt, snort-wheeze, etc, when a deer has blown at you or runs off due to you bumping them?  ....and do you think this calms them down a bit?

[hunt4fun]

I wouldn't want to use a deer call for a couple reasons. First, this can possibly educate them to a human making deer noises and then they may not respond to them favorably later on when trying to lure one in.  Secondly, when a deer hears another deer, they may start looking even more intently to try and see the deer, upping your chances of being busted completely.  What I would recommend would be using a turkey mouth call.  Turkeys are often noisy while walking through the woods scratching for acorns in the fall.  Also, deer are quite used to turkeys and don't pay much attention to them since they are not a threat.  The only catch with this is for it to be more natural, it should be light out.

[Blake Dandurand]

True, I never even think about calling to them. That is probably the worst thing you can do, due to the possibility of educating the deer. Instead when I get busted, I stop and stand still as a tree and dont move whatsoever till I know for sure the deer is long gone, or for at least five minutes. this is because probably 90% of the deer you bump dont know what you truelly are, they may have heard a noise, or just caught a wiff or slight movement they didnt like, and with deer being as skittish as they are, the smart ones run first and think later. I dont know how many deer I have observed that blow and run a little ways due to another deer making an unexpected motion or noise, its very peculiar how they act. Also I stand and wait so long because too many times to count I have busted a deer, got frustrated and just continue walking and bust more deer that were never alarmed by the other deer right in the same spot. This scenario too I have observed, which one or two deer will bust and run off, yet another deer or multiple deer will pay no attention, and just continue on with their activities. Basically busting deer is just a bad move in a big ol' chess game, and you got to strategize and figure out the best move for countering this fault.

[buckhunter21]

All good points here guys, and I think it's one of those deals where everyone has their own opionions.  I read somewhere, that if you bump deer, or spook them in a way, to make a deer sound to cover it up, and that's what I usually do.  Am I educating them?  Not sure, but I haven't seen any difference in sightings, or how they react to my calls in a non-threatening situation.