doe snort

[AgesofDays]

I was in the woods the other day deer hunting and started to doze off out of nowhere a deer came in and caught me off guard anyway when I turned to see what it was it saw me first and started running away and snorting the whole way up the hill probably 5 min. worth ,now my question is I didnt see if it was a buck or doe ,but will either animal do that snort or what, I,ve never heard a deer do it for that long of a time before and it sounded as if it was ****** ,do you think it was a buck or doe?

 

[playfarmers]

I see does that snort like that all the time. We have whitetails that come into town, and I always see them when walking my dog. They snort like crazy and run off a short distance, and stand and watch us. The spike buck I shot this year spotted me and took off snorting, and snorted for at least 5 min back in the trees. I stayed still and didn't make a sound. It finaly went silent and I thought it had left, but it came back through the trees to find out just what I was.

 

[roundball]

Had one like that night before last...was sitting a stand down deep in a thick bottom overlooking a trail crossing a drainage ditch...had just settled in at 4:00pm, knew not to expect any mpovement until 5:00pm, etc.

It was warm and I was cooling off from the walk, wasn't being too careful about my movements yet, raising a bottle of water to drink occasionally and all of a sudden there's this loud snort from 25-30 yards away...Doe standing their busted me.

I froze but she just stood there staring...I had the wind so she coulnd't scent me but had me in her sights. Every half minute or so she'd stamp a foot and snort...I knew that had to stop or I'd never see a deer by dark...didn't want to shoot her so I took my cap off and waved it back & forth wildly...she turned and bounded away making a loud snort with every leap for a 100 yards !!

 

[PitchyPine]

We call it blowing and i hate it when a doe does that, alerts every deer within miles that there is something wrong. :nono:

 

[rabjr]

You can turn this to your advantage. Simply snort back. If they don't wind you but snort because they saw movement of just sence something not right, more often than not they will calm down if you snort back at em. I do this all the time and had deer go right back to feeding. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I agree. The Doe is snorting to ask, " Who's There?" If you snort back- just put your hand over your mouth to send the sound in a slightly different direction, and snort- you are telling her its okay, you are just grazing like she is. Most times she will simply go back to doing what she was doing before the encounter.

Deer don't have good depth perception. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads, to catch movement, but they can't really use their eyes like you do to estimate how far away something is, or often what it is. Their genes tell them that when in doubt. RUN AWAY! When that doe goes running off, snorting, she is saying " I am scared!" to anyone and everyone in the woods.

If you start cussing, or coughing, or talking, and moving around, IT will be YOU who tells the rest of the deer in the woods where you are, what you are, and that you are the one that scared her. Then, they will also avoid you, and the area you are in.

So, take Swamp Rat's suggestion, and simply give a snort back to the doe. At the very worst, it will send her on her way quicker, and at the best, you will experience what I have, and what he has on several occasions.

Another thing to consider taking to your stand is a squirrel bark call. Sometimes, simply making a bark like a squirrel will also calm the deer so you don't give away your position. Obviously this works better when squirrels are active during the day, but deer don't keep track of squirrel's time tables either. I have seen more than one deer spooked by a silly squirrel running and jumping to a tree trunk. And I have seen and heard squirrels barking at deer from the safety of trunks and limbs.

 

[PitchyPine]

You can turn this to your advantage. Simply snort back. If they don't wind you but snort because they saw movement of just sence something not right, more often than not they will calm down if you snort back at em. I do this all the time and had deer go right back to feeding. :thumbsup:

Have to give that a try next time a talkative doe is making a fuss.

 

[bob1961]

i was out hunting one time and while walking up to some thick stuff i heard a deer snort and hop off bout 30 yards and then just stand there stomping and snorting on the other side of the thicket....so i started to stomp and snort back....i was bout 30 yards out in the open from the thicket the deer was behind and slowly it begang walking round the thicket toward me stomping and still snorting at me....finaly it showed up in the open round the thicket and was looking at a 45 degree angle from me fer the other deer it thought had spooked it in the first place....but it turned out to be a nice big 8 point buck that i was looking at through my scope on my marlin lever action .35 at bout 35 yards....the only problem was that this was wed the last day of bear season and deer season didn't open till monday :rotf: ...........bob

 

[bramble]

'round home we've always called it blowing.
bramble

 

[jethro224]

Sounds like blowin' yer nose without a kleenex. Does do it all the time. So do young bucks. Almost as common as flagging.
I have never heard a mature buck blow nor seen one stomp or flag. While does and young bucks are all for the good of the herd, mature bucks are more "every man for himself". While the herd is stompin' and blowin' with their white flags flyin', he's sneakin' off into the thick stuff.
YMMV

 

[bramble]

That's how they got to be old bucks
bramble

 

[KyFlintlock]

I couldn't agree more Jethro... I have seen those big uns sneak off as quietly as they can.

I have also seen 2.5yr old bucks less than 100 yards away, ignore a doe after a few minutes that was doing the "blowing". I used to think it was "over" when one blew, not anymore.

Good luck
wess

 

[roundball]

I have also seen 2.5yr old bucks less than 100 yards away, ignore a doe after a few minutes that was doing the "blowing". I used to think it was "over" when one blew, not anymore.

Right on...and other things will spook a deer into snorting besides a human...I've sat in a tree stand and watched them react to a dog trotting through the area, etc.

And there are different types of snorts...some are just the half hearted, occasional, low volume "should I really be worried" kind of a snort.....to the other extreme of running off at a full gallop, snorting at full volume, as often and as long as it takes to get the human smell out of their nose...

 

[Maynerd62411]

I got snorted at twice , this morning , by a young buck. He must not have seen me, because he came right at me 15 minutes later and then he SAW me. He got within 5 yards of my stand , on the wrong side and stopped and looked straight at me. He was on the wrong side to shoot at before he was gone. I figured he smelled me, but couldn't find me and came looking for me.