contaminated game trail ??

[RAMAMOE]

Here's the question ! I have had plenty of action in an area of an old creekbed .Opening night my buddy connected on a doe..She dropped and was cleaned well off the trail we made ( also the trail that the deer have been using since we made it ) we dragged the deer down the trail to the truck...Ever since that night the deer pics off the trail have gone from great to non-existent
I put apples all over the area and they have not been touched in two days..Are the deer picking up on the scent of their downed comrade and staying away or is it coincidence...Any thoughts would be appreciated...

[DuckHunt]

Its hard to say, but from experience, it could be a coincidence. I've killed many deer next to a gut pile. I've seen six deer killed in three days off the same white five gallon bucket against a tree. Some people have all the luck.

The smell of another deer, even innards, doesn't effect them at all. Too much human smell can though. It depends on how much human contact they have in your area. Where I hunt deer see humans all the time. Most everything I kill is within a half mile of a house. While bow hunting, many are within a quarter mile of a house. But if you are in an area where deer are very wary of human scent, too much human contact can send them into hiding.

DuckHunt

[wabi]

They pay very little attention to a gut pile or a dead one of their own kind where I hunt.

I usually field dress them where they fall, and I've had deer come in on the same trail the next day.

At my stand this evening and had two bucks sparring on a trail that comes in to the food plot behind some cedars. I killed a buck and gutted him on that same trail less than 2 weeks ago, and these were the 2 bucks that were with him the evening I shot him.

[bob1961]

i spooked a buck and doe yesterday with the wrong wind that carried my scent to them and they went the other way instead to me like they have for weeks now....i even went over to see where they went after they were out of sight after only 15 minutes....i seen white flags wavin bout 100 yds out going the other way....same time tonight when i wasn't out there they went where they always went the past few weeks....these place in just past my back yard only bout 150 yds away and i see these same deer all year using waht trails....too bad the buck is only a forky with no brow tines and he needs at least 3 to a side, but the doe is a nice big breeder doe i'd say will dress out bout 175 .........bob

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[R.J.]

I agree , usually deer pay very little attention to gut pile etc.

But ... We have a large coyote population , and the gut pile brings extra coyote action , that spooks the deer out for a few days .

Give it a few more days and all will return to normal ....

At least thats what I have experienced on the farms I hunt .

[bigbuckonly1]

Its your smell they are avoiding.

[hetichunter]

I agree , usually deer pay very little attention to gut pile etc.

But ... We have a large coyote population , and the gut pile brings extra coyote action , that spooks the deer out for a few days .

Give it a few more days and all will return to normal ....

At least thats what I have experienced on the farms I hunt .

Same thing here. Guts won't last the night but the coyote stink will be there for days!

[RAMAMOE]

thanks everyone ..though we don't have a coyote issue up here...maybe it is our scent they are picking up ..late august to mid september we were feeding steadily, and we are not in an isolated area...Maybe I just stink...

[Shotnbeer]

i was dragging a deer out in the snow one time and took a breather. when I looked back from wher I came from I spotted a nice six point following the trail I left in the snow. Go figure.