Will a Deer Come Back After Blowing or Being Spooked?

Analyzing and understanding whitetail behavior can be a significant part of the deer hunting process, especially when chasing an older, mature buck that has been hunted before. While I certainly don’t consider myself an “expert” on whitetail behavior, I do have extensive deer hunting experience, and my day job gives me access to many other successful deer hunters with a wealth of experience and wisdom.

One deer behavior question I see asked quite a bit is will a deer come back after blowing or being spooked? 

Honestly, it’s a challenging question to answer because there are several reasons that may cause a whitetail to snort, and not every reason means that the snorting deer won’t return to the area.

How Do Deer Snort?

Whitetail deer snort by forcefully expelling air through their nasal passages. As the air exits the deer’s nose and runs through its nostrils, it creates a “whoosh” sound.

Not all deer snorts sound the same because not every snort has the same meaning. For example, some deer snorts are soft sounding and may signify confusion. And then there are very loud alarm snorts that almost sound like a whistle being blown.

With the louder alarm-type snorts, the deer forces its nostrils together so the expelled air creates a whistling sound.

Why do Deer Snort?

Whitetail bucks and does are capable of snorting, and, most of the time, the snort is an alarm signal to other whitetails in the area. Typically, these alarm snorts will be accompanied by other behavior, including hoof stomping or foot stomping, tail flicking, and tail flair or raised tail.

Deer biologists believe that these secondary behaviors, when accompanied by a snort, are associated with danger. The secondary behaviors are believed to serve as a visual clue to other deer in the area. 

However, not every snort is meant to be an alarm, so here are a few other scenarios where whitetails will snort:

Soft Curiosity-Based Snorts

I’ve seen situations, especially with doe deer decoys, where does will approach a decoy and do a soft snort, especially when they get close to the decoy to investigate.

Some deer researchers believe that these types of soft snorts are more inquisitive based than alarm oriented.

Loud Snorts from Does Being Chased by Bucks

I’ve also been in the stand just before the rut really ramped up and observed instances of does snorting at bucks that were investigating them. It appeared that these does were not in full heat yet, so the snorts almost sounded like a warning to the buck to leave them alone.

Loud Snorts from Does When Feeding in a Group

There have been several occasions where I’ve been hunting over a food source and observed feeding does do a loud snort when other bucks or does get too close. I suspect the snort was a warning of sorts that the other deer were getting too close to where this doe was feeding. This behavior seems more common when the doe has a fawn.

The Impact of a Snorting Deer on Your Hunt

The impact of a snorting deer on a hunt can vary depending on factors such as the reason for the blow, whether the deer detected the hunter, and how other deer respond to the snort.

In some of the examples I mentioned above, I stayed in my tree stand and continued to hunt even after the snorts because I didn’t feel like the deer were specifically snorting at my presence.

If a deer starts blowing or snorting during your hunt, I’d suggest the following:

• As I mentioned before, not every snort is a danger signal, so I’d suggest staying put to see how things pan out.
• Even if you’re confident the deer is snorting at your presence, I’d still consider staying in the stand because there are always chances that other, different deer will come along or the spooked deer will return.

Here’s a real-life situation that happened to me:

A friend and I were hunting a small plot of land (just over 20 acres) that bordered a large soybean field. Trail camera data showed that the whitetails were moving from a bedding area along a game trail bordering an old creek to access the soybeans. They used the trail to enter and exit the soybean field in the morning and evening.

We set up tree stands about 200 yards apart along the trail. Right after first light, a group of three does come walking down the game rail towards my stand. One of these does in this group had a noticeable and very distinct scar along her back. I was chasing a specific buck, so I just watched these girls meander along. However, as they walked within about 30 yards of my location, the lead doe stopped and raised her head to check the wind. As she raised her head, she looked right at me in the stand.

I froze and tried not to maintain eye contact with her. She knew something was up and stomped once while letting out a loud snort. The group immediately fled with the tell-tale white tail being raised. Even though I was using a scent control, I suspect that being so close, she picked up my scent.

I was concerned that my hunt was over but decided to stay in the stand because I didn’t want to spook anything for my buddy. About an hour and a half later, I spotted two more does walking down the trail out of the soybean field. As they got closer, I recognized the one with the distinct scar. Even though she had spooked with the other does earlier that morning, she came walking right by me again as if she had no idea I was there.

The point of that story is this: just because you think you’ve been busted by a snorting deer doesn’t necessarily mean that your hunt is over.