Buck behavior experts

[BP in ME]

I was hunting around camp last week where deer density is extremely low but so is hunting pressure. A month ago I set up a stand on a funnel. When I checked for sign last week, I was excited to see a few punch marks and even a scrape there. I suspect that maybe even two bucks are using the scrape but my attempt to prove that with a trail cam fell short due to me setting it up wrong.

My first morning hunt I sat for an hour and then rattled. 15-20 minutes later a little yearling crotch horn comes down the trail, taking his time, sniffing everything, peeing on the scrape, and licking the branch. Then he headed to the right sniffing and nibbling as he went until he seemed to change his mind and came back down the trail under the stand where he hit my boot tracks. He followed them to the climbing stick and sniffed that all over before deciding he should leave (quietly).

The question is: did he respond to the rattling or was he just going about his routine? Usually when I've had little ones come in they've snuck by in the shadows and didn't hang around too long. Can't say as I blame them. I've seen how the top dogs sometimes come stomping in looking to kick some azz.

[Babe Winkleworm]

You peeked his interest by the noise so he came to investigate. Just as you heard a noise in your back yard and you go around the house to see what it was. You might looks for signs of boot tracks or see if anything is out of place....same deal. He cut your tracks probably not realizing they were human but there was a different smell and he opted to move out.

[boneil]

I'm gonna go with he was coming in on his own, but we'll never know for sure. In my experience with rattling, when a buck comes to rattling, a big buck comes in quick looking to fight and a small buck comes in slower and moves with curiosity. He keeps his head up looking for the fighting. You described normal behavior that didn't appear influenced by the rattling.