AppalachianTracker

It has been my experience that when a doe snorts it is because she isn't quite sure what you are and is sounding an alarm. On the mountain I hunt it is sometimes coupled after stomping the ground with a foot. I have had them run around me for up to 45 minutes and snort several dozen times, but is only on this one mountain I hunt. It has also been my experience that when a buck snorts it is a challenge rather than an alert. I usually wait it out and the deer always come back. You may try putting your hands together and blowing back. That really drives them crazy : ) .

jachunter

What about scratching the bark...Maybe she'll think it was a squirrel

MidwestJ

I understood that when they snorted, they were blowing all the air out of their nose so that they could inhale more and try to catch more of the scent that was alarming them. Just like a dog does. My beagle does this when she's sniffing something....she'll sniff and then really blow out hard through her nose and go back to sniffing.

jachunter has it right, make a bleat noise with your nose/mouth and heck even try snortin back at em.

I had 2 does snorting at me and I snorted back at em. That drew another doe right under my stand and she stopped 10 yards in front of me in trying to join up with the other 2 does that were snorting.

Wave

I got busted monday by a doe 40-50 yards away, she got wind of me. here's the interesting part that ki.d of relates to your story. there was a fawn with this doe, when momma got the scent she snorted and ran out of sight. Little one wasn't so quick to leave, momma snorted two or three more times until the fawn came along. maybe the doe you were talking about was trying to get the little deer to come back to her?

I read this in a magizine. they said if you use an owl call it will stop deer, that have seen you move and take off, on a dime. I haven't found an owl call yet but I think It could work. The owls around my house are huge.

patchholder

90% of the time when they blow it will be a doe and usually has fawns with it sometimes you just can't see them but they are there. A big buck will try to sneak out the back door without giveing away his location. They blow as an alarm to other deer and when they stomp, scent is released from a gland between their toes, that is also why when they get pushed and run they do those big leaps and land hard so the scent is released. There are different snorts also. The alarm the alarm distress and the distress. They make calls now that imitate these sounds so when deer are bed you can stand them up without spooking them to the point of them running useing one of these calls, not sure wich one it was but a less alarming one.

isatarak

I've had does snort 50 times or more, 100 or more yards away when I know they couldn't have winded me. I think they are liable to snort at anything they aren't sure about. A few evenings ago, I had a doe with 2 buck fawns come in to my stand. I decided to let the doe walk, but she just kept milling around under the stand like she was smelling something faint but couldn't figure it out. It was getting close to time to get out of the stand, so I decided to give a little grunt on the call so maybe she'd get out of there. Instead, she ran just a couple of yards away and put on a snorting display that lasted several minutes. I hate it when that happens.

Hotburn76

I have always took a snort as a deer saying "what the hell is up with this situation" I think they do it when they are spooked a little and unsure if it is total danger or not. I would say about 90% of the time a deer snorts its game over! But I have had a few snort for a while, stomp there feet and prance around jabbing there head up and down for a while and slowly calm back down to normal. Like I say, I think it is a what the heck sound and they do not like what is going on, but are not convinced yet that they have to flee. also as someone else said, does do it alot more then bucks do.

MarinePride

Lots of good anecdotes and info from everyone, thanks. I'm not gonna give up on this spot. It seems to me that deer live their whole life on a heightened state of constant awareness.....and who can blame them.

wis_bow_huntr

the reason they do this is because they arent 100% sure of what they have just seen. Id freak out too ifI saw a tree moving. On a serious note, deer dotn see overly well at long distances. So while shes trying to pick you out again, shes snorting and blowing to alert other deer of possible danger. When she bigns to stomp, shes actually placing a scent on the groundwhich other deer will pick up when they come through warning that there may be danger here. Deer have a scent gland on the bottom of their feet between the hooff which if i remember right can produce up to 4 or 5 different scents depending on the adrenaline that is runnign through the body at that time and what time of the year it is. Its almost as they can control the scent that is given at any one time. Hoep this helps.

kenman

I don't think I would make a deer grunt or bleat. The deer is already on super high alert. If you grunt that deer is gonna have you pinpointed and it will know it isn't another deer. I would just let that deer walk with it wondering 'what the heck was that' as opposed to going off thinking "I'm not coming back in here cause there is someone in a tree trying to imitate a deer'.

You aren't gonna get a good shot at this deer with it blowing, let it go spooked as little as possible.