The last couple afternoon hunts i've had the deer have come in on top of me real late. They haven't offered a good shot until it's just too dark. What do you guys do when it's time to come down? I've tried to make some noise climbing down the tree, but they've just stayed until my feet have just about hit the ground. I don't know if it would be better to try to spook them with some noise before I come down. I don't want them to start avoiding this area all together.

Act like they aren't even there. Make all the noise you can and walk away. Can't tell ya how many times I've seen deer while on the tractor driving and they just stand there. But if you stop that tractor, they tense and fly away. Act like you belong there.

There's no "always" and there's no "never" when talking about wild animals. But, I don't think it really matters. I'll just climb down and leave, without turning on my flashlight, if I can see well enough. If they spook, fine, if they don't, fine.

They will keep coming back for whatever brought them there in the first place.

In my experience if you spook them often you can alter or change their feeding patterns. I say "can" loosely, as it doesn't seem to bother them sometimes. Mature bucks are a different story. You're not going to get away with it as much with them.

I usually get a friend or Dad to drive a tractor or truck into the area after dark, as this spooks the deer far less. They leave the area but don't recognize the vehicle as a threat to their existence, and uaually come right back.

Had that happen to me yesterday, a little dog bark worked just fine.

bark! x2

I've been wondering the same thing for a while. I had the same thing happen to me Saturday. 5 bucks 3 of which I would have shot but just too dark. Finally just decided to start climbing down at which point the deer just ran ran off but didn't seem to be too spooked. It seems really easy to turn the deer nocturnal where I hunt, so keep the tips coming.