How close

[gumbo333]

So sitting in a ground blind, how close has a deer ever gotten to you? Either sex. To start, I have had at least 2 bucks and 2 does within a yards of me. I was sitting in an old lawn chair with some old deadfall with green pine and cedar limbs stuck in them. I could have touched them with my rifle barrel. Plus 1 young spike that I reached thru and grabbed it's little antler. I have never used a scent cover on my cloths but do put out scent on cloth strips 50 yards away. And I always wear a face mask and gloves, covering all skin. All after I reached 50, 22 years ago.

[gumbo333]

Sorry,I messed up.

[ascast]

I had a young doe lick my coat once,

[slim1836]

Closest I've been is about 6 feet.

Slim

[rking22]

Spent about an hour one wet morning slipping within feet of a doe, could have touched her with the muzzle of the longrifle. Had one walk up to about 5 feet behind me a couple years ago, was sitting against an oak tree. No scent bloker or otherwise and probably not wearing cammo.Not certain but I rarely wear it, usually flannel ot wool shirt in earth tones and carhart canvas pants. Be still, keep downwind of them and close happens.
On the doe mentioned first, once I saw it was a doe, I decided to experiment. Pulled the cock back, no response from the doe. Pulled the set trigger " Click" , very metallic sound, she spun around and took off like a rocket! Some sounds are acceptable, some will send them scrambling. Have also found that an orange desiel tractor, engine running, is a decent way to stalk farm county deer

[Dan Cash]

I have touched a deer while sitting against a log in some downed branches. Young doe. She backed up when my hand touched her nose but did not run.

[Winger Ed.]

I spilled some corn once just outside of my ground blind. A fawn came along and ate it for several minutes.
Standing up, and looking down out the window it was 3-4 inches away before it wandered off.
After that, I always left some just outside, but it never happened again.

[hc18flyer]

I had a fork look in my blind window this Fall. I should have taken him out of the gene pool! This past December my Grandson had a cap fail to fire on a percussion muzzleloader, 3 deer at 15 yards stayed put while we recalled and fired, I was surprised to say the least. hc18flyer

[hc18flyer]

Recapped not recalled, dang auto correct!

[Dpmsman]

I had a monster buck walk a couple of feet behind me. I was sitting on a line fence with my 44mag revolver in my lap and about 10min before shooting hours I hear a deer walking towards me off to my right. I couldn't tell what sex but it was heading right for me. The deer was walking in the field but when it got within 25yds it walked up on top of the line fence and I saw the rack in the sky wow! Biggest buck I have ever seen! I raised my revolver up, cocked the hammer and CLICK!!! The buck was staring rite at me so I froze. After a couple of seconds he started walking towards me again but was angling behind me. So I tried to swing to make a shot before he winded me but couldn't. He bolted out in front of me and stopped about 100 yards out. It was still pretty dark and I didn't want to risk wounding him so I let him trot off. 10 minutes later the same scenario except it was a smaller buck. This time I didn't cock the hammer till I was ready to fire.

[Johnch]

A few years back I had 2 deer trip ... over the rope holding a side of the ground blind out

But Still hunting about 10 years back , while Bow hunting I had a doe about 2" from my hand

I have shot several bucks ... all from the same pit blind at 3-25 feet as they got ready to cross the creek
Err it was a tile wash out about 4' deep almost at the edge of a creek , I just added a chunk of plywood on the bottom , used a poly chair to sit on and trimmed the brush to give me several shooting holes

Deer IMO for the most part get used to what is in a place after a while

I have box blinds that have been in the same place for years ...Dad has one he and I built in 1981 or 1982 ... deer ignore them
Don't make noise and the deer walk right up

John

[trails4u]

Not the closest I've ever been......but had a cool experience with my 16yo son this past season. Hunting over a bean field....so I had him positioned to see over the field, and I sat sideways to him, so I could see his 6oclock where there was a small sliver of green that I've killed deer in before. Sure enough, a little basket-rack 6pt stepped out behind him. I watched the young buck until he was about 8yds. off our position, then gave my son the 'eyebrows'. He sat dead still....took his time, and watched the little buck come into sight. I will NEVER forget the look in his eyes.....seeing a buck that close. For the record....we were not in a blind, just sitting against a fence corner. Unfortunately we didn't get the shot, as my buddy hunting the field behind us shot a doe about the time the little buck was coming into play, so he got spooky and left. But I don't care....it was an awesome moment with my kid I'll never forget....and I think he might be hooked. :P

[Static line]

close enough to have a doe in a herd of 7 to having her smell my breath as I was sleeping,so I'd say just a couple inches. Had a fox step on my leg once while leaning up against a tree too.

[GhostHawk]

A Technically I was not in a blind. I was crouched behind a deadfall and behind a big weedy bush that had grown up under it.

B The buck in question was well known to me. I knew him, he knew me, we had seen each other often.

C He jumped over the windfallen tree/bush. As he passed over my head I stuck my 20 ga pump up and put one in his boilerroom. I estimated at the time that he only cleared my barrel by 5 or 6 inches.

But my dad did one better. He was sitting on a bucket, had a young curious doe walk over when he was bow hunting. He actually reached out with his hand and touched her on the nose and said go away, I'm looking for your daddy.

My buck is on my wall, over 200 lbs, 10 points, tall ones.

You can get pretty close if you have patience.

[gumbo333]

These are really cool. I don't care if you were in a blind, a box, a pit, behind a bush or tree, just standing somewhere, or not hunting. I didn't word the original question properly. But certainly peoples experiences are ones they will always remember. I hope there are more.

[Thumbcocker]

Season before this past one I had a buck stop 10 feet from where I was sitting on a log in the open. My butt was about 18" off the ground. He walked out with the wind to his back and stood there licking his nose. I was able to pick up my revolver off the log, cock the hammer and shoot him. Felt kinda bad for him. guess he never listened to his momma about circling around to get the wind. Mrs. Thumbcocker had sat on that log a day or two before and had sprayed some deer "calming" spray on it and in the area. Don't know if that was a factor or not.

[popper]

About 6' elevated box, big doe walked right next to it. I leaned out the window to look at her and she just stood there, eventually walked off.

[mattw]

I was in a ground blind and had one stick it's head in and sniff me for about 4 minutes. I had to try something... in a very quite voice... I said boo! OMG it was so funny to see the reaction. One of the grandkids of my hunting buddy was about 14 and fell asleep in his blind on a very nice warm day. He awoke to a buck licking his face, when he moved the buck blew snot all over his face, ripped the blind trying to get away and the kid fell over in his chair, right out the back of the blind. Laughed my butt off from about 100 yards away!

[rking22]

Couple more that posts have reminded me.
In college I loved to rock climb and several of us would hike in and camp on Friday evening. It was a beautiful fall evening and I did not bother with a tarp, just rolled my (bright blue!) Sleeping bag out on the pine needles beside the fire. No one else had come in that night so the camp was quiet. I woke up the next morning to a doe and her fawn standing not 10 ft away! I layed there quiet and still for a good while, probably 15 minutes, watching them feed and goof off. No idea how long they would have stayed but my tonsils were floating! Wasn't hunting but an awesome experience to wake up to the sunrise with all nature's splendor.
Another was my best friend and I rabbit hunting in my pine thicket. Was the start of the rut and we had a monster buck run right up to us. He threw the brakes on at 10 feet or so, stared at us for a few seconds and almost ran over Sam when he took off. I think we were all equally supprised, I had my Redhawk on my hip and never even thought about it!
The last is WAY off topic, actually reverse. I was bow hunting in a friend's tree stand, several deer were 200+ yards out but coming in. I slowly twisted to be in a better position as they were feeding along. As I moved my bow, wood longbow with a 3arrow bow quiver, they snapped heads up looked directly at me and bolted back the way they came! I think my yellow shield fletching flashed in some broken sunlight, don't know but they spooked big time. My feeling is that a doe is more alert than a buck, on average, and having more than one set of eyes on you is trouble. A buck is just plain stoopid during the rut, kinda like I was in my "rut days"

[waksupi]

I've killed a buck at around six feet, and have had elk step over my legs as they passed by. Too close to draw an arrow.