Where Did The Deer Go?

          

Thanks to friend Rusty at Buck Nut Deer Scents for sharing this great article.  I feel most any hunter can relate to his thoughts.

Five weeks ago, when I was scouting this farm, twenty or more deer fed in the alfalfa field each evening, with half of them young bucks. Even two weeks ago, when the archery season opened, there was plenty of deer activity, though the deer spent more time in the oaks along the edge of the field than out in the field. Now, during an unusually warm last week of September, the deer have seemingly disappeared. I know they’re still in the area; I’m just having a difficult time finding them.

 

With the low average success rates of bow hunters, most states provide the archer with long seasons. These long seasons often begin in late August or September and continue through December or January. The season starts in late summer, runs through autumn, ‘and ends in winter. Through the change of seasons, deer change their habits which affect how and where we hunt them. The change of seasons means a change in average temperatures, length of daylight (which triggers the rut), a change in food and cover available to deer and an increase in human activity in the woods when hunting seasons begin. These seasonal changes affect where deer feed, travel and bed, the time of day they carry out these activities, how active and cautious they are, and which other members of the herd they travel with. These changes in daily habits can greatly influence the success of the hunter pursuing them.

Even though we may scout throughout the year, we still may be thrown off track during these seasonal changes by not heeding what our scouting reveals. We humans love to get in a pattern of doing something and it’s difficult for us to change. Because we saw deer from a certain stand last week, we believe it to be the best location this week as well. If one stand turns cold, it’s time to move and find a hot one.

My experience has shown that here in central Wisconsin there is a period from about September 25 through October 25 when the deer activity slumps. This time period coincides with the seasonal change from summer to autumn, during which time leaf drop occurs, average temperatures drop and frosts become more common, some farm crops ripen and are harvested, and acorns and other mast crops begin to fall. This “slump period” ends when rutting activity suddenly increases near the end of October. Another activity which affects the deer at this time is the increase in human activity in the woods as small game, upland game and waterfowl seasons begin.

Last fall I spent some time hunting the farm referred to at the beginning of this article. I had scouted it in spring and summer. The summer scouting showed the deer feeding primarily in the alfalfa field and bedding within two hundred yards of the field in some hazelnut brush in the woods. A small creek runs along one side of the alfalfa field so the deer had plenty of food, water and cover within a few hundred square yards. I found a few promising stand sites about fifty to loo yards from the field, along trails leading from the bedding areas to the field. I satin some of these stands in late August and early September, prior to the opening of the bow season, and observed plenty of deer within easy bow range. Even during the first few days of the archery season, these stands produced sightings and I passed up does and small bucks which passed by my stand.

 About one week into the season, I noticed the activity around the stands was beginning to taper off. Thinking I somehow spooked the deer in the area of the stands, I tried hunting other locations along the trails leading to the alfalfa field. Still no luck. It was time to find where the deer had gone. A short scouting trip revealed some interesting facts. The trails I had been hunting which led from bedding areas to the alfalfa field were now getting little use. Instead, the deer were now using trails which came from bedding areas deeper in the woods, led through oak stands, then on to the alfalfa field. Also, I found a few rubs along these trails and noticed that the acorns were beginning to drop and that there was a lot of deer sign in the oak stands. The deer were apparently feeding first in the oaks, then heading to the fields after dark if they were still hungry.

 The old bedding areas were beginning to open up as the hazel brush lost its leaves and the deer found new bedding areas deeper in the woods. I also noticed at this time that the bucks weren’t travelling in the large bachelor groups as in summer. The hierarchy had been established, velvet shed and the first urges of the rut were being felt. I moved my stands to cover the trails leading from the new bedding areas to the oaks and I immediately began seeing more deer, but not as many as I thought I should have considering all the signs present. Scratching out the deer tracks on the trails in the evening and checking them again before daylight showed that many of the deer moved during the night.

The night movements may have been caused by the warm weather. The deer now wore their new winter coats and may have been waiting to travel until it cooled off at night. Also, the increased human activity in the woods as the archery, squirrel, grouse and woodcock seasons opened may have caused the deer to become more nocturnal. Hot, dry weather seems to adversely affect deer movements, with cool or cool, damp weather maintaining good activity.

Of course, a heavy rain will usually dampen the deer activity; in more ways than one, but a light drizzle often seems to cause an increase in deer activity. The early part of the season will often be warm with the woods the thick, lush green of summer. This thick growth makes it easy for the hunter to hide, but also easy for the deer to hide. The warm weather also works against the hunter by causing him to perspire with the slightest activity, perspiration which leads to body odor. Warm weather also means mosquitos and other insects which can make hunting uncomfortable. A good insect repellent will help keep the bugs at bay, but the odor may also spook the deer. One thing in the hunter’s favor during the first week or two of the season is that the deer haven’t been hunted for several months and may be less cautious than later in the season.

 After shedding their velvet in early September, the deer begin to feel the first urges of the upcoming rut, with the urges getting stronger as autumn progresses. You will notice an increase in rubbing activity and may begin to find a few scrapes in early October. It may be possible to hunt these early scrapes with some success, though I’ve never observed much action around them. Most of them seem to be once-made, soon-forgotten scrapes.

Throughout October here in Wisconsin the leaves drop, resulting in a great change in the forest and in the deer’s dally habits. As the leaves drop, feeding and bedding areas open and the deer often move to thicker, more secure cover. They may continue to feed in open areas but seem to prefer to do it under the cover of darkness. This is also the time of year when corn begins to harden and become more attractive to deer and they seek the cornfields for both food and cover. If many of the local deer move to the cornfields for food and cover, you will often notice activity in other areas drops to almost nothing. A few years ago, a couple of deer management units here in Wisconsin had unusually low kills during the gun deer season.

Department of Natural Resources game managers attributed this to an unusual amount of standing corn in the area due to a wet autumn. About the only way to hunt deer living in cornfields is to try still hunting them on dry, windy days when the noise of the wind-rustled leaves covers the noise of your approach. As the cornfields are harvested, deer are forced back into the woods and you may witness a couple days of very good hunting as the deer try to settle into their new environment often, just prior to when the first good rutting activity starts (about October 25 where I hunt) deer activity plummets.

One old-timer told me that this is caused by the does hiding from the bucks. He said the bucks are chasing the does and trying to breed but the does aren’t ready for the aggressive bucks. His theory does make some sense, but I can’t prove it one way or the other. The early part of the archery season, during the transition from summer to fall, can be one of the toughest times for the bow hunter. With plenty of food and cover available, the deer don’t have to travel far to find either, the rut hasn’t started, there may be an influx of other hunters in the woods as small game seasons open, weather maybe warm, and insects may be thick; everything seems to be against the bow hunter. While there may be three or four weeks of tough hunting, there are ways to be successful.

It’s important to maintain an active scouting program to learn when and where the deer change theft habits. Remember where you found them at this time other years and check these areas. If there are farm crops in your area, watch how they progress and if the deer are utilizing them. When the acorns and apples start dropping, watch for deer feeding on them. In hot weather the deer usually move very early and very late in the day, so set up as close to bedding areas as possible to catch the deer moving during daylight hours. One area where I’ve had consistently good early-season luck is in river bottoms where there are stinging nettles and oak trees. The deer feed heavily on the nettle flowers and acorns and the thick canopy of large trees keeps it a few degrees cooler in the lowlands.

The only problem with hunting the river bottoms in the early season is the mosquitos are often bothersome. Wherever you hunt during the early season—oak ridges, river bottoms, old orchards, or farm crops—a quality portable stand will be a great aid in your hunting success. A portable stand allows you to change locations as the deer move, an important factor if you’re going to keep track of the early season deer. Careful attention to details and a willingness to change hunting locations to follow the deer can produce good results for the bow hunter hunting the early season slump. You may not find the almost frenzied activity which you’ll find during the rut, but the deer are still there and you can find them.     https://www.bucknutdeerscents.com/

Again thanks to Rusty over at Buck Nut Deer Scents for sharing this great article.

Questions or Comments:

Shelby Byrd

alakingfish@gmail.com