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
