BSK
Well-Known Member
I mention Ski in the title because a while back we were having a discussion about buck activity as the season progresses and Ski had mention he didn't think it had as much of an influence on bucks using a property as many hunters assume. I disagreed because of some data I had been analyzing for years. That data was the number of buck pictures on trail-cameras. I had been logging this data for years, and my data showed an ever-decreasing level of buck pictures - especially older bucks - from the beginning of November through December. I had NOT been logging October data because I felt that would be an "apples to oranges" comparison. We do not bow-hunt our property, hence October data would be of unhunted deer while November would be data of intensively hunted deer (90% of our hunting time each year falls during the three-week period of MZ season and opening week of Gun season). However, after our discussion, I decided to go back and start logging October trail-camera data. I have not fully entered all the data, but I do have the last 8 years of data logged (2016-2023). And I have to say, at least on my property, I think Ski is right. Instead of falling buck activity due to hunting pressure, I think what I was seeing was just the natural decline in buck activity following the peak that occurs every year on my place right around Nov. 1, when the bucks are at their maximum activity levels just before the rut kicks in.
Below are graphs of "older" (all bucks 2 1/2 or older) buck and mature (4 1/2+) buck trail-cam pictures/events over the last 8 years, October through December. It should be noted this does not represent total pictures, but total "events." A trail-camera "event" is any time a particular buck starts triggering a camera. Even if he hangs around and gets 20 pictures taken of himself, it is still logged as a single "event." He would have to leave and come back later, again triggering the camera, for these subsequent pictures to be logged as a second event.
I have added a vertical line to both graphs indicating the average first date hunters hit the woods each year, which is Nov. 5. The first graph - average older buck events - displays the average total events per day (red line) and just those events that occurred during legal hunting hours (black line, "Daylight"). Notice the natural rise and fall of older buck events from early October to a peak near Nov. 1, and then a gradual decline. The average start of hunting does not produce a precipitous decline in activity. In fact, one of the peaks in activity around the peak of the rut (around Nov. 17-20) occurs several weeks into our hunting season. On the other hand, the second graph - the average mature buck trail-camera events - suggests perhaps hunting pressure is influence mature buck activity, as mature buck events start to decline immediately after the start of hunting. However, one of the peaks in mature buck activity, including daylight mature buck activity, still occurs around the peak of the rut. So I believe it would be safe to say the rut overpowers mature bucks' hunter avoidance behavior. The third graph displays the average number of buck-doe chases caught on cam. This clearly shows a distinct peak of chasing around those Nov. 17-20 dates that produce peaks in older and mature buck movement.
Below are graphs of "older" (all bucks 2 1/2 or older) buck and mature (4 1/2+) buck trail-cam pictures/events over the last 8 years, October through December. It should be noted this does not represent total pictures, but total "events." A trail-camera "event" is any time a particular buck starts triggering a camera. Even if he hangs around and gets 20 pictures taken of himself, it is still logged as a single "event." He would have to leave and come back later, again triggering the camera, for these subsequent pictures to be logged as a second event.
I have added a vertical line to both graphs indicating the average first date hunters hit the woods each year, which is Nov. 5. The first graph - average older buck events - displays the average total events per day (red line) and just those events that occurred during legal hunting hours (black line, "Daylight"). Notice the natural rise and fall of older buck events from early October to a peak near Nov. 1, and then a gradual decline. The average start of hunting does not produce a precipitous decline in activity. In fact, one of the peaks in activity around the peak of the rut (around Nov. 17-20) occurs several weeks into our hunting season. On the other hand, the second graph - the average mature buck trail-camera events - suggests perhaps hunting pressure is influence mature buck activity, as mature buck events start to decline immediately after the start of hunting. However, one of the peaks in mature buck activity, including daylight mature buck activity, still occurs around the peak of the rut. So I believe it would be safe to say the rut overpowers mature bucks' hunter avoidance behavior. The third graph displays the average number of buck-doe chases caught on cam. This clearly shows a distinct peak of chasing around those Nov. 17-20 dates that produce peaks in older and mature buck movement.