Great article/research on bucks shifting range during the season

[BSK]

Saw this article about research on the difference between late-summer baited camera censuses and non-baited cameras running during the season. As many know, I've been doing both for 24 years on my place. The article stated a possible 60% increase in the number of bucks cameras pick up from summer to fall. Depending upon the local conditions, I can promise you it can be far more than that! I've had a couple of years where I documented a 800% increase! (from 6 to 54).

But even more interesting was his discussion of buck distributions from summer to fall. His summer baited camera census showed extreme sexual segregation, where bucks and does were living very separate lives during summer. But in fall, the bucks all shifted to where the does were hanging out. This documents what many on here have said for years: when it comes close to the rut, hunt where the does are!

You Could See 60% More Bucks on Camera in Hunting Season, UGA Study Shows

What you see in August may not be what you see in November! Changes in buck movement put at least 60% more bucks on camera during hunting season.

deerassociation.com

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Very cool! Love reading these research studies. Nothing extremely new, necessarily, other than the passive cameras versus the baited cameras. I saw this first hand on the first velvet hunt here in TN. I set out cams on field edges and trails looking for a buck to hunt. Wow - the number of bucks I captured (and their age/size) never even visited the "baited" salt/mineral licks. I couldn't believe it.

Oh, and those heat maps are awesome!

 

[BSK]

Very cool! Love reading these research studies. Nothing extremely new, necessarily, other than the passive cameras versus the baited cameras. I saw this first hand on the first velvet hunt here in TN. I set out cams on field edges and trails looking for a buck to hunt. Wow - the number of bucks I captured (and their age/size) never even visited the "baited" salt/mineral licks. I couldn't believe it.

Oh, and those heat maps are awesome!

I once ran a duel baited census on my place. I was becoming worried at the time that I wasn't catching more older bucks on the property with my late-summer corn-bait census. So I ran two baited censuses at the same time - same number of cameras and bait sites for each - but one census was using corn and the other Trophy Rocks. I suspect it is because of how common baiting is in the area, but not a single older buck came to the corn bait, but I got a slew of them at the salt licks. I made the point of making a couple of the salt lick sites close to corn sites, and some far away. The only older buck I got on a corn camera was a buck just passing by headed to the salt lick!

 

[megalomaniac]

My buddy was a little upset that we only have 2 older bucks on camera in the area of my new 3ac plot, despite all the summer food. I asked him how many does were on it... 14 as best we can tell. I told him, we are set for November then. Years past, this area only held 4 or 5 does tops in summer.

Another example, a different farm I bought 5 years ago. 80 acres, had 1 doe with triplets and a bachelor group of 5 bucks. Lots of cover, no food. Since putting in 12 acres of summer and winter food, we now are holding 14 or 15 does year round. But only a couple smaller yearling bucks. I'm not worried one bit... that farm is going to be covered up with new bucks come October.

This 2.5ac summer plot just got bushhogged a couple hours ago. Only planting the center of the plot this winter, leaving 25 yards on the sides for edge cover and carb rich grain seed heads

 

[Ski]

That was an interesting article that I find completely relatable. There were a couple of things that particularly struck me. First was the mention that some of the "fall" bucks only stayed around for a few days or weeks while some stayed around longer. I'd love to see this same exact study executed exactly the same way on the same properties for several consecutive years. The only real pattern I've ever found with a buck is on a macro level. They tend to do the same things at the same times year after year. This study if done on a multiple year level would not only expose that tendency but perhaps also give a percentage of time that it happens. My entire hunt is based round predicting where a buck will be and when, according to how he moved in previous years.

Another thing that got me thinking was the purpose of a baited summer survey. Many of those bucks are going to leave in September and different bucks will arrive. Doesn't seem like there's much one could glean from doing it, or at least not much info relating to hunting season. Perhaps I missed or misunderstood it?

 

[BSK]

Another thing that got me thinking was the purpose of a baited summer survey. Many of those bucks are going to leave in September and different bucks will arrive. Doesn't seem like there's much one could glean from doing it, or at least not much info relating to hunting season. Perhaps I missed or misunderstood it?

And that's why I always tell my clients that a summer baited census is nowhere near as useful/important as a season-long unbaited census. However, most just don't like the idea of cameras being checked during the season. I try to tell them, if done right, it won't affect the hunting or buck patterns at all. But you can only do so much.

The one big difference being: very large properties. Clubs/clients with thousands of acres will learn some interesting things from a summer census. The bucks still seasonally shift but often times not far enough to leave the property. The baited censuses I'm running this year are on properties between 3,500 and 5,000 acres.