Seasonal range-shifting has begun

[BSK]

On Sept. 10th I picked up three new bucks on cam. All had hard antler. Fall-season range-shifting has begun.

 

[deerchaser007]

WOW!!! That is very early for shifting isn't it?
How is the fawn recruitment for you this year BSK? By my numbers i picked up over 30 percent increase over last year from my census,10 percent better than my 07 census. Fawn recruitment seems to be up in my area this year,. but last year was really a terrible year to try to judge anything.
As mentioned in another post,.. i had no mature bucks on the trophy rocks this year like others reported. BUT,.. i put out a cam in my best spot and i didn't progam the cam correctly. A very bad mistake on my part,. and it cost me very valuable data thru august. I put it back out on the rock,.. simply because white oaks were dropping right beside the rock.


BTW,.. with early shifting ,. do you expect early scraping and rubs? Where were your cams placed to capture these early shifters? I really need to catch up on my camera data from that lost cam,. and just waiting on the rubs and scrapes to start. I'm having a hard time getting my scouting done correctly this year due to work,. so your info might really help me target some areas when i can get in to move my cams. Thanks for the info!!

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I usually dont see shifters until mid-October. Every property and area is different Im sure.

 

[Lawrence]

BSK
Pics?

 

[Football Hunter]

Hope it happens for me,90 % does right now,One decent 8 is really hanging around

 

[JCDEERMAN]

It's about that time. This is what time I started getting pictures of new bucks last year. And as deerchaser mentioned, are you getting most of your pics over salt? Or are they more on field edges, loggin roads, early scrapes? Thanks for the info BSK

 

[CopperHead77]

I'm interested to see what happens in the next few weeks also,I usually already have 8-10 different bucks on cam by now with 2 or 3 being mature bucks,so far I've gotten 3 and 0 mature.

 

[BSK]

WOW!!! That is very early for shifting isn't it?

This is fairly normal timing for my area. But then range-shift timing will be unique to each property and is probably driven by all available resources with a 1-2 mile radius of that property.

In my area, I see two patterns of fall-season range shift. In a poor acorn year, I will see new range-shifters appear from just after velvet shedding until the end of September. Then I won't see any new bucks until the rut range-expanders begin to appear around Nov. 1. But in a good acorn year, I see the same surge of fall range-shifters right after antler velvet shedding, but then I will pick up a few new bucks each week right through October, and then the big surge of rut range-expanders kicks in around Nov. 1. I strongly suspect these patterns of range-shifting are determined by my local situation, with big sections of oak hardwood hills close to large agricultural bottomlands. Each unique habitat situation will probably produce its own unique shifting patterns.

 

[BSK]

How is the fawn recruitment for you this year BSK?

I'm seeing poor fawn recruitment in the hardwood hills (summer residents) but excellent fawn recruitment in the nearby agricultural bottomlands.

As mentioned in another post,.. i had no mature bucks on the trophy rocks this year like others reported.

Same here. I'm hoping the mature bucks are all down in the agricultural bottomlands. The very wet summer has kept the crops growing longer than normal (and farmers got their fields in later due to the wet spring we had).

Where were your cams placed to capture these early shifters?

Surprisingly, I got them at the salt licks. Right now is a really tough time for camera work. Deer aren't on the salt as much and food plots aren't up far enough to draw deer. And on top of that, we have a lot of fruit dropping (muscadines, apples and persimmons) that are spreading the deer out. Then throw in the early acorn drop, and finding good camera locations is going to be tough until the first scrapes appear. But I suspect we will see early scraping this year, as the deer are in excellent shape. Great physical shape usually leads bucks to rub and scrape more and earlier than normal.

 

[BSK]

BSK
Pics?

Nothing great yet. About the best I've got is a 105-110 10-pointer.

 

[Outdoor Enthusiast]

Great physical shape usually leads bucks to rub and scrape more and earlier than normal.

I look forward to that. Can you quantify "earlier"? When do you typically see these actions, and when do you expect them to begin this year?

 

[Anonymous]

Here in McNairy not only do all of my bucks still have full velvet, but I haven't even seen one that has begun to shed its red, summer coat. Last year, my deer all shed velvet during the first week of September. Of course, all the deer that are showing up right now are yearlings and 2 year olds and last year they were mostly 3 1/2 plus.
Deer seem to be really scattered this time. Usually they pound my bean plots during the summer but this year, my beans are head high instead of the usual 3 inches tall. Probably has to do with a rain surplus.

 

[BSK]

Great physical shape usually leads bucks to rub and scrape more and earlier than normal.

I look forward to that. Can you quantify "earlier"? When do you typically see these actions, and when do you expect them to begin this year?

In TN, excellent physical shape can lead to rubbing and scrapping being advanced by as much as two weeks.

As for "more," from my rub studies in predominantly hardwood habitat, a good acorn year would lead to around 250% more rubs per acre than in a poor acorn year.

 

[muddyboots]

We got our first hard antler pics last week.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Surprisingly, I got them at the salt licks. Right now is a really tough time for camera work. Deer aren't on the salt as much and food plots aren't up far enough to draw deer. And on top of that, we have a lot of fruit dropping (muscadines, apples and persimmons) that are spreading the deer out. Then throw in the early acorn drop, and finding good camera locations is going to be tough until the first scrapes appear.

I too find it very hard to get pics this specific time of year....Right when they are coming off the salt licks a little more each day, and not quite in the fields yet. It's tough, but I too got most of the ones last year over salt this time of year. I usually catch them in the fields starting in October, while they are beefing up for the rut.

 

[deerchaser007]

Thanks for answering my questions BSK. That was a big help for me in coming weeks.

 

[megalomaniac]

Great physical shape usually leads bucks to rub and scrape more and earlier than normal.

I look forward to that. Can you quantify "earlier"? When do you typically see these actions, and when do you expect them to begin this year?

In TN, excellent physical shape can lead to rubbing and scrapping being advanced by as much as two weeks.

As for "more," from my rub studies in predominantly hardwood habitat, a good acorn year would lead to around 250% more rubs per acre than in a poor acorn year.

A little off topic, but do you think nutrition or buck:doe ratio plays a bigger role in timing/ amount of rubs/ scrapes? Seems in the past few years since we've really started hammering the does, scrapes have gone up 5 fold, even in poor nutrition years (like the past 2 years).

 

[102]

It is obvious that the woods around my home are loaded with acorns again this year. The one 6 point I have in velvet on cam looks surprisingly skinny. Though the does are thick and robust looking. I have yet to see a fawn. But these are BIG hardwoods. NO agriculture.

In the places we hunt in Middle Tennessee, deer seem to be scarce. I suspect this is due to an abundance of TALL corn and beans still in the field. Acorns are starting to fall but apparently deer are still on crops and soft mast. Scattered is the word. Field notes suggest a pattern much like one we experienced 4 seasons past. We literally could not see sign in the usual places because most "hot spots" were under water.

I've said this MANY times. As far as I am concerned, it is in stone by now. (with the exception of a smal lease) areas that I frequent, MOST are PUBLIC, there few agricultural fields.
Big hardwoods are the general rule. The presence of acorns/mast have a DIRECT correlation to the INTENSITY and TIMING of the rut.
LOADS of food generally means early hard rut. Last season...tons of White Oaks. We observed the hardest rut activity the last few days of OCTOBER. About TEN days earlier than usual.

I do not know if this will be repeated this year or not, but I will be there just in case.

102

 

[BSK]

Great physical shape usually leads bucks to rub and scrape more and earlier than normal.

I look forward to that. Can you quantify "earlier"? When do you typically see these actions, and when do you expect them to begin this year?

In TN, excellent physical shape can lead to rubbing and scrapping being advanced by as much as two weeks.

As for "more," from my rub studies in predominantly hardwood habitat, a good acorn year would lead to around 250% more rubs per acre than in a poor acorn year.

A little off topic, but do you think nutrition or buck:doe ratio plays a bigger role in timing/ amount of rubs/ scrapes? Seems in the past few years since we've really started hammering the does, scrapes have gone up 5 fold, even in poor nutrition years (like the past 2 years).

Mega,

The problem is, BOTH conditions can cause the same effect. Both improving herd structure AND improving health will shorten and advance rut timing, so tweeking out which causes the most change is nearly impossible.

 

[BSK]

I have yet to see a fawn. But these are BIG hardwoods. NO agriculture.

All of the places I'm running censuses are primarily ridge-and-hollow big hardwoods, and all are showing similar numbers. Fawn recruitment is low.

In the places we hunt in Middle Tennessee, deer seem to be scarce. I suspect this is due to an abundance of TALL corn and beans still in the field.

I'm hoping deer are still in the agriculture. I'm also seeing low deer numbers and few mature bucks in the hardwoods.