Ski: How much does hunting pressure drive bucks nocturnal?

[BSK]

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.

 

[BSK]

One of the suspicions I had was that our hunting activity was driving bucks nocturnal, especially the older bucks. So I compiled the percentage of bucks in three age-class groupings as to the percent of trail-cam events that occur during legal hunting hours, by month. Below is the graph showing for October, November, and December what percent of these three age-groupings were picked up on camera during daylight (defined by legal hunting hours). I assumed daylight older buck photo events would decline precipitously in November compared to October due to hunting pressure. However, that is not the case. The percent of middle-aged bucks (those 2 1/2 and 3 1/2) photographed in daylight stay basically the same across the three months. And surprisingly, mature bucks events move more towards daylight with each passing month. THAT was a shocker!

 

[BSK]

And before anyone points out that we need to be hunting mature bucks in December, as that is when the highest percentage of their trail-cam events are in daylight, just remember the above graph is showing percentages, not total number. When looking at the data as just raw numbers, mature buck events are so much more common in November than December that the total number of daylight mature buck events in November greatly overshadow those in December, even though Decembers events - as a percentage - are higher.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Interesting data. I think timing of peak daylight activity could vary greatly with when the rut actually occurs in certain areas. I think the peak rut here is a little earlier than middle Tennessee.

With the small property I own, we may not even get any older bucks start showing up until later in October or even November. We put as little pressure as possible on them, however there are several farms around us where there is a lot more pressure. I don't think we really make much impact on bucks going nocturnal on our farm. Others around us, maybe, but then they may also push more activity our way.

 

[muddyboots]

It makes a tremendous difference on one of my properties. 900 acres used to be hunted heavily. Every day. You could not kill a mature deer there. They just would not move in daylight. Does either. Now spikes walked around like dummies. Fast forward to now. Members cut in half. No retirees now so no one person can hunt every day. Chance to kill a mature buck everytime you go. Regardless of time of year. Now I'm not going by facts like you have. I'm going by self observation and results.

 

[BSK]

It makes a tremendous difference on one of my properties. 900 acres used to be hunted heavily. Every day. You could not kill a mature deer there. They just would not move in daylight. Does either. Now spikes walked around like dummies. Fast forward to now. Members cut in half. No retirees now so no one person can hunt every day. Chance to kill a mature buck everytime you go. Regardless of time of year. Now I'm not going by facts like you have. I'm going by self observation and results.

I think every property is unique in its deer patterns. I can see where some properties - especially those with limited sanctuary cover - could see dramatic shifts in deer activity due to hunting pressure. In fact, I can point to several actions we have taken to reduce localized hunting pressure that have greatly improved our hunting success, especially moving stands regularly (as well as how/where we move them) and having up enough stands that each one only gets hunted a time or two per year.

 

[deerhunter10]

Interesting data. I think it comes down to cover and multiple types of cover as well. I think also mature deer are nocturnal by nature, and also I think they are naturally pretty lazy to. But I think hunting dumb cause not just mature bucks but deer to leave and go nocturnal to. Bad access, bad winds, all of the things. Those negatives add up. Hunting pressure when hunting as "good" as possible I think is not as bad as we think most of the time. What gets hard for some is when you only have 1, 2 or 3 stands those are going to get burnt out quick and those areas will also get burnt out quickly.

 

[348Winchester]

I think every property is unique in its deer patterns. I can see where some properties - especially those with limited sanctuary cover - could see dramatic shifts in deer activity due to hunting pressure. In fact, I can point to several actions we have taken to reduce localized hunting pressure that have greatly improved our hunting success, especially moving stands regularly (as well as how/where we move them) and having up enough stands that each one only gets hunted a time or two per year.

When you move a stand, how far do you normally move it?

On one large piece of property I hunt (925 acres), some stands have been in place for a few years. Their productivity has diminished. Others that hunt there have resisted moving them.

 

[BSK]

When you move a stand, how far do you normally move it?

On one large piece of property I hunt (925 acres), some stands have been in place for a few years. Their productivity has diminished. Others that hunt there have resisted moving them.

Because we collect so much detailed hunting data, each year I can run an analysis of our hunting that produce a "topographic map" of hunting pressure, where the "hills" are the high pressure areas and the "valleys" the holes in our pressure. Once a stand has been in place and hunted enough that sightings have decline, we move that stand, and we use our topographic map of hunting pressure to locate the holes in our hunting pressure, and move the stand there. Often times, these holes in our hunting pressure have no buck sign in them (that's why they've not been hunted). But we will look for the best topography or habitat in that hole and place the stand there despite being no buck sign the area. Although these "hole in the pressure" stands often produce very few total deer sightings, they are our top producers for the oldest bucks. The oldest bucks seem to have a real knack for finding the holes in our hunting pressure and using those areas for much of their travels.

 

[BSK]

Interesting data. I think it comes down to cover and multiple types of cover as well. I think also mature deer are nocturnal by nature, and also I think they are naturally pretty lazy to. But I think hunting dumb cause not just mature bucks but deer to leave and go nocturnal to. Bad access, bad winds, all of the things. Those negatives add up. Hunting pressure when hunting as "good" as possible I think is not as bad as we think most of the time. What gets hard for some is when you only have 1, 2 or 3 stands those are going to get burnt out quick and those areas will also get burnt out quickly.

Yes, they are more nocturnal by nature. Below are two graphs displaying the times of day middle-aged buck and mature buck camera events were recorded. Notice how much higher the percentage of mature buck camera events occur at night, and how small the percentages are during daylight.

 

[fairchaser]

I think one of the key factors to daylight buck movement during the rut is doe movement and the cover does are willing to move in during daylight.

I believe bucks movement in daylight is primarily dictated by does. If the does get up and feed, the bucks will follow.

Thus, when does are heavily harvested, they will move less in daylight and more in heavy cover when they are pressured.

If there is data out there that would prove or disprove this, I'd love to hear about it. My experience is anecdotal.

IMO, does should be left alone until after the rut. I think we'd see more bucks.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Wow! Great info BSK. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BSK]

I think one of the key factors to daylight buck movement during the rut is doe movement and the cover does are willing to move in during daylight.

I believe bucks movement in daylight is primarily dictated by does. If the does get up and feed, the bucks will follow.

Thus, when does are heavily harvested, they will move less in daylight and more in heavy cover when they are pressured.

If there is data out there that would prove or disprove this, I'd love to hear about it. My experience is anecdotal.

IMO, does should be left alone until after the rut. I think we'd see more bucks.

No hard data, but anecdotally, I did notice something interesting this year. For quite some time we hammered the does. It didn't take long before does were afraid to show their faces in daylight. We noticed a dramatic reduction in the number of buck-doe chases we were seeing in comparison to the early years, before we were intensively managing. In combination with our high doe harvest practices, the EHD outbreak of 2007 and the "slaughter all deer" policy on a neighboring Refuge dropped our doe populations to crazy low levels. In fact, in 2019, I caught exactly ONE buck-doe chase on camera. We stopped shooting does altogether, the Refuge ended it deer slaughter program, and we created a massive amount of cover habitat. This has produced a major rebound in doe numbers. But what we've noticed linked to that is the sudden increases in buck-doe chases we are seeing. We no longer bother does as they feed in food plots, and the bucks are coming there to chase them around. In 2020 through 2022 I was catching 30-40 chases on cam per season. This year, in 2023, I caught an amazing 80 chases on cam. I never thought I would see anything like that.

 

[megalomaniac]

You should check out my lease in south MS... up to 275 hunts so far by members, not a single deer killed. Plenty of deer on cameras after dark, but zero mature bucks on cameras in daylight on plots or corn feeders. Maybe they are just vampires, but my guess is it's hunting pressure that keeps them nocturnal.

In 6 years since I've been on that lease, there have been 7 mature bucks killed. 2 were on food plots/ corn feeders. The other 5 I killed away from plots or 75y downwind of plots. These bucks KNOW where the shooting houses on plots are, and just won't come out in daylight until starvation mode (2nd week of Feb)

 

[Bgoodman30]

Good stuff! You need to find a control property absent of any hunting pressure to survey and analyze as well.

 

[Ski]

I think Ski is right

Well you've done what my wife never has

It's incredible that you've put all the data together and graphed it. It's something I believed but couldn't prove, so it was just an anecdotal opinion.

 

[BSK]

You should check out my lease in south MS... up to 275 hunts so far by members, not a single deer killed. Plenty of deer on cameras after dark, but zero mature bucks on cameras in daylight on plots or corn feeders. Maybe they are just vampires, but my guess is it's hunting pressure that keeps them nocturnal.

In 6 years since I've been on that lease, there have been 7 mature bucks killed. 2 were on food plots/ corn feeders. The other 5 I killed away from plots or 75y downwind of plots. These bucks KNOW where the shooting houses on plots are, and just won't come out in daylight until starvation mode (2nd week of Feb)

Seen some great GPS-collar studies showing how deer know where permanent shooting houses are and avoid them like the plague. Look at all the GPS positions over time and there are some strange "holes" in the data. Overlay a layer with the shooting houses, and there's one right at the center of each hole.

 

[BSK]

Good stuff! You need to find a control property absent of any hunting pressure to survey and analyze as well.

I would LOVE that!

I got to work with a 14,000-acre unhunted property in GA, but unfortunately, we started applying pressure the first year of data collection. I did get to collect some of the most amazing hunter sighting data sets though. Terribly overpopulated deer herd. Fawn recruitment was 5%. First year, deer were everywhere in daylight. You would have to get out of the truck and shoo them off the road to get by. We couldn't acquire special permits to shoot more does than normal hunters are allowed, so we brought in every friend we could find to each shoot their legal 5 does. From the population numbers, we knocked the herd down about 7%. However, the second year, deer sightings declined by 90%. And they went down every year after. A single year of being hunted and those deer went from city park/zoo deer with no fear of Man, to normal hunted deer that worked hard to avoid humans.

 

[Bushape]

There is a large track north of my house that has been Champion/IP/GMO land for decades. Open roads with some thru traffic. About 10 years ago they converted it to ag land. Same folks controlled the hunting lease. So many folks were driving through, especially during hunting season, that the hunters were finally able to complain enough to get gates installed. Because I owned land locked property within this block of land I had access. Even years after the fact it was amazing to see the deer's reaction to humans. I'd enter the ag land and deer 1/2 mile away in a bean field would bolt into the woods.

 

[megalomaniac]

Seen some great GPS-collar studies showing how deer know where permanent shooting houses are and avoid them like the plague. Look at all the GPS positions over time and there are some strange "holes" in the data. Overlay a layer with the shooting houses, and there's one right at the center of each hole.

Exactly why I never hunt the plots, corn feeders, or established stands down here.

Seen 2 does so far this morn... exactly halfway between 2 feeders and plots 600y apart