Very odd October mature buck movement

[BSK]

I'm seeing a very odd pattern from the mature bucks I have on my place this October. First, it is true that deer are generally "crepuscular," meaning their peak movements are in low-light conditions, such as at dawn and dusk. The first graph below is data from14 years of trail-camera data, displaying the hour of the day when I've gotten buck events on camera (an "event" is a buck triggering the camera. Doesn't matter how long he stands there or how many pictures are taken of him, it is still just one "event"). The times at the bottom of the graph are that hour's data. For example, the data bar for 5:00 AM is all of the events for 5:00 AM to 5:59 AM. And the actual measurement is that hour's data as a percentage of all the hours combined. [Also of note, for scientific purposes, all of my data is collected in Central Standard Time, even though October is still Daylight Time]. Notice events for bucks of all ages, how their peak movement times are right at dawn and dusk. The morning peak movement is the 6 AM hour (6:00 - 6:59 AM CST) - the first full hour of daylight - and the afternoon peak is in the 5 PM hour, right at dusk.

However, this crepuscular movement patterns normally does not hold true for mature bucks (4 1/2+). Even though these deer are NOT being hunted in October, they are still very nocturnal. The second graph below is the same data as the first graph, but only for mature bucks. Notice how mature buck events in October do NOT peak at dawn and dusk. These age bucks' activities peak the first full hour of darkness (the 6 PM hour), and then again from midnight to 1:59 AM. VERY nocturnal.

Yet here is the odd behavior I'm seeing this October (third graph). The mature bucks this year in October are displaying a massive peak in movement during the last hour of daylight (5 PM hour). This is VERY unusual for October. And when reviewing what the mature bucks are up to at this time, they are just standing around or temporarily feeding in food plots waiting on does to step out. As soon as a doe group enters the food plots, the bucks go right after them. This is more what I would expect to see in an acorn failure year, as all of the deer need to feed in the plots. In a good acorn year, more activity is usually picked up on trail-cam back along the oak-heavy ridgelines in the mornings, not in the food plots in the evenings. We have a big acorn crop this year, but the deer sure aren't acting like we do.

Anyone else seeing this pattern?

 

[BSK]

Below is an example of what I'm seeing. Mature bucks just "hanging out" in the food plots waiting on does.

 

[Antler Daddy]

Below is an example of what I'm seeing. Mature bucks just "hanging out" in the food plots waiting on does.

That's a nice buck just hanging out!

 

[EastTNHunter]

I'd say that's a nice anomaly. Hope it holds into ML season

 

[Ski]

I'm seeing it as well and it is as dramatic as you insist. However, I'm seeing it as property specific.

One farm is a gum swamp creek bottom sandwiched between corn fields, no plots and limited acorns. That farm is NOT showing anything abnormal.

Another farm is a working cattle ranch on the Duck River. It's a mix of pasture, hay field, and woods. Along the river is a lot of oaks and there's a 20acre patch of mature timber with oaks but cattle can browse it so it's got zero undergrowth. Not only have there been no bucks all summer, there are very few shifting in and they're almost exclusively nocturnal.

The third farm is big mature hardwoods woods in steep hill country but several bedding thickets and small green plots scattered around. More acorns than deer and squirrels can possibly eat. Very few bucks until late summer but now a lion's share of mature bucks and they're super active during the last hour of daylight like your graph shows.

It seems to me like the places with abundant mast that also offer green tonnage and cover have the deer congregated and in a state of bountiful bliss. No need to spread out or compete for food. Only thing they have to worry about is getting laid.

 

[BSK]

Interesting observations Ski. Thanks for the input.

 

[casjoker]

BSK, if you need someone to shoot that one early so you can analyze the brain, let me know...

 

[backyardtndeer]

It seems to me like the places with abundant mast that also offer green tonnage and cover have the deer congregated and in a state of bountiful bliss. No need to spread out or compete for food. Only thing they have to worry about is getting laid.

Describes our property pretty well, hoping that last hour they move this evening. About to take my son out this afternoon here shortly.

 

[oldmanelrod]

I live about 22 miles south of Pulaski, TN in Elkmont, AL. The white oaks are loaded and the nuts are good. I mention that because I am seeing hit and miss reports on acorns in TN and wonder if that has anything to do with BSK sightings?

 

[rockytopmojo]

Below is an example of what I'm seeing. Mature bucks just "hanging out" in the food plots waiting on does.

What Gardepro are those ?

 

[DayTrader]

Maybe the Deer Government reset the clocks to Deerlight Savings Time early this year.

Great videos! enjoyed them.

 

[buckbstr_1]

I thought I heard a gunshot in the second video.

 

[killingtime 41]

Very nice buck

 

[Rackseeker]

They are tending doe now before 3i-atlas gets here this week.

 

[East TN Bowhunter]

What little mature buck movement I've had on my cams so far on public and private properties in East TN, I have seen very little daylight activity but what little daylighting I am seeing is between 5pm-6pm. I have 1 morning sighting with a mature buck out of probably 30-40 mature buck sightings so far. And I consider 3+ to be mature. Probably 70-80% have been an hour after dark to 1am especially on public. So I would say my findings this year matches yours very closely also.

 

[cbhunter]

That second buck looks like he is walking stiff legged/agressively. I assume another buck had entered the plot

 

[nso123]

Seeing plenty of bucks on my cameras in that last hour of light, but no mature bucks have been showing up on them yet.

 

[JN]

I have seen and gotten more pictures this year of mature bucks moving during day light hours then I have in the past. Usually for the areas I hunt it starts around 11/7-11/17. Bucks are still in groups where I am at and I have also gotten a lot of videos of bucks fighting but not fighting over a doe but just to see who is the strongest of the bunch.

I was getting enough daylight pictures of one buck I was after that I went in and hunted an area I usually hold on off on and was able to get him this past Thursday.

 

[BSK]

What Gardepro are those ?

A60. I love them. Have 6 now to cover all our largest food plots. They make great food plot cams because of their long flash range (140 feet).

 

[BSK]

I live about 22 miles south of Pulaski, TN in Elkmont, AL. The white oaks are loaded and the nuts are good. I mention that because I am seeing hit and miss reports on acorns in TN and wonder if that has anything to do with BSK sightings?

Our acorns are really good, much better than expected.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Very interesting data. I wish I could contribute to the conversation but currently the gasline project has so much equipment running and traffic on and off the property our trail camera pics are abnormal. Interestingly enough it doesnt seem that the does and younger bucks are as bothered as much by all the racket like the more mature bucks are. Number of pics did go up when the corn next door was combined but the timing and number of pics is off from previous years. Going to be interesting to see how the deer react as the crew wraps up and moves on...I know Im ready for the project to wrap up.

 

[oldmanelrod]

Our acorns are really good, much better than expected.

So it is not a shortage of acorns then.

 

[Ski]

Hunted this stand 3 nights in a row with no deer at all. I didn't hunt tonight and this guy shows up with 10min of shooting light left. Looks darker in pic than it actually is.

 

[HoytDawg]

I'm not too far from Ski and our farm is flat hardwoods with a couple small food plots. Good acorn crop but not like two years ago.

We normally have bucks shift in during September around the opener. This year that did not happen. Our first mature buck didnt show up until October 10, and he has shown up regularly but only at night.

Today he was in one of our plots at 5 and stayed for about an hour pushing other young bucks around.

 

[BSK]

I'm not too far from Ski and our farm is flat hardwoods with a couple small food plots. Good acorn crop but not like two years ago.

We normally have bucks shift in during September around the opener. This year that did not happen. Our first mature buck didnt show up until October 10, and he has shown up regularly but only at night.

Today he was in one of our plots at 5 and stayed for about an hour pushing other young bucks around.

We observed a nice surge in new older bucks Oct. 8-11, but our tradition peak surge of new older bucks doesn't occur until the last 5 days of October through the first 5 days of November. We shall see if that occurs this year.

 

[TNlandowner]

We had a few bucks push a "herd" of does through our back yard yesterday afternoon. My son counted 17 deer total. This is the largest group of deer we've seen in 12 - 15 years. The chasing phase is a fun time....

 

[tellico4x4]

Yesterday was first time at camp since getting home from WY. Blown away at the amount of scrapes being worked. Has to be a top 3 year ( out of 24) for us. Always have some traditional ones open in mid Oct & a couple by end of Sept, but this seems like mid November! Much better acorn production than I expected as well, probably causing the scraping

 

[BSK]

Yesterday was first time at camp since getting home from WY. Blown away at the amount of scrapes being worked. Has to be a top 3 year ( out of 24) for us. Always have some traditional ones open in mid Oct & a couple by end of Sept, but this seems like mid November! Much better acorn production than I expected as well, probably causing the scraping

I went back and checked my records from the last bumper acorn crop year of 2023, and we are well above that for active scrapes this year. A crazy number.