Where did they all go?

[Atchman2]

I was seeing lots of deer the second week of ML season. They have are all gone now! Even on my cameras they are sporadic at best.

The first place I hunt is the back of a subdivision. Where I "normally" see the deer they are gone. I did surprise one in the landowner's yard though. I put a camera up there and where I normally ambush them. However, when I enter the area the deer are out normally out grazing in people's yard and the powerli9ne access-except now. They are gone. I'm just not sure where to look for them next.

My other spot is a powerline area in Roane County. To be fair I've missed a couple with the ML there and killed one 4 pointer during the ML season. I thought maybe they were going back to their old pattern of grazing in a big open field-nothing. I've sat there until dark two nights in a row. I'm just not sure where to setup next since I haven't even seen any sign of deer.

Is it just a phase that I need to wait out, or do I need to try finding a couple of new spots?

 

[deerhunter10]

may be over pressured even though they are kind of neighborhood deer. deer know when they are being hunted and when the people they see mean no danger. running cameras and being in there you may have pushed them without knowing it. i live in a neighborhood with a ton of deer and there is someone who hunts at one end when he starts hunting they get pushed around very easy.

 

[stik]

I have to ask where have they been? I finally started seeing a few deer just 2 or 3 weeks ago.

 

[easy45]

I'm seeing some does but the bucks have been absent the whole season for the most part, I'm about to fill the freezer

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

I have to ask where have they been? I finally started seeing a few deer just 2 or 3 weeks ago.

You and I are in the same boat

 

[TheLBLman]

I think you're probably seeing the typical post-rut, winter deer pattern that is brought on by multiple factors.

Among the factors, human intrusion (hunting pressure) into areas humans didn't bother them the 1st 8 or 9 months of the year, and a biological response to conserve energy (move little). Not to mention, the "dumber" more visible deer may no longer be alive, including many assumed "missed" from hunters taking low-probability shots, when the deer then went off to die from a stomach nick, or coyotes & dogs smelling blood, then targeting these deer more than they would otherwise.

In a period of about a month, we basically go from the month the deer more around the most, to the next month they move around the least. We may be a bit in a transitional month, but for those areas with a November rut, activity nose dives in December, even more in January, although by finding little disturbed food sources, hunters CAN still experience some good hunting, may luck into an estrous doe that got missed during the rut. It's just much tougher hunting for most of us, post-rut.

 

[UTGrad]

I think you're probably seeing the typical post-rut, winter deer pattern that is brought on by multiple factors.

Among the factors, human intrusion (hunting pressure) into areas humans didn't bother them the 1st 8 or 9 months of the year, and a biological response to conserve energy (move little). Not to mention, the "dumber" more visible deer may no longer be alive, including many assumed "missed" from hunters taking low-probability shots, when the deer then went off to die from a stomach nick, or coyotes & dogs smelling blood, then targeting these deer more than they would otherwise.

In a period of about a month, we basically go from the month the deer more around the most, to the next month they move around the least. We may be a bit in a transitional month, but for those areas with a November rut, activity nose dives in December, even more in January, although by finding little disturbed food sources, hunters CAN still experience some good hunting, may luck into an estrous doe that got missed during the rut. It's just must tougher hunting for most of us, post-rut.

Great post...I agree that most of the dumb deer are dead, only the smart and paranoid deer are left.

 

[WORM82]

Have u tried hunting the middle of the day. I'm in northeast tn and have been seeing deer feeding in fields from 10am till 2pm or so.

 

[JeepKuntry]

I've wondered that all year. My sightings are way down. I haven't been since black Friday. Family events and rain have kept me out of the woods. We've had some gully washers. Plus I decided this year to attend church more on Sundays.

 

[Boone 58]

Same for me.............cant see a deer since thanksgiving on about 80% of my outings.......I hunt almost daily. skunked both this morn and this evening.....only saw a 6 pt all day yesterday!!

 

[Poleaxe]

Have u tried hunting the middle of the day. I'm in northeast tn and have been seeing deer feeding in fields from 10am till 2pm or so.

Drove over to a field yesterday I hadn't looked at in a while. At 945am there were at most 17 deer feeding in the wheat field. 3 bucks but nothing worth going after.

 

[TNCharlie]

I think you're probably seeing the typical post-rut, winter deer pattern that is brought on by multiple factors.
...

In a period of about a month, we basically go from the month the deer more around the most, to the next month they move around the least.

My experiences would verify this. I have a theory but no scientific data to support it.

Think about what the woods look like in archery season and muzzleloader season compared to how they look in December. In December the woods have opened up so that you can see long distances, even in what at other times is thick cover. My theory is that the deer do not feel as safe in the open woods and therefore not only try to stay in much thicker cover but also move more at night. Since they don't feel as safe in daytime they just find a spot and lay down and we don't see them.

The only thing I know to do about that is to hunt more so when a deer does move you are there to see it.

 

[Atchman2]

I went this morning again over to the "subdivision". It no sooner became light and I heard someone shoot just over the hill. At least someone is seeing them.

 

[wgmac]

this full moon has had the deer up feeding all night long. I have only seen deer moving from 1200 to 300. I have gone out to some subdivisions around me and at 1100 at night there were deer in almost every other yard.

 

[LessIsLess]

this full moon has had the deer up feeding all night long. I have only seen deer moving from 1200 to 300. I have gone out to some subdivisions around me and at 1100 at night there were deer in almost every other yard.

Do we really think that the moon keeps them up all night still? I always thought that theory was backward in logic, and I haven't been able to find any data that supports it either.

On how it's backward - we typically assert that deer go nocturnal to get away from all the daytime hunting pressure. so if that's the case, why would they decide to come out to play when the lights were on all night? I thought the darkness was the advantage for the deer.

 

[jlmustain]

Head down south. NW Alabama is rutting now.

 

[knightrider]

if your not hunting from 11-2 your missing out!! all the deer ive seen last two weeks have been midday i mean pouring into the fields around eleven!!!

 

[TheLBLman]

Do we really think that the moon keeps them up all night still? I always thought that theory was backward in logic . . . . .

Actually, I think the theory is logical, as many hunters assume the deer feed more at night with a full moon simply because they (the hunters) can see better at night with a full moon.

Contrary to our logic, the deer can see just fine on a moonless night, and I really don't think there's much difference in their nighttime feeding no matter the moon phase. But it may be we hunters are more likely to see deer feeding at night when the moon is full and bright. Logically, if predators can see prey better with a full moon, perhaps deer feed less at night when the moon is full?

 

[TheLBLman]

I think you're probably seeing the typical post-rut, winter deer pattern that is brought on by multiple factors.

Think about what the woods look like in archery season and muzzleloader season compared to how they look in December. In December the woods have opened up so that you can see long distances, even in what at other times is thick cover. My theory is that the deer do not feel as safe in the open woods . . . . .

You are correct in this being another of the factors decreasing our deer observations, especially when we hunters continue our habits of hunting the same places, typically the places where we can "see" better and farther, often those more open woods.

During early archery and muzzleloader season segments there is typically a thick canopy even in mature hardwoods, letting in little light, and "darkness" is a form of "cover". (This is along with some smaller trees providing real lateral cover by their thick leaves.) Couple this with even a small amount of mast, and deer not only feel safer in those woods in early November vs. early December, but also have something to feed on within them. Some of the best mast crops can be in those most mature hardwoods, which will be the areas with the least cover once the leaves fall. But most mast is gone (eaten or rotted) by early December, and the deer simply have less reason to be in those more open hardwoods.

IMO, there would be lot more mature deer taken by gun hunters if they "set up" their hunting spots as though they were bowhunting, and it didn't matter if they couldn't see beyond 30 yards. More times than not, even when I'm hunting with a centerfire rifle, I set up much the same as I would when I'm hunting with a bow.

If you can see a deer much beyond 30 yards, you're probably not hunting the right spots for your best odds at seeing mature deer. This is part of why I believe an accomplished deer hunter doesn't necessarily have much disadvantage limiting his hunting to archery tackle (although without question, a rifle is the more effective weapon).

 

[BSK]

IMO, there would be lot more mature deer taken by gun hunters if they "set up" their hunting spots as though they were bowhunting, and it didn't matter if they couldn't see beyond 30 yards. More times than not, even when I'm hunting with a centerfire rifle, I set up much the same as I would when I'm hunting with a bow.

If you can see a deer much beyond 30 yards, you're probably not hunting the right spots for your best odds at seeing mature deer. This is part of why I believe an accomplished deer hunter doesn't necessarily have much disadvantage limiting his hunting to archery tackle (although without question, a rifle is the more effective weapon).

Although most wouldn't believe it, I actually learned to deer hunt as a bow hunter. I bow hunted far more than gun hunted for the first 15 or so years of my hunting career. And I think those early learning experiences are why I still set up gun stands just like they were bow stands. All but one of the mature bucks I've killed were shot at bow range (under 30 yards) and from stands that often don't allow visibility beyond 30 yards.