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Nocturnal Deer Question

Old 09-26-2015, 05:23 PM
  #1  
Spike
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Hello and thanks in advance!

I'm a first generation deer hunter, who is always trying to pick up new ideas and concepts from other more veteran hunters. I have three mature bucks I would like to target but all three are nocturnal at this time, located on three different pieces of property. There is no hunting pressure on any of these lands what so ever.

Right now I'm using my wireless trail cameras trying to monitor their movements hoping they start to make an appearance closer to legal hunting hours for me to start hunting them.

Are there any tricks I can do to try and attract them to be more active in daylight hours such as mock scrapes, etc? Or do I just need to wait it out until the rut?

Just for fun, the following pictures are the three deer.

Thanks!
Attached Thumbnails Nocturnal Deer Question-09220671.jpg   Nocturnal Deer Question-img_3643.jpg   Nocturnal Deer Question-pict0144.jpg  
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Old 09-26-2015, 05:52 PM
  #2  
Nontypical Buck
 
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If not under pressure, they should be starting to run a little more towards legal shooting light. It's starting to cool off but it's been rather warm here in IL and I think you have been getting similar weather patterns. Give them another week and you should start seeing them more in the light. It could also be that your camera is in one of their "night haunts" somewhere they feed to during the night.
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Old 09-26-2015, 06:23 PM
  #3  
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I usually try to figure out where they have been bedding down. Unlikely to be one place, but they do tend to have their favorites.

I'll do a compass straight line walk through after a rain and look for tracks that are in pretty much a straight line. Farm roads are always a good place to check for tracks. Straight line tracks are often from bed to food or food to bed. I keep aware of the breeze if any and look for likely spots to set up. Trying to figure out if the tracks are Doe or Buck, can be interesting. No real rules except Doe tend to have a wider rear track while often Bucks have their rear track more in line with their front.

Then I set up and hope they are either early to food or late for bed. I can usually pick their general route plus or minus a hundred meters, sometimes a lot closer.
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Old 09-26-2015, 06:24 PM
  #4  
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I believe SH54 has it right, the weather will play a factor in their pattern change but location of the camera makes a difference. These deer are not bedded from 5 am till 8 pm. They are moving somewhere.
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Old 09-26-2015, 07:44 PM
  #5  
Spike
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Thanks for the feedback! I do agree with the warmer weather comment. It's very accurate and something that I just over looked during our warmer weather here.

Just for fun I have been trying to check if the moon was overhead and underfoot, but I didn't see any trends there yet.

The other piece of the puzzle is that two of the areas have a lot of standing corn. Some is starting to come off now, while some will stay up until November/December.
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Old 09-28-2015, 02:02 AM
  #6  
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Are your time stamps wrong?
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Old 09-28-2015, 04:31 PM
  #7  
Spike
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Originally Posted by rockport
Are your time stamps wrong?
No, why do you say that?
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Old 09-29-2015, 07:05 AM
  #8  
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I have the same situation at the ranch; I just have to wait them out, one day they will make the mistake and I'll be ready.
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Old 09-29-2015, 07:17 AM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by uwbadgers
No, why do you say that?
You are not to far off of daylight are you?

What makes you think these deer are not still on their feet at daylight?
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Old 09-29-2015, 07:41 AM
  #10  
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How big of a tract of land do you have access to that each buck is on? The reason I ask is that it appears by your pics that your cams are in open/feeding areas and of course mature deer will most likely only frequent those areas after dark. But that doesn't mean they wait until dark to get up out of their beds and begin heading for the feeding areas. You've got to find their general bedding areas and most importantly, "staging/hangout areas" that are in between. Those are the likely kill spots that you'll catch such bucks in before darkfall!

Start looking downwind of the areas that you have those pics from. Think in "100yd sections"... Are there any hardwood/mast producing areas nearby that allow bucks to hang around in prior to dark? Such transition areas are PRIME areas to connect with ol mossy horns. Hardwood ridges with feeding flats that are between bedding and feeding areas are perhaps the greatest places you'll likely encounter.

Another thing I've made my 3 decade deer hunting experience hinge upon is bottle necks/pinchpoints. With todays easy access to google maps and other up to date satellite & topo maps, you can find some WONDERFUL travel corridors from the comfort of your easy chair! And unless there's some major changes like logging or clearing, those bottlenecks will last for DECADES and you'll have honey holes that you and your kids/gkids will be taking trophies from decades from now. Deer are creatures of habit and what a mature buck likes about an area today is what his grandson will like 10yrs from now!

Just get on those maps and "look back" start moving back from the feeding areas and you'll soon start to discover what youve been missing. Better yet, take a cell service/gps equipped Ipad/laptop or even your phone with you while you're in the woods looking and scouting out the lay of the land. Make notes of buck/deer sightings as well as where you see good sign. Once you plot all of that on an overhead map and then look "at the big picture" you'll be surprised how all of the sudden it'll "click" and the light will come on... "Oh yeah, THATS why they are doing this or that's why we see them here or that's why they are in this spot." Then you are on your way.

Waiting for mature deer at feeding areas during the daytime is a losing proposition in most areas except large tracts with extensive mgmt and extremely careful pressure measures taken. And then once the rut begins you must STILL resist the urge to watch the masses of slickheads and toybucks parading around out in the open. Do yourself a favor and setup 50-100yds inside the downwind areas in the thickest stuff you can find near the foodplots. You wont see as many deer but that's where the big boys will be, they live by their noses and they windcheck such areas instead of walk up to the edge and look for themselves. Ol bucks would be just as effective without their eyes as long as they have their nose and ears to tell them what they need to know!
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