Really good question. I have found that on a new property I have to have a season under my belt before I can really predict deer movement on a given property. Aerials and topos are great, even walking the property, but really I have to witness all the stages of the rut on a property before I know what is going on. The problem is things are never the same year to year, and I am not just refering to crop rotations. I know what corn, alfalfa, and beans mean for any of my hunting areas year after year, but then there is logging, presence of coyotes, and hunting pressure (or four wheelers, horseback riders, etc).

This past season saw one of my properties go dead. There was nothing there, no fresh tracks, zilch. Turns out the landowner had let some small game hunters loose on the land, and the tenant takes frequent walks all over the property. I have had these things happen often, so anymore I am never really sure what to expect.