I believe it. I hunt in an open area with a bunch of fields around, 40 acres of tall grass, and a very thin timber line that runs on each side of the creek..its goes for miles. From june/july until end of November you can ALWAYS go down there and deer will be there. Thats where I killed my first deer this year. Usually a group of 10-12 deer all in a pack. Always together. The end of November and in December you will NOT see a foot print from a deer. The only thing I can think of is they don't have a reliable food source/cover. Really don't know. Kind of weird.