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RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
ORIGINAL: gri22ly I will try to make it short, bucks spend10 months avoiding does, there patterns andhabits are opiset...The longer they live the more they change.....Thelittle 3 1/2 year olds are still in transition, there half way there. A truly mature buck relies and lives byhis noes....He doesn't wast hes time checking an area until all thedoes havemoved through and bedded down. Theres allot more to this but have Iproblems putting it down. I have seen old bucks WITH does that will follow from a distance behind the doe and use her to recon any area before he moved in, but during the seeking phase of the rut I have seen them on their feet moving alone... much more slowly than their 1.5-3.5 year old colleagues however. |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
Jeff, I need to say that almost every time I ever see a buck, other than early season when they might be bachelored up,or during the rut, they are by themselves. Bucks by nature, are loners. Even during the rut, most bucks I see are by themselves. Just thought I'd throw this in.
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RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
I understand, EI....and I don't have anything to add to that assessment. I can recall three seasons of bowhunting (as it relates to seeing bucks NOT during the rut)...and you're right on every account. They were all, alone. BUT....they were all, also, in known "doe" areas (which is all I've had access to).
What I need to learn is.....what do I look for to discern a "doe" area from a "buck" area. It may be as simple as "away from the does".....but that sounds like too muchlike a season of random sits. I'd like to put a little more science ito it. |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
As for the science behind it, I honestly have no idea and I am not so sure anyone does... This is the reason you rarely hear of it in the mags and such.The oldest mature bucks live in solitude, but the 1.5-4.5's bachelor up (in my experiences). When was the last time you saw a tank out feeding with the other bucks in the summer? It isn't because they are not around at all... It is because their life experiences taught them to avoid these situations. They are experts at living "under the radar".
As we have discussed here in the past about different strategiesfor setting up on deer.Some would say hunt the does for the bucks...Some others and myself would say set up on knownareas that bucks frequent and stay away from the does... My sightings from the stand over the yearshas probably been2 bucks to every doe... It isn't because we have morebucks thandoes where I hunt.... It is because theyuse different home ranges and bedding sites throughout the year except for thebreeding season. You need to recognize the difference and capitalize on the pattern. If I amhunting a set and I see does and no bucks the first couple times I hunt it, I abandon the set. Really the only times you will see their summer / early fall home ranges overlap is when they are both using the samepreferredfood and watersources.[/align][/align]I use winter scouting andsummer glassing to help determine what areas are frequented by the bucks.[/align][/align]If youguys want to hear ones experiences about hunting the wrong home rangesask mobow, he is our expert.....:D [/align] |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
ORIGINAL: GMMAT What I need to learn is.....what do I look for to discern a "doe" area from a "buck" area. It may be as simple as "away from the does".....but that sounds like too muchlike a season of random sits. I'd like to put a little more science ito it.  |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
ORIGINAL: RobinAim Low Here is my thoughts and practice on this subject. I kept a running journal for 3 years when this started out for me, and it has proven itself to me, so take it for what its worth... I picked up on a "weird" deal many years ago. Nothing better to do in very early season, so I went and sat in my stand at noon in 93 deg heat hoping to get a turk or two coming to the acorns falling around me. Within an hour deer were coming in from all directions and it was a great mid day sit. Same thing the next two days, but each day they were a little later. Not long after, I read an interesting theory about the moon position, summarized as deer move with the moon straight up (or straight underfoot). I backtracked to that great weekend, and found that the movements I saw were right on track with the moon being overhead (full moon period). I started to keep track of the "moon times" as I call them for the entire next couple seasons. I hunted whenever I could regardless, but did make sure if I could I was in woods for the times that fell within "unproductive hours", and I made sure I was inside of cover where deer would feel safe. For3 straight years sightings correlated very strongly with those time periods no matter what time of year. During the rut it was even more intense, and not just for mature buck sightings. You can't just sit wherever and expect results, but if you take the time to be where deer want to be in midday times, you will see some deer. Bottom line is that during the rut, I hunt all day if I can. If it is a full or new moon period during the rut (full and new correlate to up and down midday moon position) you better believe I will be out there all day if possible, but more important to me, during the middle of the day. If I have to sleep in a day here and there to make sure I can be out at the "right times", I will do it. Think about this...how many times have you seen deer in fields in the middle of the day during summer time while driving around? How many times have you wondered to yourself "why is that deer out feeding in this heat?". Now...start paying attention this summer to those movements and look up the moon position for the odd times you see deer... I'll leave it with this last little story: My absolute best day ever hunting went like this. Full moon, early Nov. Got to our area at 1100. Unpacked, and headed out to sit for the mid day. On the way over to our spot, we saw a giant cruise into a small patch of woods next to the road. Climbed in my stand at 1215. Immeadiately saw deer moving around in the brush 60 yards away. Turned out to be a huge buck keeping a doe pinned down. Saw another 8 bucks and about that many does between then and about 2:15. Crawled out at 2:45 for a quick meet up with my partner and snack. He had similar luck, seeing one absolute giant and a several others, and he killed a nice buck. Got his deer out of the woods quick as we could. Got back in my stand for the last couple hours and didn't see any deer until right before dark. Similar hunts over the next few days with the activity getting later each day. Moon was straight overhead that first day at 1245. If you actually look into when "most" big deer are killed, the times will correlate with when most hunters are out hunting, not necessarily when most deer are active. That is a fact that you can bank on. I have read in the Drury Brothers book that they too base alot of their sits on the moon phases. They stated that when the moon rises, being that its actually visible in the sky during the day is a great time to be in the woods. Is that what you were refering to when you say the moon being directly overhead? |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
Not only can I not tell the difference between doe and buck bedding areas, I can't even pinpoint exact bedding areas, LOL (other than one specific little woodlot in IL). For me, it is more of a general thing that specific parts of the ground I stay out of, because I see deer going into them in the mornings/out in the eve's. It makes it even harder when I see so many early season bucks coming to feed right with other deer. The biggest early season buck I ever saw was in that first midday hunt I described in the acorn flat. He was a super wide and big deer, and stood there sucking up acornsamongst 13 other deer for about 30 minutes. I just happened to be about 30 yards too far, LOL.
The theory he presents may be right on, but for me, planning and hunting around when deer want to move (based on my earlier post) is more productive. I wish I could narrow it down enough to be able to capitolize on that kind of separation. |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
ORIGINAL: RobinAim Low For me, it is more of a general thing that specific parts of the ground I stay out of, because I see deer going into them in the mornings/out in the eve's. |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
ORIGINAL: njbuck22 I have read in the Drury Brothers book that they too base alot of their sits on the moon phases. They stated that when the moon rises, being that its actually visible in the sky during the day is a great time to be in the woods. Is that what you were refering to when you say the moon being directly overhead? |
RE: Killing/seeing deer in the middle of the day...
Have you heard of the Beniot family? They are from Vermont and they track deer. Between the family they have Probably 200 years of tracking experience. I was shocked to read that on full moon nights the bucks don't move much during the night. I always used to believe that they traveled more and thats why my sightings went way down during the day.
Now match that with movement corrolating with moon overhead or under foot and it makes sense to hunt the mid day on full moon periods. I would like to add that the Benoits claim that deer prefer dark gloomy nights. Thats when they see the most new tracks. |
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