No. But this is my personaly belief. The whitetail's world is drastically changing this time of year. Leaves are falling, crops are being harvested. The cover they were clinging to is rapidly dissipating. There is abundant food right now as well. The bucks are beginning to feel the urge to breed.....The does want nothing to do with it.

IMHO, Right now they bed very close to their food source. So, while they are up and moving as much as always, they aren't moving as FAR as they were earlier in the year. They don't have to look very far for food, and the lack of cover has them on edge.

[Deleted by Admins]

IMHO....they do this all the time. When a buck's core changes.....maybe the hunter doesn't adjust. But I think where the bucks (and deer, in general, really) "winter" and "summer" here are two pretty distinctly different areas.....within a fairly small area (2.23 sq mi.).

My action's getting ready to pick up. I have the mast crops. Though the beans are still int he fields....they're getting off of them. I fully expect to see more bucks in the coming two weeks. My journal says it's a good time to be out there (based on sightings). So...I will be.

Ok. Just a difference in our two herds and locations I guess then.

Or a difference in how big we view a "bedding AREA", probably. I think a buck and a doe has preferred bedding areas within the larger "area".....just like a buck has a "core".....and smaller cores within it (based on the availability of food).

If you believe that......you have to think he's bedding at different places at different times of the year. Or...you have to hink he's traveling further to get to his preferred feeding source....and his bedding area remains constant. I subscribe to the former.

But like I said....it may be a difference of how big we think a bedding area is. I think it "could" encompass a LOT of ground. Lots of variables, too......crop rotation, mast crop health, drought, flooding,etc...

Jeff, I agree with that, to a point. I do believe a buck beds in the same location most of the time. Same bed? No. Same 5 acres? I think so. I believe his security cover is much more important to him than his feeding location.

Let me say it this way, I just thought of it and to me, it makes more sense. Maybe he's (or they) not bedding closer to the food, maybe....The food is so abundant it's inherently closer to the bedding area. In an odd way of saying it, the food is coming closer to them, rather than them going to the food.

Yep. Difference of opinion. I could easily see it being 50 acres or more.

Combine that with multiple escape and travel routes in and out.....and it's not hard to see how we might think they're vacating the premises, laying low, etc...

Oh ok, i'm not really sure. My acorn knowledge is pretty limited. All i know is that they are everywhere!

Besides crop rotations and mast crops...we also have to throw the moon in to the equation. You can drive around with no headlights on at night, due to the glowing full moon. If we can see that well, just think of how well the deer can see!?!?

Hunt some mid-day...your sightings just might increase.