missing deer
 

OK guys i didnt know where to put this question so i figure i would try to get an answer here. In October i went hunting and i saw 9 does but when i went back in december and sat out for the same amount of time no amount of calling or luring worked. What could be the reason for the deer not showing up in the same spot. It was November by the time there was snow on the ground. Please give me some educated guesses on what happened with all the deer.

RE: missing deer
 

Well, if it was on the ground that I hunt, I'd say they are all in someone else's freezer.:(

RE: missing deer
 

Dead ,Around here if you dont get a deer the first week forget it. The first day of rifle season 50 percent deer are shot and by the 6th day your odds go down to 1 in 10

RE: missing deer
 

food source (gone), hunting pressure increase, it could be anything, they should still be in the area, any sign, tracks, poop, scrapes....they could have gone strictly nocturnal, they could be experiencing pressure from dogs/coyotes



yea all the other hunters have killed all of the deer, maybe next year they'll be a new crop of them[:-]

best of luck, i'd bet there still there somewhere;)

RE: missing deer
 

underground tunnel systems

RE: missing deer
 

sure seems like it sometimes[:@]

RE: missing deer
 

Yep... they sure do seem to disappear. You gotta shoot 'em when you see them. I have fallen victim to that before!

RE: missing deer
 

the only problem withat that was that they were all does and where i hunt ur not allowed to shoot does... so theres no action in my field.

RE: missing deer
 

Gosh Man, are you using a home made scent cover?:D:D:D:D

RE: missing deer
 

They might have moved.

RE: missing deer
 

I have two woods that I hunt regularly. I live up here in NW Ohio so its flat with lots of farming. My honey hole is a birthing/bedding summer woods. And when rut kicks in its a hot spot, killed almost all of my deer there. But after gun season is over and the crops are gone along with a little snow and a hard freeze this woods shuts down, and I know its not because they get shot because most of the surrounding area is no hunting and I am the only one that has permision to hunt. Some of it I know is that their is no real close water supply. But the other woods is just the opposite. A few deer here and there, maybe two or three "resident" does but not much. But boy in late December and January I have seen heards of twenty deer in their. This woods has a nice big creek and lots of oaks. Maybe your deer are deed, or maybe you just have to find their winter home?

RE: missing deer
 

You cannot expect to go out and see deer in october then go out 2 months later and see the same deer in the same spot. There's a lot that can happen in the mean time....rut, hunting pressure, food source changes, etc. Heck you could go 2 days in a row and not see deer from one day to the next. Were those the only 2 days you went out this year? Do you hunt that spot regularly?

RE: missing deer
 

Its hard to tell since I don't know your area. However if that happened where I hunt, I would know that have changes their food source. Where I hunt, in Oct and Nov, the winter wheat is green and growing and full of deer. However by late Dec abd Jan. The wheat has gone dormant and the deer start feeding in the harvested fields and hay fielllds and stacks. The will change there food source as it becomes necessary.

RE: missing deer
 

Wouldn't be funny if there was some dirty deer that understood us humans. He could sell out his buddies for some corn or imunity during this years rifle season. That would make it a little easier.

RE: missing deer
 

well living in new york city....and my hunting spot to be four hours away it is a little hard for me to get there more than 3 times a season but when i go its for a week at a time...the spot is very close to a water source...so it may be the food source or may not... i never have too much time to observe everything when i'm up there...sometimes its better to live out of a big city i guess

RE: missing deer
 

i forgot to mention that i hunt in a heavily forested and mountanous area

RE: missing deer
 

Well then I'd take the first couple days of each week you are there and scout/hunt. Cover as much ground as possible (depending on how much you have access to) and see where the hot sign is. Then plan your hunts accordingly. Also keep tabs on these areas from one year to the next, if you see the same thing every year, you can probably stop having to check that spot each time and you can hunt sooner. When hunting continuously woodedareas look forterrain features that might force deer to use an area more often than others. Ridges, dips, saddles, creek bottoms, etc.