I'm a new bow hunter here in So. California and had a question on deer movement. I scounted out an area in the off season usually in the mid afternoon that had allot of sign, I never once saw any deer though. I set a tree stand next to a trail that comes down over a ridge. I sat in my tree stand from 4:00a.m. - 9:30a.m. and saw nothing. I went backyesterdayfrom 2:30p.m. - 7:30p.m. and saw three deer @ 6:00p.m.(none close enough too shoot though!)
My questions are, do deer move in a circular pattern? All the tracks go one way so that should answerthat question but would you think that deer would be moving through the area in the morning as well as the evening or do they all stick to the same pattern at the same time every day?

Sorry for the book!

If the tracks you found are going one way, you need to find out where they are going and where they are coming from.

If they are going towards some sort of food source, they are most likely being made in the late afternoon.

If they are headed toward a thick area or bedding area, they are most likely being made in the morning.


Deer usually head toward a bedding area in the morning and bed down. They get up a few times during the day and wander around a bit nibbling around for a while and then bed back down.

In the afternoon or late afternoon, they get up and slowly work there way towards a food source, apples, acorns, corn field, persimons, soybeans, alfalfa, planted food plot, etc... ( I'm not sure what you have in CA)


You need to find out where the trail goes to and from. Then set up accordingly.

If you spotted deer at 6PM it is probably headed to food.

If you can afford a trail camera, this will help in telling you when the trail is being used.

Are you saying to follow where they are coming from and where they are going to setup a morning and an evening hunt? So as to basicaly find their bedding areas?

You need to find their bedding areas (set up for morning hunt catch them going to bed) and find their feeding areas (set up for eve. hunt catch them going to feed).

This doesn't always work, but it works quite well for me. And if the rut is in, it's anybodys guess.

I'm just saying to follow the trail, you found, to find out what the trail is used for.


Is it traveling toward a bedding area?


Or is it traveling toward a feeding area?

Find out and set up accordingly.

I used to live in nor cal and when it comes to hunting those darn black tails in ca you should also try to find thier water source. Even if their water is just a small spring there should be plenty of sign. I have hunted in years past and had 100 degree weather in mid oct.

The other thing to with the trails is you need to know also if there are thier normal food/water/bed trails or if that there escape route when they feel presure.

If the area does not have too much presure its problay a food trail. if the area has a lot presure and you know where its coming from get in front of the deer and set up an ambush on their escape route.

My guess is that the bedding areas are just over the top of the ridge on private property. There is a tree that hasfallen overthe private fence and thereis allot of tracks and droppings right there coming out of the property.There are multiple trails coming down the hillside, some trails cross through a creek and some trails go around the creek and straight into a grassy valley. If I hunt at the bottom of the hill it gives me about an hour and a half of daylight to work with. In reading this, would you hunt the ridge (where I would have more daylight) or hunt the feeding/drinking areas at the bottom of the hill where I might find even more deer coming from other areas? Unfortunately I couldn't find any returning tracks to hunt in the morning. They must circle around and come up through the private property.[:@]

If it were me, I'd hunt the feeding/drinking first and see what happens, if you don't see anything or don't see deer until late, then I'd move a little closer to the beding area.

If you could invest in a trail camera, it would help in finding out alot of information such as this. Even a cheap Stealth 35mm.

I've been giving the trail cameras some thought but I'm worried some jerk would steal it.

Thank youguys foryour advice! Hopefully I can make my first season a successfull one.