Nocturnal White-tails... Bringing them out after sunrise!
12-27-2010, 02:36 PM
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: May 2010
Location: South East Pa.
Posts: 526
I agree with the previous post. I worked nights for over 20 years and drove back roads home. On the darkest, rainiest nights was when there was the most deer and other wildlife activity. Even during rifle season deer get up and move during the day after heavy hunting pressure dies down. An old buck might lay all day once rifle season starts, but doe will not unless there is unbelievable pressure on them. You are missing something there. If you can't pull them in to your property, hunt somewhere else.
12-27-2010, 02:47 PM
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Southern Michigan
Posts: 171
I would lose all the feed and attractants besides the doe scent. Hunt just off the edge of there bedding ground off of a heavily used run perhaps. Then dont be afraid to use the old grunt tube to draw him out of the thicker bedding area.
12-27-2010, 03:49 PM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
I beg to differ here. A whitetail can see plenty at night time. His eyes contain a magnitude of heavy rods that allows him to see very well at night. We as humans have a lot of cones in our eyes ( allowing us to see and decipher colors better) but not in the dark. The only thing that puts a whitetail at a disadvantage to a human is the whitetails poor depth perception due to the presence of so many rods in his eyes. Another very important thing to note is that the whitetail "also" has what EVERY nocturnal and predatory animal in the world has.....the tapetum lucidum, a reflective disc behind the retina that gathers light in low light to nearly no-light situations. So just like a raccoon, owl, coyote, the whitetail Deer is also nocturnal. There is far more whitetail activity during night time hours than you will ever see during the day time. ( just look at everyone's game cams as proof )Whitetails are built to survive. They don't even need to come out in daylight. For centuries they have survived using nocturnal tactics to evade humans and other predators and I doubt they will stop this habit anytime soon.
12-27-2010, 03:56 PM
#14
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Southern Michigan
Posts: 171
I'm not sure that there is ever "no light". I mean sure there are nights that are darker because of less moon and more clouds but you cant really compare a deer's vision to a humans. I doubt that the amount of light affects the deer pattern but that is just my opinion.
12-27-2010, 04:01 PM
#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: So. Indiana
Posts: 288
This buck got BIG for a reason... He's smart, and old! I'm in this location maybe once a week... Either a morning hunt or an evening hunt... 9/10 times its evening because the camera doesn't lie... That's when the deer are present. Sun is always down and it's too dark for a shot!
As for using supplements....These deer were nocturnal from the start. Before I used anything to try and make them go from night to day. I used the camera as my guide, and it showed me that these deer are truly nocturnal. The reason the past few weeks I tried different supplements was to develop their pattern and see what I'm dealing with, and what potential some of these bucks have or may have.
Do they have me patterned...? I don’t believe so! It’s just finding a new route to the stand without disturbing the bedding area...
I know for a fact that the deer just aren't there in this location from 7:00am thru 5:15pm (Now this is where it’s visible within camera range), but they do show up just before dark or dark.
I barely travel there in the a.m. anymore because I would spook them out of the area. This is documented with the help of trail camera's and personal experience with these deer. I guess I might just use a scent machine and program that for daylight hours and see what happens...
I do appreciate your input!
As for using supplements....These deer were nocturnal from the start. Before I used anything to try and make them go from night to day. I used the camera as my guide, and it showed me that these deer are truly nocturnal. The reason the past few weeks I tried different supplements was to develop their pattern and see what I'm dealing with, and what potential some of these bucks have or may have.
Do they have me patterned...? I don’t believe so! It’s just finding a new route to the stand without disturbing the bedding area...
I know for a fact that the deer just aren't there in this location from 7:00am thru 5:15pm (Now this is where it’s visible within camera range), but they do show up just before dark or dark.
I barely travel there in the a.m. anymore because I would spook them out of the area. This is documented with the help of trail camera's and personal experience with these deer. I guess I might just use a scent machine and program that for daylight hours and see what happens...
I do appreciate your input!
How do you know he's not active in another area during daylight hours?
I once patterned a buck that bedded a mile from the preferred food source(cut corn).
I finally moved on him, only to have him pass out of range, this was 40 minutes before dark.
12-27-2010, 04:10 PM
#16
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Southern Michigan
Posts: 171
That is very true...im glad you brought that point up...
12-27-2010, 05:37 PM
#17
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 75
halfbaked, my response was in no way to flame you. I am just wondering here. Are we to be under the assumption that on " certain nights " a whitetail is "totally" blind ? Taking a step back and looking at this from whitetail biologist standpoint rather than a hunters standpoint, it seems hard to believe that a whitetail's anatomy would leave it to be that vulnerable. Due to its history of high survivability, fossil records show that the whitetail is so well designed to survive that its anatomy has not had to evolve since the time it was created. The whitetail has everything it needs to survive and it shows. It is one of the few species that is able to occupy as various types of terrain as it does. It can live in the heat, the cold, the mountains, plains, swamps and forest and survive with great success. As a single species it occupies more terrain than any other herbaceous mammal in the North American continent. Even when the whitetail migrates to new areas, it seems to survive better than the animals that already were dwelling there. In some cases, whitetails have been known to drive out other species because of the whitetail's competitiveness to feed. Like I was saying before it is hard to look at this from a whitetail biologist standpoint and think that an animal that has survived so well in all types of terrain and temperatures would be totally blind on certain nights.
12-28-2010, 12:10 PM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
lol @ flame..na its cool, just conversing here.
you know what they say when you assume?
not totally blind by any means..ya ever try walkin through the woods on a pitch black night with-out a light? are you totally blind?
the cheetah can only see things that are moving....but if the wildebeest make a dash and duck and sit still, they can be in plain sight at high noon 20 feet away and not see it until it moves or it catches the scent, and if the wind is right, it will walk right by the wildebeest without ever even knowing. whats even crazier, the wildebeest is born with this knowledge!! everything has a weakness.
you know what they say when you assume?
not totally blind by any means..ya ever try walkin through the woods on a pitch black night with-out a light? are you totally blind?
the cheetah can only see things that are moving....but if the wildebeest make a dash and duck and sit still, they can be in plain sight at high noon 20 feet away and not see it until it moves or it catches the scent, and if the wind is right, it will walk right by the wildebeest without ever even knowing. whats even crazier, the wildebeest is born with this knowledge!! everything has a weakness.
halfbaked, my response was in no way to flame you. I am just wondering here. Are we to be under the assumption that on " certain nights " a whitetail is "totally" blind ? Taking a step back and looking at this from whitetail biologist standpoint rather than a hunters standpoint, it seems hard to believe that a whitetail's anatomy would leave it to be that vulnerable. Due to its history of high survivability, fossil records show that the whitetail is so well designed to survive that its anatomy has not had to evolve since the time it was created. The whitetail has everything it needs to survive and it shows. It is one of the few species that is able to occupy as various types of terrain as it does. It can live in the heat, the cold, the mountains, plains, swamps and forest and survive with great success. As a single species it occupies more terrain than any other herbaceous mammal in the North American continent. Even when the whitetail migrates to new areas, it seems to survive better than the animals that already were dwelling there. In some cases, whitetails have been known to drive out other species because of the whitetail's competitiveness to feed. Like I was saying before it is hard to look at this from a whitetail biologist standpoint and think that an animal that has survived so well in all types of terrain and temperatures would be totally blind on certain nights.