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Much has been written
about deer movement in hunting magazines and I
have been intrigued by differences in deer activity
over the years myself. We have all been in the
woods or maybe just while driving to or from work
and noticed large differences in deer activity.
You will have some days when you see many deer
from your tree stand and other days when, from
that same stand at the same time of day, you won’t
see a single deer. It is also most obvious when
you drive to and from work at similar times each
day and see large swings in deer activity. After
thinking about these changes in deer activity,
reading several articles and my hunting observations
over the years I've found several situations that
effect deer movement.
The Rut
- Some would say that the rut causes
the demise of more mature bucks than any other
factor. There's no doubt that deer are very active
during the rut. It is an exciting time to be in
the woods. The woods can explode around you at
any time during the rut and at about any time
of the day. All deer hunters have stories of seeing
bucks on the prowl. One year a spike buck let
me take three shots at him. The doe that this
buck was following ran right by me. When the buck
ran by I got him stopped and he just stared at
me. After my first shot missed he moved a few
feet and let me miss another shot. When the doe
saw that I had missed, she ran him back by me
again. I think that she was trying to use me to
get rid of him. Fortunately I’ve learned a thing
or to about shooting a bow since this episode
almost twenty years ago.
Weather
- I have noticed that weather conditions
and upcoming storms have an effect on deer activity.
Warmer than average temperatures during hunting
season definitely minimize deer activity. I also
have found that wind makes deer very skittish.
It seems that wind messes up all of their senses.
The wind causes everything in the woods to move
confusing their sight as well as both masking
and making noise. I would also think that their
great sense of smell is also confused as well.
I have spent many days out hunting on windy days
where I couldn't hear anything or tell what was
or wasn't moving it's no wonder that the deer
lay low on these days. Deer don't seem to mind
a mild rain, but when the rain is falling heavier
I've seldom seen a lot of activity.
Changes in the weather
definitely cause the deer to move. Most likely
it is the change in barometric pressure that triggers
deer before large storms arrive. On several occasions
I have noticed deer out feeding at odd times of
the day in the hours preceding a storm.
The Moon
- There have been articles written on
the effects of moon phases and moon position on
deer activity. I haven't figured this one out
yet but I think that there must be something to
it. I have seen increased deer activity on days
when I can't use the rut or weather to explain
it. Research has been conducted in an effort to
determine the effects of the moon phases in relation
to the start of the rut. What I have read of this
information seems promising as far as predicting
the start of the rut and the intensity of the
rut. A few years ago there was some research into
the effects of moon positioning, or in other words
when the moon was high in the sky, on deer activity.
I haven't seen any further discussions on this
theory in the past couple of years. I have to
believe that if the oceans tides can be predicted
with the moon than we might also expect the animals
to be effected as well.
Most of us only
have a limited number of days that we can hunt
each year and the best that we can do is to take
full advantage of this time. If you can plan your
hunting time in advance and you want high deer
activity you should plan your hunt during the
rut or pre-rut when moon prediction gurus say
activity will be at the heaviest and pray for
the right weather. In the end, the best way to
handle changes in deer activity is to be in the
woods as much as possible.
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