Whitetails Only Nation

I have spent the last week poring over thousands of pictures and can say that things are starting to get interesting in the deer woods.  We are fast approaching prime time when bucks will start to aggressively cruise during daylight hours.  For those of you monitoring the WOW cameras you might be a surprised, buck photos are way down over the last week.  You should correctly wonder if the buck photos are down how can we be close to all hell breaking loose?

The answer; we are stuck in the yearly calm period.  Let’s back up and evaluate what we have seen on cameras so far this season.  The WOW cameras have done a great job this year documenting deer movement on our 200 acre test site.  We initially started with about ten unique bucks using the farm.  A few bucks left and a few new bucks showed up as testosterone levels elevated to their peak level around October 15.  Buck photos were at their peak level for the season around the same period.  The WOW cameras were showing dozens of photos daily of bucks feeding, sparing and just hanging around the food plots.

Many of the photos were taken during daylight hours.  It was a good time to be in the woods.  Not a lot of big buck activity but good deer movement.  But things changed.

Around the 21st of October the photo number started to drop.  Bucks were hard to find on camera, especially during daylight hours.  So what happened did the neighbors kill all the deer already?  Did hunting pressure on the WOW site spook the deer to neighboring properties?  How about a food shift, did the deer switch to a new food source not visible on camera?

I  am sure the neighbors killed a few deer already but the buck population remains fairly intact.  The WOW property has only been hunted one evening so far this archery season so the low photo number is not related to hunting pressure.  What about food shift, I visited the property two evenings ago to see if the deer has switched to the standing corn.  Nope, I only saw one gray fox, couple of coons and one very brave skunk.  Past experience has taught me the answer is bucks are laying down.  Yup, it’s that simple, they are on their bellies right now and not very active.  The lay down period is a critical marker that helps determine when bucks will again become active.

Ok, so what’s happening with the bucks on the WOW site?  Deer physiology can explain.  If you look back to an earlier blog I described how the testosterone level on bucks will double from September until around October 15th.  During this time period bucks often experience 30% body weight gain.  The buck photo level was at its peak as bucks finished packing on the pounds in the food plots.  They were fattening themselves up in preparation for breeding when they will bleed off the 30% body weight gain.  So where are the bucks now, they are fat and happy they don’t need more body weight so the desire to feed is not as high.  Bucks have reached peak body condition and are in a holding pattern until does trigger the next segment of the fall rut.

Ok, we are all hunter what do we do when the bucks are laying down after they reach peak body condition.  First and foremost don’t push them.  Don’t chase them into bedding areas just because you aren’t seeing them around the food plots or transition areas.  If you push them hard now you can make them nocturnal and very difficult to see in another week when they start moving on their own.  If you are hunting mature bucks take some time and do a few more chores around the house, it’s a good time to earn brownie points and keep the pressure off the big guys.   I raked the leaves yesterday and will forgo tonight’s evening hunt to take my father in-law to diner.  Based on the ongoing camera survey I think we are getting very close but we have a few more days to go.

So here is how I see the next ten days playing out in the deer woods.  A few lucky hunters will start to see good buck movement starting this weekend.  Yearling bucks will be on their feet first followed by two year old bucks flexing their muscle.  Dominant bucks will start to walk younger inferior bucks off of food plots and away from doe groups.  When a more dominant bucks uses his body size to intimidate another buck and continues to pursue the lesser buck it is called “buck walking”.    I am not talking about the little shoving matches we have been witnessing for the last month.  Dominant buck walking can last five- ten minuets when bucks can be totally obsessed with one another.  Expect to see quite a bit of body posturing within the next five days, this time the body posturing will be the real deal.

Bucks will start to more frequently use grunts while with does and snort-wheeze when confronted by other bucks.  Bucks will not be focused on feeding just checking does.  I would expect to see better daylight photos of older bucks starting this weekend.  I will start hunting for the first time morning and evening starting this weekend.  Buck pressure on does will increase until the middle of next week.  Around November 4th doe family groups will start to disperse.  Does will be sick of bucks midway through next week, they will do everything possible to avoid bucks including avoiding traditional social areas like food plots.  The dispersal of does will make bucks cover more ground to find does.  Good time to hunt ridges or any known funnels.

The above family of does will be scattered all over the WOW property once the bucks start to put pressure on the does.

Around the 6th of November good bucks will be on their feet hanging with does.  If you observe this behavior it might look like the buck is tending the doe but they are just hanging close.  He may hang with a doe for an hour or half a day before he switches to another doe.  I usually don’t see long chaises during this period of deer behavior.  Bucks just seem to want to be close to the girls at this time.  This will last a day or two and then…

Well, the next phase is the frantic chasing period when bucks are seeking does for breeding.  Based on the WOW cameras and other camera research I estimate around November 8th bucks will be on their feet and running hard!  Daylight photos of bucks streaking through plots with their mouth gaping wide should show up between November 8th and 11th.  The “magic time” usually only last a couple of days and then the breeding starts.  Bucks will run regardless of weather, rain or shine they will move.  Several years ago the “magic time” started while we had 60mph gusts of wind.  It was so windy I couldn’t make a twenty yard shot with a bow but still had a ball watching the bucks run does.  One factor that can mute the “magic time” is temperature.  Buck movement will be significantly reduced when the temperature is above 45.  They will still run but they will have to frequently rest to cool.

Of course there will be some properties that kick in a little early and a few that are later but if you have been saving your vacation time for hunting season November 4th – 11th should be dynamite.  I will be in the treestand sun up till sun down if possible during those days.

I’ll be blogging more frequently over the next couple of weeks on our new and improved website: www.whitetailsonlynation.com (premiering soon) to let you know what we are seeing from the treestand and on camera.  I’ll be discussing hunting strategy as the next couple of weeks plays out.  Let us know what you are seeing?  Blog when you see your first three year old bucks during daylight hours on camera or from the treestand.  Let us know if you are seeing good bucks chasing does as you drive to and from work.

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