Fall shift?

[Swamp_bucks]

When do you start seeing the bucks shift in your area?

 I have a tactacam out on stateland that gets 30 pictures a day of fawns and all the does work a licking branch over a scrape from last year.  I haven’t had a buck yet but expect once velvet comes off they will make the shift into that chunk of woods. 
 

[luberhill]

1 minute ago, Swamp_bucks said:

When do you start seeing the bucks shift in your area?

 I have a tactacam out on stateland that gets 30 pictures a day of fawns and all the does work a licking branch over a scrape from last year.  I haven’t had a buck yet but expect once velvet comes off they will make the shift into that chunk of woods. 
 

I had a few bucks but haven’t seen any in a week or more

[land 1]

ive only got 2 small bucks on cam normaly picks up mid september,, a week either side of becoming hard horn

[BizCT]

In my experience every piece of land is different. Some have pics of bucks all summer. Others not till November. Too many variables to give an opinion on your situation


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[wolc123]

There was a bachelor group of (3), including a decent 2.4 yr 8-point,  feeding in my 2 acre RR corn plot 2 hours before sunset 2 weeks ago.  I hope they clear out of there until around November 2.  If you zoom in, you can see two of them in the first pic. 
 

Maybe they already have.  There was no sign of them, when I drove back there yesterday, at about the same time.  I did kick out big “moma” back-strap, and her half-grown fawn.  I hope she keeps up that pattern until September 10.  



 

[Hock3y24]

I’ve had bucks break up in sept, and bachelor groups of 3-4 in early to mid October. All depends I guess.

[Robhuntandfish]

every year on our property its the same.  A buck or two in the summer and all the way thru Sept.  I always start to wonder ....wow no bucks....then october i get 6-10 new bucks around.  Sometimes this doesnt even happen til Mid October.  Then they are around a lot til after the first week of gun season then its a ghost town . 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Robhuntandfish

[crappyice]

So if you are seeing bucks now, does that mean they leave to their "rutting" grounds later?
In other words less sightings now are a good thing for your hunting?


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[stubborn1VT]

Some bucks shift, some don't.  It depends on tons of factors.  

[Robhuntandfish]

2 minutes ago, crappyice said:

So if you are seeing bucks now, does that mean they leave to their "rutting" grounds later?
In other words less sightings now are a good thing for your hunting?


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I think i would rather see bucks now as well.  Then i would be thinking i would have those around and more to come later.  This year i do have more bucks on cam in the summer than the past years (biggest is a 7pt) so will have to see if we get as many additional bucks around during the season. I guess its a good problem to have and sure wouldnt want it the other way.  I always thought they must summer very close and then once the fall arrives they wander farther daily looking for does and my location is in that extended range.  I also always think that after the first week of gun season we wont see hardly a track around is due to the fact there is a golf course right across the road on the back side of the property and they go there.   Theres no hunting, the golfers are gone and should be lots of food and open space.  Trying more food plots to keep them around more this year.  Will see if it pays off.  

[Robhuntandfish]

last season i only had these two bucks all thru the summer (first two picks) 

 

Then i had multiples during season all over the cams including those two.

 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Robhuntandfish

[Daveboone]

I usually have a few that I see regularly throughout the season. It is fun to see thier racks develop. Same this year. I have three I can tell apart, but normally come late october or so I start seeing some strangers wandering through. 

[mattypotpie8S]

Hard to say like Biz said. In my area I usually get bachelor group pics until about Sept 20 then less pictures until late October when the welcomed strangers start showing up.

[ridgerunner88]

Every property is different. The key is to figure out over a long period (couple years) how the deer/buck cycle works for your specific area. 

[BizCT]

So if you are seeing bucks now, does that mean they leave to their "rutting" grounds later?
In other words less sightings now are a good thing for your hunting?


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Some bucks shift, some don't.  It depends on tons of factors.  

Agree with Stubborn. It really depends on the buck. Every year on my Dad’s land we have 1 buck that will be on camera from the summer throughout the whole fall. Sometimes we kill that buck, sometimes we don’t. Then we have other bucks all summer and they disappear in September and then other bucks no pics of until November.

I just always assumed some have small resident radius’s and then if one gets killed or moves on, then other May come in. So many variables but when you only have a few bucks per square mile in a low density area like us it’s cool to track specific bucks


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[GreeneHunter]

Kinda like High School , the Bucks don't wake up till Junior / Senior year !   LOL

 

[BizCT]

Kinda like High School , the Bucks don't wake up till Junior / Senior year !   LOL
 

My one eyed wonder muscle was wide awake in 7th grade


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[Swamp_bucks]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

So if you are seeing bucks now, does that mean they leave to their "rutting" grounds later?
In other words less sightings now are a good thing for your hunting?


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No not really just a general question. The spot my camera is at I know once it gets to mid October they are in there. Camera is in that spot just to see when they shift into it officially. I’m after 2 other bucks that use the same swamp they are in all summer and all the way until heavy snow falls. 

[phade]

Generalizing...September. Will see bachelor groups drag on into early October in certain circumstances. Last year opening week had a 6 buck bachelor group go by. Clearly bedded in same area and moved together to feed in same area. Oldest was a 3.5 we were familiar with, rest were 2.5 and younger.