The disgruntled hunter -Deer and Deer Hunter article

[ididnotvoteforobama]

Today I read an article in the march 2014 issue of Deer and Deer Hunter magazine . It answers a lot of the questions that have been raised about the lack of deer being sighted the over past seasons .  It talks about the hunter attitude over the years and the lack of interest , lack of new hunters. It really sums up the reasons for the bad past seasons.

Also a good article on the effect of the moon phases on deer activity , backed up by many studies over the years. A very good article on deer management, habitat management, deer density etc. This  issue is one of the most informative magazines that I have read in a long time , well worth the price to buy it off the  magazine counter. It may be available online , but I have not looked into it , yet.

[Five Seasons]

I'll have to read it when I get a chance. Some areas... Over populated and you can't hunt. Places where you can? No deer. Supply and demand.

[ididnotvoteforobama]

You need to read this issue , you will be surprised . After reading this issue , I have devised my plan to improve my hunting on my 175 acres. Over the past 12 yrs , I have watched my property,   degrade  to the point , that this past season was  the worst  since I have owned it. I always kept a journal of the date, time , weather conditions ,treestand hunted, deer activity, bucks ,does , coyotes sighted etc. My conclusion is , that when I bought this property , it had just been selectively logged  and 2 years after the logging , my hunting and deer sightings were 10 times better than they were this past season.Then the 200 acre  property adjoining mine was logged . Now the deer sightings really dropped off , the deer had all the browse they needed and didn't frequent my property much. Then other properties around me were logged , guess where the deer went then.  Read the magazine and formulate your plan for next year.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

It seems to be a trend in a lot of states as of late. Lots of states need to revamp their tagging and permits. Couple tough winters and then a hard harvest year and you herd is down for 2 to 3 years. Add yotes to that pic and its even worse.

 This is why high fence and outfitters have better years. Seems more hunters cant find deer on state land and the land they hunted gets ate up in the high dollar lease and bingo...Unhappy hunter, Then happy high fence and outfitters!

 Doc said all along that hunting was going to be a money sport. A lot of people are willing to drop money on a quick hunt!

[MACHINIST]

Have to pick up D&DH today.Thanks

[WNYBuckHunter]

That magazine just cant give up their moon theories, even when the GPS studies are showing that the moon doesnt have much to do with it. Nah, never mind that, heres some old studies to "back it up", we need to sell more moon phase calendars. hahaha

[bubba]

I know a lot of people including myself who use the moon phase and feeding times quite successfully.  But a study is better than actual input I understand

[dbHunterNY]

I don't pay attention to moon phase, as I hunt whenever I can, regardless of the phase.  that said it's tied to certain days of the year and using certain points of the rut phases.  I think it's more consequential than the deer actually looking up and saying ok the moon is like that, so time to run around.

[bubba]

The moon hasan effect on a lot of things here on earth. Believe it or not

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[ncountry]

I have also come to put more stock in the moon phase . Not 100% sold but getting closer .

[Five Seasons]

Not sold on any one thing to predict rut. I'm going to hunt as much as I can and try to take vacation late October early November or when I see activity pick up.

I don't believe it's tied to any one thing but to a few things that need to come into place and then they know it's time to get it on.

[bubba]

moon phase does more than predict the rut it also has a big factor in natural movement

[Doc]

I wouldn't be too quick to condemn any moon-phase/rut connections. I mean, who would think that so much deer behavior is governed by photo-periodism. That really doesn't make a whole lot of sense and yet it is pretty well accepted now that deer are affected by it. Who knows, maybe the moon gets into the act too. If somebody thinks they have come up with a connection, I'm not going to argue it.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Look into the current GPS studies. They put GPS collars on different deer, and they know where they are every X number of minutes. Shows you exactly what they are doing 24/7. Those studies are showing that the moon has little to nothing to do with movement patterns. The studies have been done in the North and the South, with the same results.

[Doc]

Interesting. It is amazing that the moon phase belief is so wide-spread, and has found a home with several well-known biologists and supposed "deer experts". It would be interesting to see how (or if) they rebut these studies

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yeah Im not sure how any of them can really refute it any longer. Ill see if I can dig up some links, Ive posted some of them before.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Heres a few that I know off the top of my head. I found some others a couple of times through Google as well. Cant find them in my bookmarks though. Ill see if I cant find them again.

 

http://www.qdma.com/articles/is-the-lockdown-phase-a-myth

 

http://www.qdma.com/articles/10-things-we-know-about-mature-buck-movements

 

http://www.qdma.com/galleries/rut-related-buck-movements

 

 

[bubba]

I would be interested is seeing these studies and the length and how many actual studies. Or is it a one month low key study you are hanging your belief on

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[Doc]

Here's the article that I found before:

http://www.qdma.com/articles/10-things-we-know-about-mature-buck-movements

 

Now lets see if I have retyped that anywhere near correctly. I can no longer cut and paste stuff on this site.

 

Edit: Same article as your second link .... lol

[WNYBuckHunter]

I would be interested is seeing these studies and the length and how many actual studies. Or is it a one month low key study you are hanging your belief on Sent from my LGL35G using Tapatalk 2

 

Theres a whole bunch of them. Just google Deer GPS studies and look at the QDMA articles I posted. Those studies the QDMA talks about arent the only ones that have been done, and there are some others that are ongoing as we speak.

[WNYBuckHunter]

http://www.noble.org/ag/research/usinggps/

 

"Many people believe that moon phase has a dramatic impact on deer movement; however, the data collected throughout our study indicate that moon phase had no effect on movements of deer of either sex."

[Five Seasons]

Studies proving and disproving theories are always hard to buy 100%. With wild animals there are just too many variables. If the moon phase happens to coincide with the first freeze you'd believe it was the moon, when in fact it could have been the temp... Or both. Idk, I hunt because I enjoy it, and if you can hunt enough you'll be able to tell the rut is on. I guess I'm fortunate where I do not need to provide a lot of notice to when I'm taking time off and I understand this isn't the case for many. And until there's 100% proof in one way or the other, people will try their damnedest to take the right week off of work. And I don't blame them

[Doc]

Studies proving and disproving theories are always hard to buy 100%. With wild animals there are just too many variables. If the moon phase happens to coincide with the first freeze you'd believe it was the moon, when in fact it could have been the temp... Or both. Idk, I hunt because I enjoy it, and if you can hunt enough you'll be able to tell the rut is on. I guess I'm fortunate where I do not need to provide a lot of notice to when I'm taking time off and I understand this isn't the case for many. And until there's 100% proof in one way or the other, people will try their damnedest to take the right week off of work. And I don't blame them

 

I have to agree on a couple of points:

 

First you are absolutely right. It really is no trick to recognize the rut when you see it.

 

Second, I really don't require any advanced notice. I'll be there when it happens. I guess that is why I never invested a whole lot of study into some of the predictive theories. Even when I was a working stiff, I was always able to set my own hours and always had a pile of vacation. Now..... what the heck. I'm out there all the time. I'm sure that I will not miss the rut ....ha-ha. 

 

[Tio1]

It is anticipated that Charles Alsheimer will do a presentation at Eden High School - Eden, NY later this year (09/14). Come listen and form your own opinion. Regardless of your point of view, his presentation should put all in the mood for 2014 archery season.

[nycredneck]

Whatever...

I hunt when I can

I am not disgruntled