where have the bucks gone?

[SplitG2]

The last two years our trail cam pictures are lacking bucks...this year is no different.  Nothing has changed on my property.  We normally get great pictures of solid 1 1/2 year old and up.  Even less doe pictures than normal.  Wonder if it's poaching? Bad winter?  Im baffled.  anyone else in 4f have the same issue?

[growalot]

I swear plant some soybeans and you'll have more buck than you can shake a stick at

[SplitG2]

I swear plant some soybeans and you'll have more buck than you can shake a stick at

 

grow, i do plant 7-9 acres of soybeans.  food, habitat, water, cover, etc isnt the problem.  don't know what happened?

 

[grampy]

Do you have a lot of coyotes? Human pressure, like hikers?  Not saying if it could be ether one, but it sounds as if you had a big change in a short amount of time. And for sure, certain areas were hit harder than others last winter as far as winter killed deer. Maybe just a cycle thing and the numbers will improve in a couple years.

[SplitG2]

grampy,

 

coyotes seem to be under controll the last few years.  this past winter was bad but its been the prior two years too.  Maybe a cycle like you said.  Just puzzled.  was wondering if anyone else has seen this lately?

[growalot]

I know you do a lot of habitat improvement and plantings. I wasn't sure if you did soybeans,and kinda of a JK as to what happened here with my beans... could be weather or perhaps someone nearby has something going on you aren't privy to.  

[SplitG2]

i think you are correct...something is going on nearby grow!

[growalot]

So what do you suppose it could be?...I know what happens here...either farming or "other things"  that go clickety clack in the wee hours of the morning and the late afternoons...sound travels through these hills like the sound of music...

[SplitG2]

i hate to say it with out solid proof but something illegal is going on.....

[growalot]

that's too bad...good luck..

[NYBowhunter]

Hey split, i like to drive around my area to see what populations look like and they seem pretty consistent to previous years. Usually drive within a few mile radious, seen some nice dandy bucks in 4f. As far as my property in 4f will keep you posted as i put out my cams a week ago. Could be winter kill or local farmers with nuisance tags that are taken its toll by you. I know some farmers that hit deer hard in 4f during the hunting season by having hunting clubs and family take out as much deer as possible.

[dbHunterNY]

I swear plant some soybeans and you'll have more buck than you can shake a stick at

 

I've got acres and acres behind the house and all I've got are doe and lots of fawns.  only 1 buck so far.  a lot of survivors after last season too.  it'll start to change soon.

[SplitG2]

Hey split, i like to drive around my area to see what populations look like and they seem pretty consistent to previous years. Usually drive within a few mile radious, seen some nice dandy bucks in 4f. As far as my property in 4f will keep you posted as i put out my cams a week ago. Could be winter kill or local farmers with nuisance tags that are taken its toll by you. I know some farmers that hit deer hard in 4f during the hunting season by having hunting clubs and family take out as much deer as possible.

 

thanks for the imput...time will tell.

[wooly]

I'm not in that zone, but have noticed a recent decline in buck AND doe activity in the fields here lately.

A bumper apple crop this year, with a few starting to drop seems to be keeping them in the timber until the sun goes down right now here in 9h.

 

Our fields just got cut recently, so there's been a lot of commotion around them.

It's been a predictable pattern here the last few seasons.

That may also have something to do with it.

[SplitG2]

thanks wooly.  I put out more cameras this past weekend.  hopefully things will change.

[dbHunterNY]

it could be natural effects or human vermin related.  if someone takes a buck or you find one dead we've set them up on a saw horse just inside cover but visible from the road.  it works whether DEC is there or not.  as soon as they shoot once or multiple times you hear squealing tires and can assume someone's sweatin bullets too.  if DEC is there they can write a citation though.  around here, most of the time it's road hunters shooting bucks, not tagging, and not reporting them.

 

natural effects are if in previous few years you've had mature doe groups push bucks out to seek home range else where and/or had button bucks and yearling bucks pushed out by big ones.  other things like TSI or tilling up CRP.  many fields around here are open to view from roadsides.  much of it changed from corn to soybeans which doesn't have the draw due to lack in cover that corn has.

 

just some of what causes a change around here.  once velvet sheds, but still pre-season, things could definitely change.

Edited August 17, 2015 by dbHunterNY

[dbHunterNY]

I'm not in that zone, but have noticed a recent decline in buck AND doe activity in the fields here lately.

A bumper apple crop this year, with a few starting to drop seems to be keeping them in the timber until the sun goes down right now here in 9h.

 

Our fields just got cut recently, so there's been a lot of commotion around them.

It's been a predictable pattern here the last few seasons.

That may also have something to do with it.

 

yea last year and this year seem to be a bumper year for mast.  many just checked Sunday and most of my apples in cover are still not dropping much but will based on how hard I had to shake some limbs.

[sailinghudson25]

Move the cameras around.  Around edges of real thick stuff near cover.  IF you got any tractor paths that cross spots of heavy cover, run the discs over them.  Then you can see foot prints in the turned up soil.   Maybe they're lurking in the thick stuff and not near the food sources.

[orion]

influx of hunters from nearby antler restriction areas?

[Jaeger]

I saw plenty of does along the 4F/40 border the last 2 years and my friend tagged out on good legal bucks in 4F both years, 6 pointer and small 8 pointer in the same area.

 

This summer seems different, we found a lot of frozen carcases.  Winter kill due to really bad/snow/cold the past winter 2014-2015.

[Doc]

I have had the same thing happen. One year, certain trails seem to be dominated by bucks and the very next year it looks like there isn't a buck on the planet. Only to be followed on the year after that with all the bucks being back. Also, I have had situations where old traditional trails that bucks have always used would come up deserted, and yet during the season, there would be plenty of bucks in other areas. I have always assumed that it was food related, or some temporary disturbance from predators or hikers or hunters or something that simply moved their pattern. It has always turned out to be temporary. Unless you had some unusual prior hunting season where huge amounts of bucks were taken (not really likely), it likely only represents some pattern shift away from where you traditionally set your cameras.

[G-Man]

Though you may have food, the cover keeps maturing, and your neighbors tired of seeing your pics of all the bucks decided to put in their own food plots and fertilize more than you. Lots of possibilities, I could car less about summer pics ,let me se them in sept. ....

[meatmuzzy]

Im in 4G and only a handful of times have I gotten good summer buck pics. Once the velvet sheds, they show up.