Post season deer at my camp

[Daveboone]

As many others experienced, sightings were slow this past season. I was happy to fill my freezer with a nice mature doe though.

Even though I didn't see many deer, I was confident they were around, and the warm weather was putting them off.

I have cameras up year round for quite  a few years now, and have a good idea of what critters are about.

Yesterday I pulled my game camera from my back corner (overgrown apples) and was delighted to find quite an assortment of deer, including at least 5 different bucks over a 4 week season, starting the w/e after northern tier closed. Just nice to know I perception was at least partially correct. With the mild winter so far (the relatively heavy snow fall over the past couple weeks really isn't anything much there) I am looking forward to next season already.

[Rockspek]

any pics your going to post?

[Renegade Hunter]

PICS! PICS! PICS!

[Doc]

Let's not assume that the warm weather was the reason that harvests were down. It may or may not be the case, but I have not seen any credible proof that deer react any differently in weather that is 3 or 4 degrees warmer than normal. Lets face whatever temperature records that have been broken were only broken by a couple of degrees, and on only a few days, so lets keep all this stuff in relative perspective. Were those couple of degrees enough to drive the feeding and the rut and daytime movements into a nocturnal state like we have never seen before? Maybe, but I doubt it. I have done plenty of bowhunting in my short sleeved shirts many years. Also, I am reminded of all the states that  are south of us with a whole lot warmer temperatures than we have ever seen here. Do they have to hunt only at night because all the deer are waiting until then to move about?.....No.

[Daveboone]

I have always seen considerably more deer in wet or cool weather. If our home gets 3-4 degrees warmer than normal, I certainly feel the difference. When it is warmer, hunters also aren't as active. Regardless, after watching the area all spring/ summer and into the fall, and knowing that few deer were taken or sighted, I knew the deer were there. I was still finding the tracks, scrapes and rubs. Hving hunted Georgia, I know no one goes out after the first few hrs of the morning or before the last couple of the evening.

Sorry guys, I stink at moving pictures around....maybe this w/e I will be able to. No big racks, but a number of 6 pts including 2 twins playing around.

[RoadKill44]

My two dogs were barking up a storm around 4:45PM. In the long shadows of house from the setting sun, there were eight doe crossing the yard along the hedge row. There was no horn visible but a couple could have been buttons.

 

so they are still around.

[Doc]

I know we are all looking for some logical reason for the low take and low sightings this year. I also know that temperature sounds like a reasonable reason. And in some cases where the temp spikes way up ( 80's, 90's), there may be reason to expect the deer to delay their movements until after dark (although I have seen plenty of exceptions to that too). But, when you actually look at the number of degrees that temps were above normal, it really is difficult to believe that a couple of degrees would make all the difference that people are hoping to be able to blame their lack of success on. And for most of the days, that's all it really was ..... a couple of degrees. There are so many different reasons for deer patterns to shift or change that insignificant slight elevations in temperature would not be the one I would blame it on.

 

The one significant factor that I would suspect is kind of related to temperature in a way. That one is the lack of snow. It is so easy to walk right on by a bedded deer when they are not highlighted with that white background. And I know that after the first shots of the gun season, sitting tight in heavy cover is a favorite ploy of these critters .....and it works too as long as they are not silhouetted by the contrast of snow.

[growalot]

Agreed Doc.  We are seeing a lot of scattered small herds all over. My cams have been filling up nicely with deer and the daily walks have shown me "cow paths" throughout the property. No denying the deer are out there, though nearly every hunter in the general area said they had a poor season. Mine was good, but I have lots of time and hunted an area I have stayed out of for a few years,one I didn't have a ladder at until the day before the hunt and another I had set up to change movement patterns. My changing what I did probably made the difference between success or none.

[Daveboone]

More to the point I am just saying....I knew the deer were there, just not seeing them.

Another phenomenon though, which is possible,,,I am right on the edge of the Tug Hill (west). As snow accumulates up north the deer move to the edges, I have seen that in the past, but normally it happens a month to 6 weeks earlier. I am just glad to see them.