Nocternal Deer

[W.Miguire]

I have a question for all you Deer hunters. why do you think they go nocturnal in the late season ? all I am seeing on my camera is at night I know it has been awful warm . could that be it?
W.M.

[janesy]

I have a question for all you Deer hunters. why do you think they go nocturnal in the late season ? all I am seeing on my camera is at night I know it has been awful warm . could that be it?
W.M.

I had a guy local here who is an extremely successful hunter once explain to me that deer don't go nocturnal. They just go somewhere else during the day. They go where the food is, simple as that
I though it can't be that simple. But he went on, if you monitor a 7000 acre ranch in the South you'd find pictures of the same deer walking around all over and it wouldn't seem odd.
But on most people's hunting plots say average 100-300 acres, they are only catching a snapshot of where that deer happen to be at any given time. Moving with food.

Case in point, my last stand here was so thick with deer all season, but when I decided to sit on it for the month of December, the farmer also dropped the last of the cattle corn in the field north of me. So the deer had no reason to be there unless cruising through. So on camera all summer and fall, there was tons of action at all hours, but then only deer cruising through often at night. So if you only had one camera you'd say they had gone nocturnal. But in reality, they are now spending their daylight hours south of me where I cannot go.

It's like when someone say a flock of turkeys went somewhere for whatever reason. Food, that's the only reason . We tend to associate human behaviour with animals who know no such thing, don't tell time and don't care if it's light or dark

[janesy]

I should add that I'm not suggesting deer don't operate at night when it is favorable, just presenting a very laid out matter of fact option that just makes sense.

[W.Miguire]

Yes I would agree with you but we have no and I mean no crops standing on the island where we live and very few food plots and with the other hunters here also are seeing the same thing . even in the fields we won.t see them till after dark. the last one I shot it was full of hemlock . we can use up to 2 gallons of feed for deer and they feed only at night. I think they are feeding on cedar and I am hunting in the middle of a cedar swamp.

W.M.

[vixenmaster]

There are no crops here fer the tick toters to chase. All we have is what few acorns that fell. I am seeing Bucks on Cam only at nite. Only one young Doe has come into my Feeder since i switched out the grounds blinds back in Oct. In Sept. the tick toters were comin by the old blind durin the day light hrs. I have never killed but one deer out of my Blinds in 9 yrs. I kill lots of them from my tree stands

[otisbrazwell]

here in rhode island there in ppls yards now eating bushes .I had an 8 pointer on my lawn eating ivy @ 2 in the afternoon the other day. does come through often (I dont shoot deer here). buck went across the street and was eating cedar. were I hunt theres no deer in the deep woods (trees are stressed from cypsy moths no acorns ) so you have to get up close behind farms with fields . a lot of walking


I do have recent mid day pictures of deer in the cedars on my muddy game cam. though hunting here you could offend a liberal running an arrow through a deer

[Doe Master]

I have also found deer habitat for spring , summer and fall . Is different for winter here . Come winter the deer will move to a place with some thermal cover . ie cedar swamps . I assume even a couple of degrees warmer and less wind makes life a little more comfortable .
I chuckle inside when I talk to someone and they suggest the gun hunters wiped out or scared all the deer from their spot . Then you ask them to describe their spot . " Open 100 foot tall hardwoods and crop fields plowed under around them " .

[janesy]

I have also found deer habitat for spring , summer and fall . Is different for winter here . Come winter the deer will move to a place with some thermal cover . ie cedar swamps . I assume even a couple of degrees warmer and less wind makes life a little more comfortable .
I chuckle inside when I talk to someone and they suggest the gun hunters wiped out or scared all the deer from their spot . Then you ask them to describe their spot . " Open 100 foot tall hardwoods and crop fields plowed under around them " .

Ha, too true. I hunt a lot on a property agacent to the region's(possibly province?) largest gun club. The police on Tuesday light up the air like a Hollywood gang war is going on. And I notice no change in the deer compared to other spots.
The best is, the farmers tractor scared them away.. oh ya.
Best place to get a moose in Ontario is active forrested land. Fire up a chainsaw and they come running. Can't wait to get to the tops.

[Doe Master]

Yes as much as an animal stands on their back legs they still can not reach the top of a mature tree .

[foofoo]

wish there were an answer but a few observations.dont think they go completely Nockturnal as much as they only will travel first and last light even more so than the early season. my state has a long deer season and winter archery is my fav. deer are amazing animals and will do different things in different locations. come late season ive seen herded up deer 6-30 plus deer.at the same time of year ive seen does with first tag along year deer staying independant outside the different herds. ive also seen single deer mostly buttons going solo too in late season. dont know if its the case that they just dont know what to do or food is plentiful so they dont join herded up groups. im guessing by winters end they all herd together.the fact that they herd up in my hunt areas is the reason its feast or famine.you may see tracks like crazy and think youve found a great area but many times its just a herd thats pushed through and you may not see them in that area for days again.ive also see the way deer herd up a little differently each year. some times they group up sooner or later by a few weeks. i think it depends on population, food source, extreme cold temps or when gun season has a heavy participation year and the clubs are out driving more than usuall pushing them together. to complicate things just a hunch as others have said i do believe older bucks can be solo and act like a different species and only move at dark. one thing for sure is deer operate differently in winter. when you do see them hunting can be fun because of all the extra noses and eyes.i have to hunt high or windy breezy days are better when scent and noise give you a better chance.

[Deaf jeff]

Yes I would agree with you but we have no and I mean no crops standing on the island where we live and very few food plots and with the other hunters here also are seeing the same thing . even in the fields we won.t see them till after dark. the last one I shot it was full of hemlock . we can use up to 2 gallons of feed for deer and they feed only at night. I think they are feeding on cedar and I am hunting in the middle of a cedar swamp.

W.M.

the deer know where the danger zone is, they know when its a safer zone. i know i would not go out to dinner if i knew there was a good chance at getting shot at

[BrotherRon]

I had to change my hunting strategy once the rut got close.
As the rut draws near the bucks begin to change their travel routes....
In stead of going from their bedding area to the food source they begin to travel routes that will intersect where the doe's are most likely be.
Once the rut begins they will pretty much be in lockdown with a hot doe.
During the later part of the rut they will usually roam from doe family to doe family looking for any hot does...
At this time they will also check for any hot doe's that may be going to their main food source.
It is quite interesting watching the change in their behavior and routes during the various stages of the rut.
They will also travel quite a few miles during this phase of the rut. A couple bucks that we had on camera were shot 3 & 4 miles away a day after we saw them on camera.

[Patcon]

I have found that some bucks and even some of the old does in my area are predominately nocturnal. I almost never have daytime videos of them all year long. I have also found most of the larger bucks are only on camera Sunday to Thursday. They don't seem to move much when the hunting pressure is highest on the weekend.

[W.Miguire]

They are starting to move a bit .the gun season just ended to day and hope that makes a difference .
W.M.

[xcaliber]

I'm fortunate & cursed to live across the road from hundreds of acres of woods where there is a large deer population. We have a a cleared area of about 10 acres that a local model plane club has lease rights for about 80 more years. The field is grass, clover, etc. the deer feed there every day this time of year at all times of the day. There is a lot of human / automobile traffic all the time, but their feeding areas don't change much. I think pressure is the most influential part of deer going nocturnal, or at least moving away from an area. As long as there is nobody pushing them off the field, they don't change their schedule much, if pressured, they go to night feeding for a few days in a row, there is nothing else available other than home owners bushes, trees, etc. which get hit hard when we have a lot of snow on the ground. If I could hunt these deer, it would be too easy really!