Deer sightings?

luckybuck

Old Mossy Horns
This is the first year in many, many years that I have not seen good mature bucks regularly. i see deer nearly every time I go in the woods but most of the bucks I have seen have been 2-3 year old 140-150 pound bucks. I only have a couple bucks on camera over 3 years of age and they are not impressive at all. Anybody else seeing this or do you just think this is a cycle that goes through herds every so often. I have 400 acres to work with and I know where the deer bed and what they eat and their trails, etc. My neighbors haven't even killed or seen anything good and they also have 400 acres to hunt. Most of the chasing I have seen this year was by mediocre 4 and 6 pointers. I have watched one particular area for 2 straight weeks from 100-150 yards because of all the scrapes and rubs and doe activity. All that ever shows up on camera or while hunting is the same 6 young bucks. I know there are two really old bucks that dominate the place but I am not going to bump them for someone else to shoot and they have busted the racks of the dink bucks I've seen. Do you guys think they are no longer interested in breeding? They do not leave their core area.
 

Rubline

Twelve Pointer
I was talking to a friend last week about bucks and the rut.
I told him I wasn't seeing any good bucks on the cameras or while hunting the last 10 days or so.
He said to keep hunting that bucks will leave an area that they've been tending does and move to another area in search of more hot does.
He said that the bigger bucks that don't get shot will make their way back to home range about the end of the season.
That's about how I figure it but I'm not seeing any shooter bucks and the places I hunt have very little pressure.
We had some nice bucks around about the first of October but they moved off and haven't returned and we had a decent wide 7 point show up on camera for 3 days and now he's gone.
I guess some years are lean as far as bigger bucks hanging around your area.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I was talking to a friend last week about bucks and the rut.
I told him I wasn't seeing any good bucks on the cameras or while hunting the last 10 days or so.
He said to keep hunting that bucks will leave an area that they've been tending does and move to another area in search of more hot does.
He said that the bigger bucks that don't get shot will make their way back to home range about the end of the season.
That's about how I figure it but I'm not seeing any shooter bucks and the places I hunt have very little pressure.
We had some nice bucks around about the first of October but they moved off and haven't returned and we had a decent wide 7 point show up on camera for 3 days and now he's gone.
I guess some years are lean as far as bigger bucks hanging around your area.
I think your friend was exactly right about the return to their home range.
as a point of fact though there are 62,000 plus bucks that have died that wont be able to return. Some of them have been the bigger ones we all hope "make it."
the ones you pass are exactly the ones that walk till they get killed.
 

Helium

Old Mossy Horns
Every year is different .. 400 acres is only a portion of a bucks travel/home range.

Keep in mind your does will “select” these mature bucks for breeding... while the young bucks try to steal them. I think of it like elk have m herd bulls and satellite bulls
 

justwin24

Six Pointer
It cycles. For the past few years our property was the same way. This year marked a big improvement. During the 2015 & 2016 a lot of 1 1/2 bucks were killed around us. Previous to that you would see the same young bucks through most of the season. At the end of 2017 we had a good number of bucks that made it thru.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
and something sure seems to be keeping the kill rates lower this year. Two hurricanes, a snow storm, new bag limits, deer population issues?
85,139 bucks killed last year. 62,162 for this year so far.
you'de have to see the rates by zones to really have a clue but I cant see the historical zone kills. County is out there but not by zone?
Wolfman?
 

45/70 hunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
and something sure seems to be keeping the kill rates lower this year. Two hurricanes, a snow storm, new bag limits, deer population issues?
85,139 bucks killed last year. 62,162 for this year so far.
you'de have to see the rates by zones to really have a clue but I cant see the historical zone kills. County is out there but not by zone?
Wolfman?

I haven't seen a doe in person or on camera since the one I shot on the eastern rifle opener. This spot typically has a bunch...
 

Weekender

Twelve Pointer
I had two shooter bucks on camera. They're both dead. My wife killed one and a neighbor in the club killed the other. I think it's time for me to hunt hogs.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Good is in the eye of the beholder. I have several bucks on camera. One buck is a decent 7 point and another is a small 6 point. While the 7 point won't compete with many of the bucks on camera or in the back of pickups here, I consider it nice for being on game land.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Consider yourself lucky that you have seen good deer almost every year in the past. You could be like some and go many, many years without seeing even a decent buck. I haven't killed a buck in about 4yrs and probably should have passed that one.

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timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
My sightings have been off this year. But, I attribute that to me not altering my hunting habits very well based on changes in pressure around me. Up until 2 seasons ago, the properties surrounding me were not hunted. Now, they are all leased, and that pressure has altered the deer patterns. I have not adjusted well. Poor mast crop in my area has hurt my sightings as well, since I don't hunt over bait.
 

luckybuck

Old Mossy Horns
I dont think a really mature buck’s home range is very big at all. I also think it shrinks As he ages.

If the right 60 acres has everything he needs, there’s no reason for him to leave it.

YMMV
I tend to agree with you on this as I know for a fact there are 2 absolute brutes on our farm. They stay in laurel thickets from thanksgiving until late January every year. Unless you have hunted the mountains you don’t understand how big laurel thickets are. They eat the leaves, hide in them and get spring water. They come out in daylight a couple days in December to breed.
 

luckybuck

Old Mossy Horns
Consider yourself lucky that you have seen good deer almost every year in the past. You could be like some and go many, many years without seeing even a decent buck. I haven't killed a buck in about 4yrs and probably should have passed that one.

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I try to work at keeping them here which is why we usually have bunches to choose from. It’s like there are zero 3-4 year olds.
 

luckybuck

Old Mossy Horns
On a side note I saw 6 of the smallest fawns I have ever seen for this time of year today. I mean they looked like they were tiny. May mean the does are finally rutting but good grief those does had to be bred late last year to have such small fawns.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yeah this year has been off up at the Rock. This is the first year that I have not gotten a nice 3 yr old buck on camera in December. The last 3 years I get 2 to 3 different nice 3yr old bucks to show up just before the week of Christmas. Not this year. My neighbor had a bunch of timber cut across the creek and must have changed the deer movements . Lot of mature oaks were cut that dropped alot of acorns over there that are now gone. I can tell the difference too the deer are eating as much as 300 pounds of corn in a week. I cant afford that much.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Yeah this year has been off up at the Rock. This is the first year that I have not gotten a nice 3 yr old buck on camera in December. The last 3 years I get 2 to 3 different nice 3yr old bucks to show up just before the week of Christmas. Not this year. My neighbor had a bunch of timber cut across the creek and must have changed the deer movements . Lot of mature oaks were cut that dropped alot of acorns over there that are now gone. I can tell the difference too the deer are eating as much as 300 pounds of corn in a week. I cant afford that much.
I thought you wanted those no acorn years so they would eat corn?
sounds like your neighbor has quit his big feed and now they are coming to you.
ole droptine should be hungry.
 
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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I thought you wanted those no acorn years so they would eat corn?
sounds like your neighbor has quit his big feed and now they are coming to you.
ole droptine should be hungry.
That's what I thought would happen. We been seeing the does but just not the big ones this year. I can only figure the lack of acorns and cover has moved some of the deer.
 

ditchbank

Banned
We have bucks with decent racks for our area but they don’t have 3-4 year old bodies. That why we haven’t shot them. NO SWAY BACKS, short legs, even their necks are not swollen like a rutting buck. I think I have seen two deer on camera with huge necks. There is one on one farm that is doing just what DBCOOPER said. He stays in a small part of the farm and doe st come out except November and even the other day when their 20+ deer in the field with 6 bucks. He didn’t show up until after dark. He is a brute as far as body. But honestly doesn’t use but 1/2 of the farm. Never been on cameras on the other side of farm.

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ditchbank

Banned
Don’t y’all remember the buck I killed in 2013. Started showing up in daylight and had him on camera for 3yrs prior but only at night. The only reason I killed him was because he reduced his core and made it easy for me.


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