Drought and poor-acorn year deer activity

[BSK]

I don't have all of the data entered yet, but this year appears to be perfectly mimicking the last time we had a severe summer/fall drought and resulting acorn failure (2022). Instead of buck activity peaking in early November and then falling off after peak breeding in mid-November, I'm seeing buck activity peaking much later. This year, like in 2022, we hit a real peak the last few days of November and first couple of days of December, then a fairly serious lull, followed by a big surge in just the last couple of days (starting about the 12th). In 2022 we also saw considerable chasing mid-December. I suspect I'll see that again this year.

 

[Whitetaillane8]

We are behind our normal time in SE Hardin. 30 years of experience on this property.

 

[Ski]

It was a difficult hunting season on my place. Lackluster activity and not much for a buck shift early fall. Oddly several of my 3yr old summer bucks stayed and were bachelored up again by December. Complete acorn failure and my plots were bust so I never got to see any concentration of movement. Deer were around but no predictability at all.

 

[7mmWSM]

I've seen more deer this year than in the past couple. Bad acorn crop got the deer traveling more for food for me. Crop fields and foodplots are getting hammered.

 

[tellico4x4]

We are behind our normal time in SE Hardin. 30 years of experience on this property.

Same for us but seems to be getting better. Does by themselves at scrapes now, little ones wandering around lost & daytime buck activity picking up.

This morning after rain slowed down:

 

[megalomaniac]

Deer behaving the same as usual on my places past few days... in other words, everybody is focused on food. Very little rut activity right now, but 1st rut activity trickled on from mid Nov until Dec 10th or so.

What is totally odd is that older bucks are just hanging out in plots feeding and loafing about in the middle of the day (11a till 1p). They have had a TON of pressure on them between us and new hunting neighbors. Are they that hungry and worn down they have lost all fear? Middle.of the night feeding for hours in plots right now is normal. This behavior is NOT.

The question is... will we see normal 2nd rut activity picking back up on my places on Dec 17-18ish like normal? I have a sneaky suspicion 2nd rut is going to be delayed and not as pronounced as it usually is.

 

[deerhunter10]

Oddly the rut hasn't stopped at all. Not normal at all. But I've seen it a bunch ill see a chase then the will eat heavy. It's odd. It's like they forget about the rut eat then rut again. It's been like that from the first of November.

 

[BSK]

Oddly the rut hasn't stopped at all. Not normal at all. But I've seen it a bunch ill see a chase then the will eat heavy. It's odd. It's like they forget about the rut eat then rut again. It's been like that from the first of November.

I'm seeing a ton of "pestering" going on in food plots at night. Bucks are feeding away in the plot, then a doe group ambles in and the bucks go after them. Once the does prove unresponsive, bucks go back to feeding.

 

[recurve60#]

It's still on here. Usually over by mid December, but it's like it started on time and hasn't quit.
I hit a buck with my truck the other night that was stupid over a doe.

 

[BSK]

Driving out to my place on I-40 yesterday, I was shocked by the number of newly hit deer there were on the freeway, especially near Dickson. Usually the peak of car-deer collisions peaks just before Thanksgiving. Yet this year, very few dead deer on I-40 at that time.

 

[Smo]

Yesterday afternoon approximately 4:00 pm I saw several does in a field on Hwy 13 just North of Hwy 64 (Wayne Co) they were all feeding..
A doe off in the distance was being pushed hard bye what I assume was a buck, but I never could see a rack..

My place in Northern Humphreys Co had very few acorns and what did partially develop fell early..
I assumed because of the drought.

I have seen less deer activity this year than I have in several years..
Even in drought years my place has always had decent buck / doe ratio and I've always seen several decent bucks during the season.
Especially during the craziness of November.

This year I've hunted the best of the best days…(imho) and haven't seen a decent buck on my place yet.
While on stand, I did get a couple of drifters on my cams back in November.

I have had more hunting pressure on two sides of me , but nothing dramatic.
Utility workers trimming trees, warm temperatures and wind that always seems too swirl in different directions..
Unless it's from the SW, then it's like a wind tunnel up this hollow.

As others have mentioned, trying too get a food plot to grow up on my ridges is almost impossible..And the hollows ain't much better if we don't get rain when needed..
It just dies out.

My place is so barren, even the squirrels have moved on….

 

[BSK]

So sorry to hear that Smo. It has certainly been a tough year in our area. But for my place, 2022 was even worse.

The only thing that keeps me optimistic is next year. In 37 years of tracking acorn production, we've never had two failures in a row. So 2025 should have some acorns.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The only thing that keeps me optimistic is next year. In 37 years of tracking acorn production, we've never had two failures in a row. So 2025 should have some acorns.

We just keep having one extreme after another as far as acorns and droughts. Our deer have mostly stuck to normal timings, but most all of it has been at night. Daytime movement was much later (last week of November)

 

[deerhunter10]

The only thing that keeps me optimistic is next year. In 37 years of tracking acorn production, we've never had two failures in a row. So 2025 should have some acorns.

What's crazy with mother nature is the absolute biggest acorn crop I've ever seen last year to this year practically nothing at all. Mother nature truly is a b****

But it shows how tough animals are and their will to survive as well. Especially with the 2 crazy cold snaps both year prior as well.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Been a very strange year here. We had fairly typical rutting activity on time with normal expected time during our muzzleloader season, however never had the numbers of older bucks we typically see. Between cameras and sightings we had just one buck I believe to have been 4.5, two 3.5, and the rest younger. We did also have a huge uptick in activity at the beginning of December, which is unusual because our secondary rut usually hits right after first week of December has passed.

Considering the number of 3.5 and older bucks I passed last season, there should have been some 4.5 and older bucks around tie year. We did have a fair acorn crop though. Older bucks for whatever reason just aren't here this year. Really wondering if some died from cwd.