Independent Study

killingtime 41 said:
One of those data points showing more buck activity. had to do with either wind direction changes or a lull in wind then a change in direction. Or something like that you found wasn't it. ?
Click to expand...

Yes. Excluding dusk and dawn movements, better than 70% of mature bucks I catch on camera in broad daylight fall within an hour one way or the other of a major wind direction change. Most generally it's when a front moves in and southerly wind dies down to a calm before the storm and picks back up from the north. The bucks, even the old guys, are on their feet during that lull. It happens at each side of a front.

I've got ideas of why it happens but not totally sure. Regardless it happens and I kill good bucks by planning for it. Other conditions often coincide with it like sudden barometric pressure swings, steep temp changes, precipitation, cloud cover, or any combination. My simplist guess is it's because a buck's bed is compromised by the wind change so he moves to a more suitable bed for the new wind.
 
Ski said:
Yes. Excluding dusk and dawn movements, better than 70% of mature bucks I catch on camera in broad daylight fall within an hour one way or the other of a major wind direction change. Most generally it's when a front moves in and southerly wind dies down to a calm before the storm and picks back up from the north. The bucks, even the old guys, are on their feet during that lull. It happens at each side of a front.

I've got ideas of why it happens but not totally sure. Regardless it happens and I kill good bucks by planning for it. Other conditions often coincide with it like sudden barometric pressure swings, steep temp changes, precipitation, cloud cover, or any combination. My simplist guess is it's because a buck's bed is compromised by the wind change so he moves to a more suitable bed for the new wind.
Click to expand...
Definitely good points.
 
could you imagine an "if then, then that" workflow chart for deer hunting with a perfected & proven variable analysis?

lowest probably of this is ~0.0%. not saying i would want that because i feel certain it would remove the fun, for me at least. and it would likely look unreadable haha!
 
Double-D-Team said:
True, it's still called hunting. The unknown is what makes it hunting. Like a kid on Christmas morning.
Click to expand...
A perfect example of this. It's opening afternoon of MZ season this year. Forecast is for heavy rain moving in during the hunt. We have 6 condo/shooting house stands on our place. We had 5 hunters choosing which stand to hunt for a rainy hunt. Cameras had shown we had a really nice mature 10-point on the property, and everyone was after that guy. Cameras also showed there was one food plot he never visited. He was being regularly photographed in the other plots. Because I've been very lucky in the past when it came to taking one of the better bucks on the property, I wanted to give other hunters the chance to see/kill this mature 10-pointer, so I specifically chose to hunt the one food plot he has never been photographed in. Yet just at dark, here he comes and I kill him. THAT'S the thrill of hunting. Despite what the cameras and data showed, you just never know what's going to happen once you're on stand.
 
BSK said:
A perfect example of this. It's opening afternoon of MZ season this year. Forecast is for heavy rain moving in during the hunt. We have 6 condo/shooting house stands on our place. We had 5 hunters choosing which stand to hunt for a rainy hunt. Cameras had shown we had a really nice mature 10-point on the property, and everyone was after that guy. Cameras also showed there was one food plot he never visited. He was being regularly photographed in the other plots. Because I've been very lucky in the past when it came to taking one of the better bucks on the property, I wanted to give other hunters the chance to see/kill this mature 10-pointer, so I specifically chose to hunt the one food plot he has never been photographed in. Yet just at dark, here he comes and I kill him. THAT'S the thrill of hunting. Despite what the cameras and data showed, you just never know what's going to happen once you're on stand.
Click to expand...
Amen to that. Just go hunting and enjoy the moment. You never know?
 
Ski said:
I'll never stop trying to figure them out and hope i never do. For me it's akin to my wife's puzzles and word games that challenge her brain. Deer challenge my brain. It's fun.
Click to expand...
Enjoy the challenge is what's it's about. Sometimes they win and given all the right cond6you win.🦌
 
THE DATA:
Again this is a farm with hardwoods around 600 acres. It has 2 hay fields the farm hay field and the powerline hay field across the road. Hay fields are around 50 acres. We hunted primarily the hardwoods in 2 blinds. Upper and lower. The lower blind had all the signs and a creek at our back. This was our primary location to hunt. Thinking they have to water. It also produced alot of acorns in the past. This is also where we keep the winter feeder. Remember we only hunted Monday thru Friday and some Saturdays. Because of our age and obligations we hunted either sunrise to noon or noon till dusk. All the pictures are from August to January. 849 total not as many as the past year. This is our 2nd year on the farm. There is no internet so we used SD CARD CAMERAS 6.We have a guest the hard size of about 60 does and 12 mature bucks on this propery. This was based on photos at different locations.

What I want to achieve:
Time the deer move the most based on time and moon phase. The cameras provide this info.

AUGUST: Not as many deer moving normal movement from sunrise till 9:00 am and dusk 4:30 till dark. Saw small does and young bucks here and there during the day. Most pictures were at night.116 photos day time.

SEPTEMBER : More movement but only 2 mature bucks pictured during daylight hours.
A lot of pictures at night and few more this month during daylight hours. 210 photos day time.

OCTOBER: The forth week had good movement. I figured the storm Helena played a big part. Most of the pictures were at night.112 photos daytime. The null 4 sure.

NOVEMBER: Movement picks up as expected. The rut started and went in and out do to the weather temps. IMO. We saw on camera all 12 bucks mostly movement dawn and dusk. We observe no chasing activities. Killed a 4 yrs old 8 point with busted up horns.279 photos daytime.

DECEMBER: Due to the cold temps we didn't see much movement in the hardwoods. We changed location due to sightings of deer on the power line as we left each evening and camera's. Movement was evening only from 4:30 till dark. They came off the hillside to the field. Killed 2 does. 132 photos daytime off powerline hayfield at late evening.

This was our season. Not to bad but with alot of factors.
1.The moon phase ran its cycle through the season with no noticeable effect on the deer. It did show that a new moon there was better movement during daylight hours. I figured 33% more movement.
2. This study will take more than one season. A junioral is required everyday of the hunt. Weather, temps, wind etc.
3. Take more does off property. There is no balance.
4. This is only the beginning of study. You are not going to figure out movement in one season. The more I learn the better I can hunt. I will say this with all the info I gathered the HUNT is the most important thing. You can't kill them on the couch. Enjoy what God has given us to enjoy. Just go hunt. You never know.
 
Yes sir, there was a lot of day time movement during that month. I contribute that to the deer finally got over the heavy rain and storm. We really couldn't believe the difference either.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top