Lockdown?

[dg7080]

Interesting subject....

My observations from the last 8 years after retiring and living on my farm in north Sumner County... These seem to hold true every single year.

Buck movement pics pickup via trail cam mid-late Oct... prior to that, I get pics of the occasional buck but mainly does due to the habit type on my place.

Last week of Oct to 2nd week of Nov, lots of pics of bucks and its at this time I start hunting with ML.. I see my share of 2 - 3 year old bucks cruising and plenty of the younger 1.5 year old bucks on the move to go with the pics I get... and on occasion, I get a few pics of an older age buck (4 year old plus), sometimes I get lucky and see one when hunting.

Then, as always, and this current week was no exception, my pics as well as my personal sightings of the older age bucks (2 year old +) are near 0, but plenty of the younger bucks still modeling for the camera and cruising by as I sit out there.

Then right around Thanksgiving, it all pics back up again, but with fewer frequent pics/sightings of the older age bucks. Probably due in part to a lot of them are dead now..

A couple of weeks passes by and it all slows wayyy down as we get into the 2nd or 3rd week of Dec....

Just my 2 cents and what I've observed, not worth much...

 

[Deck78]

Mega's doe observation is awesome, never thought about the "lockdown" in that way. I also have a harder time personally defining what the lockdown means in my hunting world because I predominantly hunt 3 very distinct scenarios so outside of whatever scientific based reasons create a "lockdown" scenario, here's my 2 cents on the layman's observations:

Williamson County - west side of the county where there are large blocks of mature timber and for the most part, a reduced pressure of hunters just due to the socioeconomics of the area. I would rate the food sources as very favorable and abundant and as a result would warrant a guess that required travel for staying fed doesn't create long distance movement. Our density is higher than average here I would also be willing to bet. I would rate this "lockdown" to be the lowest of my 3 scenarios as I can reliably find opportunities throughout the season to see 3.5 yo+ deer

Hickman County - about 12 miles east of 840 right off hwy 100 where we have a very wide range of habitat and very favorable topography for mature bucks and does to use to their advantage with high probability of never being seen by a hunter. the hunting pressure here is very high and food might be less available than some other areas. I think a portion of whatever "lockdown" that is occuring here is based off this insanely high, never ending pressure in addition to the extremely favorable topography that gives the deer a great advantage. There is a lot of spotlighting and night time shenanigans around these parts that I also think keeps the deer on edge all the time.

Maury County - mid central part of the county on a large ag farm that has an almost equal amount of very healthy hardwoods and dense cedar thickets. this farm has great potential, has shown the potential with some fantastic deer being harvested but is also one of the hardest to hunt because of the diversity and density of food availability. I would rate this hunting experience as always "lockdowned" even though you have high amounts of deer sightings including mature deer. They just don't have to travel far from bedding to food so the sightings are always brief even when they are on the move. The midwest experience of sitting on the edge of a beanfield and watching big mature bucks sparring in the wideopen does not happen here

 

[BSK]

Then right around Thanksgiving, it all pics back up again, but with fewer frequent pics/sightings of the older age bucks. Probably due in part to a lot of them are dead now..

A couple of weeks passes by and it all slows wayyy down as we get into the 2nd or 3rd week of Dec....

This is our experience. Pickup in activity Thanksgiving week, but no daylight sightings of mature bucks, only 3 1/2 and younger (mature buck pictures are all nocturnal). If you're going to kill a mature buck on my place, it's going to be the first week of MZ and that's it.

First week of December, all bucks hit the scrapes one more time before rut is truly over. And by Dec. 8th it is over. Bucks leave the property to chase does in surrounding areas with a later estrus timing.

 

[fairchaser]

For me, 'lockdown' is all about getting lucky which doe a mature buck is locked down with.

What I mean by that... if he's locked down with a mature doe, she knows the routine, heads to cover, and the two of them spend 24 hours of bliss without stepping out into the open for me to shoot him.

If he is locked down with a 1.5yo doe, she is going to get him killed every time. Poor girl doesn't know the routine, goes crazy with her first hormone surge, runs out into wide open fields in the middle of the day, beds down in wide open fields in the middle of the day, and despite his best efforts, he can't control/ herd her to cover. He isn't going to leave her, no matter what. And he gets killed.

That's my experience on farms with about 65% open fields and 35% cover.

Isn't the same true with older men and younger women?

 

[AT Hiker]

For me, 'lockdown' is all about getting lucky which doe a mature buck is locked down with.

What I mean by that... if he's locked down with a mature doe, she knows the routine, heads to cover, and the two of them spend 24 hours of bliss without stepping out into the open for me to shoot him.

If he is locked down with a 1.5yo doe, she is going to get him killed every time. Poor girl doesn't know the routine, goes crazy with her first hormone surge, runs out into wide open fields in the middle of the day, beds down in wide open fields in the middle of the day, and despite his best efforts, he can't control/ herd her to cover. He isn't going to leave her, no matter what. And he gets killed.

That's my experience on farms with about 65% open fields and 35% cover.

I had one the other day in KY do this, except the mature buck stayed back deep in the cover and down wind of the field. He allowed a 1.5 yr old forky chase a hot doe up to the crop field, then a nice 3.5 yr old ran him off and cut the doe off. He pushed her back up to the field, her tongue was hanging out and I could see her belly contracting from breathing so hard, she found a few corn stalks that were taller than the others and she bedded down in them. The 3.5 yr old circled her once and got her back up, he chased her through the woods then they disappeared. I could still hear them running and caught a glimpse a few times, they were less than 100 yards away but the under canopy was still thick to fully see, then the 3.5 yr old buck comes up behind me alone. Im thinking, thats odd....he just left a hot doe. Then I catch glimpse of the doe walking slowly, behind her his a big dark bodied buck. They disappeared into a thick draw, if they came out I never seen them.
It was almost like the big bodied buck had played the game before.

 

[TheLBLman]

First week of December, all bucks hit the scrapes one more time before rut is truly over. And by Dec. 8th it is over. Bucks leave the property to chase does in surrounding areas with a later estrus timing.

Pretty much what I see in Stewart Co., except that the "later" estrous has to do mostly with female fawns. This will mostly happen in late December-early January, while the rut "roaming" of bucks ended around Dec. 8th.

In other counties, the date could be a month later!

To be clear, there is NO "second rut", but rather just ongoing breeding anytime any buck crosses paths with an estrous doe.

However, when herd health is high, which it appears to be in most areas now (i.e., abundant food supply last winter, spring, summer, abundant rainfall, and now good hard mast crop COUPLED with low to moderate deer density) . . . . . . .
Many female fawns will come into their 1st estrous as early as late December, but more into January.

THIS can be a vulnerable time for any bucks which stumble into them.

When these 6 to 8-month old female fawns are coming into their 1st estrous, the bucks are not out roaming, but do tend to be feeding in the same areas. So you may go out to kill a late-season doe, go home with a buck, and hopefully not one which early shed it's antlers

By the way, BSK has one of the most elaborate, technical responses ever to the occasionally heard question:

"Do bucks REALLY shed their antlers EVERY YEAR?!?"

 

[megalomaniac]

Pretty much what I see in Stewart Co., except that the "later" estrous has to do mostly with female fawns. This will mostly happen in late December-early January, while the rut "roaming" of bucks ended around Dec. 8th.

In other counties, the date could be a month later!

To be clear, there is NO "second rut", but rather just ongoing breeding anytime any buck crosses paths with an estrous doe.

However, when herd health is high, which it appears to be in most areas now (i.e., abundant food supply last winter, spring, summer, abundant rainfall, and now good hard mast crop COUPLED with low to moderate deer density) . . . . . . .
Many female fawns will come into their 1st estrous as early as late December, but more into January.

THIS can be a vulnerable time for any bucks which stumble into them.

When these 6 to 8-month old female fawns are coming into their 1st estrous, the bucks are not out roaming, but do tend to be feeding in the same areas. So you may go out to kill a late-season doe, go home with a buck, and hopefully not one which early shed it's antlers

By the way, BSK has one of the most elaborate, technical responses ever to the occasionally heard question:

"Do bucks REALLY shed their antlers EVERY YEAR?!?"

It's interesting how different deer reproduce in different areas. Virtually zero of our female fawns ovulate in December and January on my farms in middle TN. yet we still have a distinctive spike in chasing, tending, and breeding the end of the 3rd week of December on my farms. I did pick up a tiny spotted fawn (1wk old) on camera 2 weeks ago born to a 1.5yo doe (fawn last year), but that is the exception to the rule. Most of my does don't breed until their second fall. And that fawn has since disappeared... im assuming to coyotes.

 

[gatodoc]

It's interesting how different deer reproduce in different areas. Virtually zero of our female fawns ovulate in December and January on my farms in middle TN. yet we still have a distinctive spike in chasing, tending, and breeding the end of the 3rd week of December on my farms. I did pick up a tiny spotted fawn (1wk old) on camera 2 weeks ago born to a 1.5yo doe (fawn last year), but that is the exception to the rule. Most of my does don't breed until their second fall. And that fawn has since disappeared... im assuming to coyotes.

Any deer that don't get bred on the first heat cycle will come back into heat in a few weeks....hence the second rut...

 

[megalomaniac]

Any deer that don't get bred on the first heat cycle will come back into heat in a few weeks....hence the second rut...

exactly. I just can't figure out why so many does go unbred the first cycle. (well, it really probably isn't THAT many... even if it's just 10-15%, those handful of does recycling a month later create such a frenzy amongst bucks it makes the 2nd rut SEEM almost as intense as the first)

 

[BSK]

exactly. I just can't figure out why so many does go unbred the first cycle. (well, it really probably isn't THAT many... even if it's just 10-15%, those handful of does recycling a month later create such a frenzy amongst bucks it makes the 2nd rut SEEM almost as intense as the first)

That's amazing. We see almost no 2nd rut. Just a little flurry of activity that I can pick up on trail-cam. But female fawns coming into estrus in mid-January causes quite a stir, including a surge in big rubs showing up and the scrapes reopening.

 

[Ladys man]

That's amazing. We see almost no 2nd rut. Just a little flurry of activity that I can pick up on trail-cam. But female fawns coming into estrus in mid-January causes quite a stir, including a surge in big rubs showing up and the scrapes reopening.

Does buck to doe ratio have anything to do with it?

 

[BSK]

Does buck to doe ratio have anything to do with it?

Probably. We have more bucks than does.

 

[Huckfin]

I think a lot of the comments are spot on and is what I've experienced over the years, add hunting pressure this time of the year also has a big impact as well especially on public land. Hunting pressure is intense for opening ML and Gun then drops off considerably after the first week or two.

 

[puppy]

Having ran trail cameras on the same piece of property for 9 years the peak daylight sighting/picture periods for 3.5+ yo bucks is Oct 31st +/-2 days and Dec 2-10 on this property. I have this graphed out and the peaks are easy to see as it is a dramatic jump. Not sure why the first peak at the end of Oct but I feel that the second peak is due to most does being breed with the mature bucks being on their feet and moving trying to connect with what might be their last chance for the year. As a result of this I take the first full week in Dec for vacation every year and have taken a 3.5+ yo buck for the last 4 years from the same tree and within 3 calendar days of each other. One side note, this stand seldom gets hunted before that week and if it does it has to be perfect conditions, I will sit at home before I will hunt it when I know it isn't the right conditions.

So I posted this about a week ago on this and stated that rarely hunted this stand until the 1st week of December and if I did conditions had to be perfect. Those perfect conditions were Friday after Thanksgiving so I gave it a shot and had one of the best mornings in the woods I can ever remember 6 total bucks and 2 mature shooters by my standards. Don't hunt your good stands until perfect, not hunt with bad wind and have fun. My PB which may not be huge but in E TN 132" a good buck.

 

[jmf]

Probably. We have more bucks than does.

How long did it take to get the buck to doe ratio like that? How was the buck activity prior to that?

 

[Dumbluck]

I still hunted my way in Friday (11-26) morning and felt like I had a hot doe nearby with a buck. I had watched several young bucks investigate an area I could not see only to leave empty handed. I got down at 10:45 and still hunted over to the area and was able to get within 50 yards of the breeding pair. Not a shooter buck for me, I'd like to see him in another year or two. I was able to get some great photos. The buck finally saw me moving my phone around while laying on the ground at the edge of some thick brush and he left his doe. She got up about 15 minutes later and followed his scent trail with a spike in tow.

 

[Headhunter]

I agree, I believe bucks especially older bucks will lock down with a doe, with a major exception. That is Tennessee's stupid long gun season.

I believe Tennessee having an over 2 month gun season turns the deer into "vampires".

Third weekend of gun season in KY where we hunt, becomes a ghost town, almost no deer sightings, my brother saw one deer there in the last 3 days. Out of a stand where we see piles of deer every single sit. I killed the only deer killed in that spot this year. Around us gets hammered though. Through the second weekend of KY gun season, we see piles of deer. Go back for the 1 week muzzleloader in December, you can pick a doe to shoot, may see 50 or more deer come out, shoot a doe and the field will fill back up again. If you had hunted there this past weekend you would have said there are no deer there. You can see some great bucks also in the late muzzleloader. An easy 150+ came out last year when I was there in muzzleloader and chased a doe for a long time.

In middle Tennessee, where I have hunted for a long time, never had a rut before opening of gun season, depending on opening of gun season, it will happen the first week or the week after. After the second week, you will be lucky to see a buck much less a good buck. I still believe the gun season being so long for such a long time for sure has an effect.

 

[DeerCamp]

Any deer that don't get bred on the first heat cycle will come back into heat in a few weeks....hence the second rut...

Sometimes, they are bred and it just doesn't take as well.

 

[ROVERBOY]

I think aliens have abducted the bucks in my area. I'm not even getting bucks on my trail cams.

 

[Winchester]

Its real in the world of Hunting I live in, as I too for decades now have saw it time and again go from wide open, to very hard to see a mature buck on his feet during daylight, then right back to wide open for a few short days.