We're observing the same thing on a couple of different properties in West TN and North MS. The deer are there, but as others have stated, daylight movement has been virtually non existent. And I'll add that I'm hearing this from about everybody I talk to in the area. Neither of these properties receive a lot of pressure and the same goes for the surrounding properties. We're also a pretty veteran group of hunters who don't use ATVs except to recover downed game, are extremely cautious of wind directions, stand approach and don't over hunt any certain area or stand. Point being, we're pretty low impact in our hunting style so I don't attribute it to pressure.
We've run trail cameras pretty steady on one of the properties, but aren't obsessed with going into the area and checking them frequently, and really only pull cards from them if we happen to be coming or going to a stand in that area. The overwhelming majority of activity on the cameras this entire fall has been at night.
As others have stated, there are multiple factors that come into play. We've had a good acorn crop, a wet summer and there has been a lot of food around. Add to that that the weather on the weekends since about late October has been a series of warm fronts with variable winds that don't help matters, especially when hunting in hilly terrain where the thermals can really mess you up. If you've only had the weekends to hunt, that's just complicated matters further.
I'm fortunate to live in area with a lot of deer around the house, so I can pretty much tell when things are "right" and when they're not, and the best hunting days we've had around here since mid-November have been during the weekdays when a lot of folks are working. Even at that, the local deer around the house have been moving more so at night than during the traditional morning and evening timeframes. And they get little to no pressure.
I've been at this for 30 years hunting in this same area of the country, so this isn't my first rodeo, but it's certainly been a significantly off year by traditional standards. Fortunately I took a really good buck early, but haven't seen another that I wanted to pull the trigger on yet. I'm far from giving up, though. I've taken some of my biggest bucks at times just like this when most folks throw in the towel. Sooner or later, one will give up its guard. You just have to be there when it happens.
