People think hunting over feeders is like shooting fish in a barrel , it might be in Texas but not Florida .
I'm in a small lease club -2,000 acres 8-9 guys .
A new guy said he had bucks/does on his game cameras all the time -season opens and he has not seen a deer on camera until well after dark. He claimed "something is wrong" .
Anybody else plagued with this ?

I have tried a couple of times to stalk hunt our swamp but hacking in with a machete doesn't work very well .

I've had a feeder going since labor day weekend -no hogs -no deer at my spot -tough hunting in NW Florida over feeders .

Same here in Alabama

Same here in CO. Feeders are not allowed, but a few weeks ago, all the deer were nocturnal at least where I was hunting.

The only deer I have seen since Thanksgiving was a herd of slickheads moving during a heavy rain on Christmas Eve, and a dink spike getting run out of a creek bottom by a 7 point last Saturday about 9:30am.

Other than that, nothing at all.

But there are trails and tracks everywhere, and always fresh.

If one is in an environment where there's an abundance of good quality grub available, deer may have little interest in feeders and not really need to move around much either.

I desert conditions where herbage is measured in lbs/acre, that may not be the case.

We're seeing a lot of deer every day on our property, but like you, they are not coming out until dark.

And, I thought it was just us here in Maryland. Good to hear we are not alone.

On one lease I had, young bucks would frequently turn up with gore wounds about two feet apart. But no one ever saw the dominant buck that did it. I also think of that famous Wyoming buck Popeye, who had a huge rack and was chased by many hunters on public land, but avoided all of them, and died of old age.

I personally think the older, smarter deer - both does and bucks - learn to avoid feeders during shooting hours. And also learn to recognize when people are in the blinds. The one exception might be during the rut, when the big guys get reckless. Or when cold weather blows in during late season hunts, the deer will get anxious for easy feed.

I've had deer on cameras, that did not show up during shooting hours. The buck I took last year would feed early - I saw him before shooting light, but he'd always leave before it got too light. One day there were a bunch of deer feeding, and I guess he felt safe in a herd. He wasn't. Hours of sitting and waiting paid off.

I suggest the following:

1. wind direction matters - even if you are in a blind. If the wind's blowing your scent to the feeder, go somewhere else.

2. be as stealthy as you can getting to the blind, and inside the blind. If there are things in the blind that make noise, fix them. Leave the cigs, and space heater in camp.

3. You want the blind to always look the same to the game, whether you are in it, or not. I always have the window behind me blacked out, so they can't spot my silhouette, and I normally put camo mesh over the windows, with small openings, to avoid being seen.

4. It sounds trivial, but your feeder needs to go off during feeding times - around the start of legal shooting time, and an hour or so before dark. Also, if you find all the corn is gone by the time you get in the blind, you need to feed more.

****

I've done both spot & stalk, and hunting over feeders. Both methods require effort, and attention to detail. And the more effort you invest, the luckier you tend to be.

Hmm.. good points.

My blind is on top of a ridge, the feeders down and away, 143 and 197 yards with a protein one at 253.

All they can see of my blind is my windows on up.

Not sealed well enough but will be by next year.
But its set up so that I have bad wind maybe 1-2 times a year. I try not to hunt it if that happens.

I can walk up to the blind and crawl in without anything seeing me.

We do take the cur to the blind, and I do take some food stuff. But we are quiet and I almost always have my windows closed most of the time. They are quiet to slide open if need be.

Park usually about 3/8 mile from the blind and walk a route that goes no where near the bedding areas or even the feeding ones typically. While its in the open, its a draw and not exposed to feeders etc....

I have driven up to within 100 yards of my blind also, in the right wind, and parked and walked over in the afternoon, crawled in and look out to see deer and turkeys.

Maybe I'm lucky, but then again I took some amount of time trying to figure out a way to do it this way, rahter than driving between the feeder and blind on the way in and out...

Being that I"m on a hill, they have a hard time spotting movement in the blind though I noticed from the bottom the other day a tiny spot I need to dark out a bit next year...

The cur jumps up on his chair and watches... I can't recall being spotted.

And you make a good point too - lots of guys set up their blinds really close to the feeders. We have a couple on our place that are only about 60-70 yards. 100+ is much better for not being noticed. My best spot last year was 120 yards, but the next ranch over was sold, and the new owner complained the feeder was too close to his place, so I had to move it. I'm thinking of re-arranging things next year.

No baiting in IN but when the gun season started all my deer went nocturnal. Had 11 bucks on camera, 3 real good ones, saw 5 bucks and 3 does the last weekend of bow season, chasing and following. Never saw a deer during daylight during gun or ML season, yet was still getting the bucks on camera within range of my stands in the middle of the night. The big boys avoided all the pressure in the public land behind me because I got pictures of them after season was over. Maybe next year.

Some of this nocturnal activity occur where I hunt in Wisconsin, but with the cooperation of family, friends and neighbors we form deer drives to get a look at the deer.

Only thing I hate about distance to feeders being long is its not that easy to judge bucks really quick. I can tell at a glance if they are possibles or not. But have to often resort to the spotting scope at 200-350 yards.

I"d just as soon put all my feeders at 300 yards if judging wasn't such an issue.

I am 300 yards from a feeder at home, but its behind a fence. ANd I generally just stay way on out and watch whats moving where in the pasture and then on the oats patches back there. If I have to I can sneak in closer to judge better but I also tend to keep a spotting scope back there too for judgement.

Same here in Va...

We have large food plots on our hunt club property. They are avoiding them, at least during daylight hours.

I believe our problem is that there are acorns up the wazoo...everywhere. The deer don't have to do anything to feed, other than mill around where ever they are.

In the past, deer were in the food plots late season by the dozens...not this year.

I am pretty sure it is all about the acorn crop this year.

Tony

IME mature whitetail bucks (the big ones) are all basically nocturnal,regardless of hunting pressure,once they reach a certain level of maturity..

That applies from Alberta to New England;even in areas where hunting pressure is almost non-existent.

So Bob, that accounts for 3 bucks no one is seeing... LOL.

Bob,

I'm not sure I'd make a blanket statement like that....

I think all bucks have different "personalities", some more aggressive, some who at the slightest hint of pressure go nocturnal. Others don't care if there is a hot doe around.

I've even read of biologist studies on bucks who where huge,who didn't even participate in the rut.

Bottom line is by luck in picking the right time and place to lay up, or just being ultra wary.... Big bucks are a different animal.

Tony

The president of our club and another long time member [22yrs & 18-19 yrs] say they noticed this behavior starting 15 years ago and for the last 10 years there has been a huge change .
We'll have to get the law changed so we can hunt at night like we do for hogs .
Half way through my third season in this lease and have never seen a deer during hunting season --I thought hunting over a feeder was easy ..

What makes them avoid those areas is all the extra activity from people checking cameras.

Take the cameras down during hunting season, and only go there to hunt or fill feeders

I don't see that as a blanket statement. He didn't say they all had the same personality. He said once mature (big) bucks are all basically nocturnal. The key word being basically. It has certainly been my experience hunting deer from the East Coast to Southeast AK.

Nocturnal is what lets the big guys get big. A handful of days during the rut they'll let their guard down when the doe they are with goes into estrus. A new moon will give you a small window of time at last and first light. Very remote areas they bed in areas you can find them too.

Guys, that's why I said "basically" and maybe crepuscular would have been a better term, i.e. more active at periods of dawn and dusk. But I didn't mean they never move in daylight....but are more inclined to move at dawn/dusk and under the cover of darkness. Really an adaptation used to avoid predation (deer are of course a "prey" animal).

We all know that at some times of the year a mature buck will move during daylight hours; and like Calvin said maybe more active during moonlit nights and possibly on cloudy days as well. During the rut we can kill them at any times of the day as the urge to find hot does overtakes them.

And like Tony says there are bucks that won't take part in the rut or maybe even have been cowed by younger/stronger,more aggressive bucks so back off from breeding duties. Just because they are biggest does not mean they are the most active and aggressive breeders.

But many of us develop our hunting strategies around low light situations because we know that's when really big bucks are most likely to expose themselves (We know this because of all the guys afraid of losing their reticles in bad light

Also seems the majority (not all) of game cam pics of really outlandish bucks are taken with the benefit of a flash,so they sure were not there during daylight hours.

I've killed some of my biggest bucks during broad daylight....again during the rut when the urge to breed caused them to move during daylight;dragged them out of the normal pattern.But during the pre rut if we hunt food sources,we may be lucky if they show on the edge of dark and daylight in exposed areas.

A solid buck I killed in Alberta waited until the very last minutes of daylight before he decided to cross a big field, and when he did it,it was at a dead run; he either had an appointment somewhere or he was very uncomfortable exposing himself like that in the open.

Spent lots of time on big fields in Alberta and Saskatchewan seeing nothing but middling' bucks....the monsters you knew lived there were reluctant to move into exposed areas during daylight hours....no doubt they will at times if the rut or extreme hunger makes them do so,and like was stated..."right time/right place".

My biggest from New England was killed 11:30 in the morning when the rut had him up on his feet (even he was not really in the open and I would not have seen him in that swamp had I not been in a tree stand)...so sure,they will move during daylight at times but I would bet most of the big ones have stuck to that anti-predation mode to avoid detection, likely spending most of their lives in crepuscular and nocturnal movement patterns when up and moving; and sticking to heavy cover during most daylight hours.

And during the rut(again), they will be on their feet looking for hot does at almost anytime, even stepping into open areas to scent check where does have fed to see if any are in heat...one that gave me the slip in a clearcut in Maine this year was doing just that at about 8:30 in the morning after the sun was well up.

One of my favorite situations is to cut a big,fresh track in snow,headed into a bedding area early in the morning...I know that buck has likely been on his feet, traveling and looking for does and will want to bed and rest for awhile,so is not too far ahead. He may be on his feet later but for the time being he will rest for awhile before taking off again(maybe during daylight) in search of breeders.

Having seen the kind of genetics running around central and northern Alberta, other areas of central Canada, I am of the opinion that there are far more world record quality bucks living there than any of us realize...yet they are infrequently killed, relatively speaking.It's their ability to avoid detection that keeps them safe,mostly.

So yeah I am pretty comfortable saying the really big one's are "basically" nocturnal.

The largest whitetail buck I had never seen lived(part-time?) within 400 yards of my parent's house.

My dad was moving dirt with a scraper, looked down and saw his skull, really nice 5x5.

I'm with Bob on this. Crepuscular is 'zactly the right word and personified by bucks that reach 3.5+ years old. I believe there are 3 categories of bucks - 1.5-2.5 year old deer who hang out with does and hang out alot of places does do. Somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 they start catching on - mainly because they've start to accumulate experiences with hunters and have survived. Some with bullet/arrow wounds, all having both sighted/winded humans by that age. I'd venture most have been shot at. Seems when they turn 3.5 they become a different deer - and much harder to hunt. By 4.5 they do things completely different than the rest of the deer herd.

I believe I've only killed 1 deer in the 4.5+ YO category and killed him last year. He was chasing a doe out of a laurel thicket, on top of a mountain about a mile from the closest road. I hunted one this year that is at least 3.5 and probably 4.5. I have both his sheds from last year, can tell you where he beds - never laid eyes on him this year. He is living in a rather remote area that doesn't get much/any hunting pressure. I suspect he'll die of old age - unless I can catch him chasing a doe next year. I'll likely sneak in there this Saturday for one last hunt. Wind will be right, main rut has long been done but hopefully a second estrus doe will be hanging around, although I don't see many does up there either. He's a tough one.

BTW: this year was tough in TN as well. I didn't see many deer and 2 small bucks which I declined to shoot. Acorns were plentiful - kind of like walking on marbles. I think the deer here were living and staying in laurel thickets with oaks growing in them - both feed and cover without moving far. I did OK in PA an didn't really notice much different although the last Saturday I hunted - rain, cold, fog, crappy - I only saw 1 deer. Of course it was the one we were hunting, a nice 3.5 YO 8 pt, that I somehow managed to miss.

Which brings up another old buck truism - they can show up when least expected. I got into my stand 30 mins before daylight on that Saturday. It was 36 degrees and raining with fog to limit visibility at times to less than 50 yards. It was that perfectly crappy late November/ early December day PA is famous for. I sat till noon without seeing a deer, managed to get wet despite my raingear, and was starting to get cold after ~ 6 hours on stand. I hang the rifle on my hook, fished out a samich, and picked up my phone to check on my Dad. About 5 minutes into my distraction, I look over and he's walking through my best shooting lane. By the time I ditched the samich, phone, and snagged my rifle, he was walking down through the woods in the way mature bucks do when they are out and about. I spied a small opening in front of him, led him through the opening, and squeezed the trigger. I knew I had missed because the crosshairs were on his brisket when the gun went off. No hair, no blood, followed his tracks in the wet leaves for 3-400 yards - a clean whiff. I've made that shot before but its a tough one. After killing a bull in CO, a dandy 8 in TN, and and a 10 pt in PA last year I can't complain too much

As I understand it, deer are ruled by their gut. They have to eat, ruminate, and defecate on a fairly regular schedule or else face pretty severe discomfort. They go through this cycle about 4 times a day. You may see them bed longer during a severe change in weather, but they normally stick to that six hour schedule.

How does this jive with "going nocturnal?" When the moon is visible during the middle of its monthly cycle, deer are more likely to feed more actively at night. When they are stressed through hunting, they may do so as well. However, they still have to get up and move about every six hours or so. Folks see them at their feeder cameras at night, because that is an easy place to snack. It is their version of going to Taco Bell at midnight. They generally go to the food sources that are harder to exploit during daylight feedings. The other thing deer will do is limit their activity. A big buck might withdraw to a few acres in a place where he can eat and bed without much effort. However, if he is interested in breeding, he'll be wherever the doe are, no matter his other inclinations.

What I noticed this year was that the deer stayed well away from their usual haunts in the early parts of season. I do not know where they were, but they were neither feeding in the open fields nor in the oak groves. I also saw minimal breeding activity. Towards the latter part of the first week of season, as the moon began to wane, they suddenly started gorging on acorns that had been left untouched since October. The big bucks were generally no where to be found. I finally spotted The Big One on the last day of season while I was up in a stand cutting down the camo skirt. He was out munching on acorns about 1000 and could have cared less about me.

Good luck.

Shaman where I hunted in central Maine this year it seems as if a lot of does did not come into heat until the end of the 3rd week of November and into the 4th week.

We saw a lot of track of bucks moving, scent checking, but not much chasing of a hot does until then.

In Maine, the woods are loaded with food and a rutting buck can get all he needs without too much effort near bedding cover...some food sources are standouts up there (like fresh tops from new cuttings and 2 year old clear cuts) but the does get into that stuff as well. Bucks cruise through scent checking those areas for does in estrus and she may lead him anywhere.

One guy cut a big fresh track right at sun up, crossing a major logging road. He jumped on it and sure enough jumped the buck within a few hundred yards, which had bedded down after a night of cruising. He missed him but stayed on him all day,seeing him two other times.....never got him......ended up 5 miles from his truck and another guy from our camp drove him back right at dark.

That buck was moving all right but was pushed hard all day...I bet both he and the hunter were pretty tired after all that.

This was an odd season for sure. Our herd is on the build right now. 2012 we all got skunked, and I think it was a poacher causing the trouble. A certain neighbor moved out and the deer started coming back-- know what I mean? 2013 was a fair year. This year, we saw young small deer like crazy. I suspect next year will be better again.

I don't know what kept our deer out of the woods in October. My first guess would be better acorns somewhere else. At first the uneaten acorns had me thinking the deer had been poached again, but then all of a sudden they were there and they were all munching month-old acorns. Go figure.

In regards to "nocturnal" deer, I have a long drive to deer camp and it takes me past a lot of fields and usually a lot of animals. My rule of thumb is that if I see deer out feeding late-- say after 9 PM, then they'll be up about 0900 the next morning. Similar for deer at 5, 6, 7 O'clock. Add 6 hours, and the deer will be doing the same thing. THen add another 6 for the next go-round. Deer up moving at 5 will be doing the same thing at 1 AM and 5AM-- give or take.

You got me there....generally where I hunt we don't get to see the damned things out feeding at all....nothing but big woods and they all stay hid...

Where I like to hunt deer, the deer are noctural, especially during the summer. With daytime temperatures between 105-112 plus, and water sources very widely scattered, it makes good sense.
We have very good data on their nightime activities because the local sportsmen put cameras on the water sources. It's not unusual for the same buck to show up at 10:00 PM and again at 4:00 AM.
During the hunting season, the bucks may travel several miles to and from water at night. Which is why hunting near water sources, especially for older bucks, seldom works.
In spite of all of this, their nocturnal habits don't make alot of trouble for those of us that hunt them. What makes it tough is finding them, particularly if they are living in areas where driving into their range is not possible. That and their very low density. DFW estimates that there are only 3000 of them living in 6600 square miles of habitat.
One thing I might add is that from our radio telemetry data we have learned that the older bucks are very sensitive to hunting pressure. When the vehicle traffic increases near their home ranges, they shift their home ranges to those areas where experience has taught them they won't be bothered. Some mighty ugly, unproductive looking country has been known to harbor some really big, old bucks.
How big ? I saw a photograph from a remote water hole that was of a buck with his antlers in the velvet. In spite of the fact that they hadn't quite finished growing, I'd bet money he was at least 40 inches wide. He's in an area that very few hunt because it's way off the beaten path, flat and very thick.
Then there are the really old bucks. Every year a few come in that run 16-18 yrs. old. I met a guy that killed one that was 20.5 yrs. old. Heck, I killed one that was 14. Only took me 5 years. E

Yall are doing better than me!
I been EVERY weekend since our season opened and
have not seen squat! Not even a squirrel

try being 'sneaky'.....

January, feeders, blinds, mature bucks out in the daylight, all the points get counted too? Very interesting...

Something I observed a couple years back. I had a little honey-hole set up on a saddle. This saddle was surround by old cypress swamp on one side, and typical GA bottom swamp on the other.
This saddle had a lot of acorn producing hardwoods. There were 3 very nice white oak tree among them. We planted and 40 x 70 yrd food plot right between them.
One evening, I noticed a small buck emerge from the swamp. He made his way to the white oak acorns at the edge of the food plot. He then circled the food plot looking for acorns. He never entered the food plot. The food plot was gorgeous--probably 8-12" high, with clover in the mix.
About 3 weeks latter, I hunted the place again. It looked like the food plot had been mowed.
Over the years I've concluded that as long as deer have access to browse and mass crop--they prefer it (at least in my area). When the mass crop is gone they forage where they can. And that is my plan for food plots. It's a source of nourishment for deer when the mass crop is depleted.
Another thing I have noticed. Deer movement seems to be cyclical. Hunting the same area, there are years when bucks (big bucks) just don't seem to move during day light hours. And some years, I've seen them move all during the day.

GeorgiaBoy ,

Which county in sw georgia do you hunt in ?

What type of terrain is common there ?

I like to root around on google earth a bit -it looks like there is a lot open flat country up there .
Is your area considered a big deer kind of place -say like the black belt area of alabama ?

Deer here in the florida panhandle have no interest in corn once the green browse wilts away - they do seem to like winter rye grass this time of year .

We shot two nice 8 pointers the first week of the season here in PA after 4pm....they were starting to move at dusk....

Dougherty, Stewart, and Randolf counties.

The terrain is varied. I hunt a plantation in one county it has everything and managed for hunting (almost unfair to talk about it). I hunt bottom land and pecan grove in another, and 10-year-old pines/bottoms in another.

There are very big deer on the plantation--I know--I have to let them walk. Stewart and Randolf counties are managing their herds. I would not classify them as big deer counties, however, there are an increasing number of quality bucks comeing out of those counties.

The thing about corn is doing it throughout the year. Before hunting over bait was legal in GA, a former club I was in sectioned of an 80 acre block of woods. We put two feeders in that section, and kept something in them year round. The deer came to see those two stations as simply another food source.
No one was allowed to put a stand in that area, but we hunted the many established trails leading to it.

The more successful plots I've seen have a mixture of rye, wheat, peas, and clover. Clover seems to be especially favored, the other vegetation provide cover for it while it becomes established. However, not all food plots are the same. Again, the most successful food plots I've hunted are those that are established or managed. That is, they are plated every year, or every other year and are fertilized. All food plot are not equal, and deer seem to know which ones provide the better nutrition.

As I stated in another post, I view food plots and corn (which I don't really care for) as a food supplement. Being consistent year round with something allows the deer to see them as another food source and increase the chances that the deer will frequent them.

Sorry for rambling.

Thanks sounds like a nice area .

I need to do more work on my plots .

I have tried to find some clubs in sw Ga. -even more sw than you but haven't had much luck. Seems Georgia guys don't care for all the florida hunters coming up there -on GON =georgia outdoor news website -can't say I blame them there are some rude hunters down here . I have been sitting in a stand -had other hunters --if you want to call them that-- walk under me -ask if I seen anything and walk right through the area I am hunting then stand around in the area for an hour. They only came over there because they saw my orange vest -lots of punks down here .
Hunting down here in the jungle gets old open area means 50 feet and the wind blows 360* every minute of the day. More less a waste of time to sit in a tree stand where you can see 100 feet and the wind goes round and round.
I use to live in Kennesaw ,Ga. nw of atlanta -Georgia is the best place I ever lived wish I hadn't moved and might move back someday.
OK good luck up there .

And to you also.

Last Friday morning it was raining lightly, and not much above freezing. A nice 8 point, wide and heavy, dark horned, walks out, looks at the feeder and dives back into the brush, never actually going to the feeder. Didn't get a shot, but saw him long enough to judge that he wasn't a young deer. Never have seen him before or since. If he goes to the feeder, he doesn't do it in the daytime. He will be a challenge for next year.

Keep that feeder going all year long. Be sparce in the way you dispense the corn. Your are shaping the deer's behavior to equate the sound of the feeder with a quick meal. I like them to go off at consistent times. One hour after daylight, two hours before sunset. Adjust for Daylight savings if that applies to you. Don't know how this would work for you guys west of the Mississippi, but I've seen it work here.
Hope you are pleasantly surprised!

My buddy puts his feeders in the brush. Drives him nuts at times, but he sees more than I do. I prefer to be out away from the brush but to be able to peek into it from up high.

A mature buck knows where all the feeders are in his area. He will visit them as needed. And if not needed you'll never see him there even at night.... Each year and every week can bring differing results.

Its one main reason I set up on a major trail intersection pattern about 300 or so yards from my stand, even in "bad" years where the corn will pile up, I still see the deer going from bedding to feeding and vice versa.

As to training a mature buck to a feeder, it will never work, unless its a year where there is nothing to eat. Coming from someone who has fed year round at home and at the lease since the 80s. Never figured it was right to give em a bit to bait em and then cut it off during one of their stress times. That plus we put in food plots at home year round. Only time they are withotu a food plot is spring and fall when we transition from one plant to another. And those times they either have food to eat or its so dry food plots would not work yet anyway.

I agree to much of what you are saying. As to training a mature buck to come to a feeder--that is not the intent. I don't care to use corn as bait. Year round feeding is one: to supplement any deficiencies during seasonal transitions, two: to get the deer accustom to the feeder, three: to see if deer will use it and establish trails to it, and four: to encourage does into an area. It's does that in turn draw big bucks.

I agree. I think I read in one of Charles Alsheimer's books that if a buck survives two hunting seasons, he has learned all the necessary survival skills to die of old age.

I'm convinced that the only reasons I've been lucky enough to kill these bucks over the years was due to the rut and luck.

And what kind of bag limits does Al. have? Also, how are your friends hunts going? That would be interesting to know.

I think it's 50 a day............

Up here, the rut and cold weather are the great equalizers.

Interesting as we see 3-4 year old bucks every year eating either food plots or feed of some type. Occasionally we see 5-6 year old bucks.

I do not know that I've ever killed one over 6.5 yeras old though with any method of hunting, though I know I have seen a few, that were not "legal" to harvest where I was at.

3.5 year old bucks around feeders are still a dime a dozen the ohter night. I had 22 deer out, a few were does but at least 10 of those were 3.5 or older.

Doesn't sound like "nocturnal" deer to me. I thought we were talking about deer that go nocturnal at the first sign(s) of human activity/hunting pressure.

I would agree with this 100%, and I'll throw big mule deer bucks in that same category. Big ones......5.5 yrs old and older. We have 4 hunters on 65,000 acres of prime mule deer acreage, even though there are low deer densities. We hunt every day of the 9 day season around Thanksgiving. The bucks start rutting the week of Christmas, which is obviously when we see the big bucks that you never see any other time of the year, ever. We take the ranch foreman around with us, and 90% of the really big bucks, 190"+ that we see......he has never seen before, and he is out and about feeding cattle, etc every day. Big bucks just "know the program", whether whiteys or big mule deer bucks.

I do a ton of scouting all Summer and Fall and see a good number of mature bucks. I'll see the same deer over and over and over. Then comes the last week of September and it all ends. What changes? Fall agricultural harvest, bear hunting, beginning of moose season, archery season, bird season, and early goose season. Generally more people out and about. Those mature deer go woodchuck on me.

I've noticed when the bucks rub their antlers, they are seen alot less. With hard antlers, they can use heavy cover alot more easily.
Some bucks do become "unhuntable." I'm just glad the bucks I hunt usually leave big, often unique, tracks to allow me a chance to track them. I finally killed one old buck, age 14, after trying to track him for five seasons. E

If you are going to hunt feeders don't leave your scent in the area. Stay away from the feeder as much as possible. Study the ways trappers minimize and cover the human scent at their trap sets. Get rid of the game cameras and hog lights. Keep your stands at least 100 yards from the feeder. Set up multiple stands for different wind directions. Don't place the feeder out in the wide open. Put it in some cover so the deer will feel secure. Still hunt your way to the stand in the light of day. Stumbling to it in the dark only alerts those deer who bedded near the feeder and you won't see them leaving the area.
Watch down wind. Those deer and hogs will circle down wind of your stand to see if you are present.
Don't always hunt from the stand. Still hunt or sit watching the trails leading to and from the feeder.

Mature bucks rarely go to feeders. They do follow the does during the rut. The does may come to the feeder but those bucks will hang back, circle the area, and meet the does again after they leave your feeder. Hunt those bucks from the ground away from the feeder and you will see more bucks.

Use the feeder to keep the does moving through the area and the bucks will follow during the rut. Hunting feeders requires more skills than simply plopping your butt down in a blind. Unless you are satisfied shooting does and immature bucks.

It often helps to relocate the feeders and stands every season.

Yup. During hunting season the thing that gets them on their feet is the rut.

If you're lucky.

I pretty much agree with this. It is all about having the ladies available and comfortable in the area. I've seen bucks walk right through a food plot that was in great shape to eat leaves off a beauty berry bush, but the does love the food plot and spend a lot of time in it. The bucks might not use the food plot much but they aren't very far away if the does are there.

One thing we have all been doing for a long time and many deer generations is shooting deer that, for what ever reason, were moving during daylight hours. How long does this have to go on before you end up with a deer population that has a much higher tendency towards nocturnal movement as opposed to diurnal movement. On our property we have watched some identifiable deer that have never been seen during daylight. Either actually seen or on camera. One particular doe, with half an ear gone, was watched for 4 or 5 years. She always had twins and we decided to give her a pass on doe days. We never caught her moving during the daylight. We also have bucks that have never been seen during daylight. The neighbors have talked about seeing them too, but only at night. I think that we are going to end up with some deer that are completely nocturnal and might already have more than we think.

Even if they are moving at night, if the ground allows it, they wil leave tracks. That not only tells you they are there, but where they went. E

Mathsr ,

You make some very good points there -hadn't thought of it as an evolution type thing.

Hog -dog hunters here say many hogs are now runners and will not stand and fight . They say many hogs will just blast off and run at a fast clip for a long long way -the stand and fight hogs got their throat cut and ended up on the tailgate.

The property where I work doesn't allow any hunting and there are quite a few deer on it. One thing I noticed over the years is a deer's behavior is much different at night than in the daytime. Their tolerance towards humans also changes. During the day 100yds is about as close as they tolerate a human,but at night I've walked right by them at 20yds or less and it didn't seem to bother them. Another thing I noticed is,they like open areas were they can see around them in case a wily predator is trying to put the sneak on them. They can see at night,but they don't see as well as they do during the day and they seem to be more reluctant to run. During dry weather,plants they feed on are also more succulent at night too,so what better time to get a bite to eat. Does will be more actively feeding day and because their nutritional needs of having to feed themselves and fawns. Now put all these things together and you can kinda see why a buck may tend to live the nocturnal life.

No nocturnal evolution going on in states that allow Indians to shoot deer at night on tribal lands. Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.

The Chippewa Tribes in Wisconsin hunt deer at night on their reservations but now want to do the same on ceded lands. The process is tied up in courts.