Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Nocturnal...NOT!

I hear it said that deer go nocturnal all of the time. From the expert to the tenderfoot it is a favorite observation of why no big bucks are being seen.

I dont agree with it. Deer, any deer, will change his habits when pressured but they dont have a penthouse or casket to retreat to during the daylight hours.

Those big boys are not going to lay in one hole from sunup till sunset. They have to eat, they have to drink, and they have to do what all horny creatures do when the women folk are in the mood.

I remember when I was a young deer hunter I would ask grandpa "Pa, do ya think the deer are out?" and he would say "They darn sure ant in here with us."

The deer are always in the woods! If you are a HUNTER you will find them.

I don't know about West Virginia but they sure do go nocturnal in Texas. If you don't believe it invest in a starlight scope and watch the feeding field edges after dark.

BCR

Ditto for me too Boggy. Been there done that TOOOO many times to think otherwise. Just got back from an Eastern Plains hunt in Colorado. There isn't a tree or bush for miles. I would sit on the edge of harvested corn fields until dark, and not see a deer. I got frustrated every morning and night by all the deer sign, but no deer. I drove out into one of the fields one night out of frustration to see what was there. Oh about 50 deer was all that was there. 20 of them bucks. I am sure they were there all the time, I just didn't have Stick's new spectacles to see them with <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> . And no, I didn't shoot a deer illegally. I shot him coming off the same field early in the morning a few days later. Good thing he was rutting and hung out just a "tad" too long. Flinch

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Flinch, like I said maybe the West Va deer are different <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Just last season I watched six bucks all summer and fall while they were running together. Two forkies, three sixes and two good eights and one that was ten or twelve. They, along with does and yearlings, were in and around a 70 ac field that was planted to oats and rye grass. Opening morning a friend of mine took down one of the sixes. Other hunters hunted that field and saw nothing but does and forkies and spikes. Where did the bucks go? That is when I borrowed the starlight just to watch with. Does and yearlings and a spike or two would hit the green starting @ 3pm. As soon as it got too dark to see the parade started. Oh, yeah, The boys were still there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That isn't the first time I have done the same thing using spotlights either. Just to see not to shoot.

But maybe West Virginia deer are different. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

BCR

Snow don't lie. It will easily allow one to cypher what is moving,where it is moving and at what time.

Yep,snow answers a lot of questions...............

One of the biggest things you can learn from snow (especially first ones) is that deer act different in it.

My point is that the deer are still outside regardless of whether they adjust their main feeding time to night or not.

If the only place you hunt them is where they feed they will seem like vampires.

I'd concur,that Deer spend the better part of their day outside(grin).

Where I'd differ in thought,is in the amount of Deer movement during daylight hours in high pressure areas,verse the amount of nocturnal activity.

So while they remain outside,that doesn't necessarily mean they are running rampant at High Noon. There lies our apparent differences...................

Actually I do not think we are that far apart. Yes their movement slows down but I often hear hunters say something like "when they go nocturnal you cant hunt em"

Obviously they dont fade into the mist of dawn. If you know how to hunt deer you can find em. Thats one reason us southern boys delight when a good snow hits about the 4th day of rifle season...like you said it dont lie. Speaking of which has anyone else noticed how stupid deer are during the first snow and even later anytime it snows hard?

And while we are on that subject. Since 6pm have gotten 8 inches of the white stuff and its still coming down.

I certainly Hunt different,when say the weather and Hunting pressure has critters hunkered down. That is a pretty good time for a drive in order to make them move. I always liked drives and had a bunch of pards DownSouth who liked to do same. Drives can be VERY effective.

We had zero snow this Season and a man still has to go up pretty high to find any now. I had high hopes for some good snow during the Rut,but it never came close to happening.

I think there is definately something to the first snow and it causing positive movement.................

whitetail.......

I'm with Boggy and Flinch...

Here in Georgia, the Big Bucks seem to go Nocturnal more and more each year.....Now, there are some good bucks seen at regular hours of the day, but overall, not the amount that was seen in years past.....Here in Georgia there is a growing trend of "GAME CAMERA's" that are set up in the woods to see what exactly is in the area in which a hunter is hunting.....You would not believe some of the Bucks that are seen on these camera's and for the most part (I would say 80 to 90 percent) the pictures are all taken at night!!!!!

I would say naturally the best opportunity for the big one, is while the rut is in full force.....They just ain't thinkin' straight then.........

But, down here....NOCTURNAL seems to be the way for the Big Bucks....... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

OK...but where are they at when the sun is shinning!

Ditto on the game cameras here in WV. We have 4 bow only counties and the stories are the same there. A week into season and all photos are supported by flash.

Semantics. What whitetail is saying is that they are still there somewhere, even if they are feeding at night. The rest are saying that their definition of "nocturnal" is the deer have begun feeding primarily, if not exclusively, at night. Since the latter is the definition of nocturnal (owls are nocturnal animals, but of course are "somewhere" during the day), I'll agree with the statement that they "go nocturnal."

That said, I agree with whitetail that they are somewhere, so go get them! They are certainly NOT unhuntable. Guess I'm stating the obvious...

We hunt in SD and in the past few years we have done much more ground stand hunting. We still fill our tags, but the deer here go nocturnal once the pressure goes on. If you want to find the big ones, you get about 10 guys together and hunt the cattail sloughs and hope that you step on one, literally, they hold tighter than anything I've ever seen, the biggest buck that were shot by us this year were shot at less than 50 yds, running, and only because they got up less than two feet away from us and in front of us, if we'd been off to the side, they would have never moved. I think that's what happens when bucks go nocturnal, they just find a warm bed and stay in it unless they are disturbed.
Selmer

I'd say it depends on the pressures they experience.
My low desert bucks water at night, pretty much all year, but especially in the summertime.
They will feed late in the morning if they aren't distrubed much. Otherwise they head for cover early. In fact, if undistrubed, they will move about at midday.
My mountain bucks do funny things. Like bed in wide open areas at night. I've found their sign in these places, time after time. Why ? I think it is because of the lion population. In fact, all the 4 yr. old class bucks I get a line on, all have open areas to bed at night. They are always found in such areas, or shall I say near them.
Where I have problems is where I can't approach them w/o seeing them first. During the day, both types of bucks are in heavy cover. If they see me first, it's all over. They take off staying in the cover. I get a glimpse of them, rarely. I get to see the tracks of yet another large, running buck. One more time.
Even my desert bucks are that way. It would be fun to hunt someplace where the big ones are dumb.
I'm with everybody else on the snow issue. Heck, I can track Mtn. Quail after a fresh snow in my area.
I've noticed other types of ground work well too. My favorite is the accumulated dust on the side of the dirt logging roads. Even tough to cut sign on critters like lions show their sign in these places. Another good spot is the mud around water sources. E

Okay, I am with you now Whitetail. I missunderstood what you were saying. They are there, somewhere, but not feeding or moving before dark. We rousted a lot of bucks out of 12 inch high sparse yucka plants (sp)and "gulleys". Not NEARLY as many as we thought we would see in the area (lots of sign). We were able to get another 24" white tail "jump" shooting. We also watched the same bucks that we jumped the day before lay in their beds until well after dark before moving. I guess that would qualify them as nocturnal. Strange animals, but VERY fun to hunt. That was my first experience with white tails, other than cull hunting them in the winter. Flinch

What is snow?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Well of course they are there, somewhere. The boys don't climb trees or crawl in holes. Well, maybe they do crawl in holes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As selmer and Eremicus said they are laying up in the nastiest, closest, most un approachable bit of cover they can find and they are staying right there unless something flushes them or night comes.

I am familiar with switch cane thickets and bamboo briar patches and shin oak hells and yaupon galls and pear patches. You can't get in there short of on your belly and while you might hear one break and hear his antlers rattle the stalks you won't see him unless you happen to almost touch him. And if he senses you you will neither see or hear him as he is going to quietly sneak off if he thinks you are too close. Like maybe thirty feet or so.

Yes sirree Bob they are there and you can hunt them all you want and that is just what you are doing. Hunting. Finding is a mule of another hue. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

BCR

Up here at the end of season there's usually snow on the ground and if you spend a couple days cruisin around you can find the major bedding areas for each area you hunt.You will spook em' but they will be over it by next fall.Set-up the next year with the prevailing wind in your favor and hunt next to(not in) these bedding areas.Also a thick cover run that goes between two different bedding areas can be golden.The bucks will hit the areas right at or before dawn but after laying for a couple hours will usually get up and move around a little in the bedding area.They will also sneak to another bedding area close by if they have cover to check out other does.When you hunt these bedding areas during the rut its a matter of time till one of the resident does comes into estrous and several area bucks mill around in there for several days.You must really watch your scent and the wind and not hunt your areas but every couple days as deer are easy to push out of area if you leave too much scent.A great place to meet nocturnal bucks in the daytime <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


woods

whitetail.......

Don't know....

I wish I did....

They must have some good hiding spots..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The areas I hunt in VA are mixed farm and hard wood lots, with some really dense hemlock stands. Over the years my friend and I have taken many more bucks than does there and the shooting on his place always was tops early and late in the day. This year, there was a wholesale change as we saw only one buck all year but numerous does.

Several factors contributed to the shift. The southern edge of our hunting ground -- we've called it the "killing ground" for years -- was absolutely dormant due to a lack of hunting pressure in some adjoining, dense, tangles of thorn bushes/vines/kudzu and you-name-it trash. In the past, it sounded like Porchop Hill in there and deer moved from there to us. This year, due to creeping suburbia, no hunting was allowed to the south, and the deer just stayed in that dangle. The western side of the property, also productive in the past, was similarly barren, but this was due to higher than normal river levels which kept us from hunting an island and pushing the deer out of that sanctuary. It's interesting that low hunting pressures can also screw up your hunt.

We noticed this year that a lot of does bedded down in tall grass clumps overnight and just as the sun warmed a little they would pop out of the ground in the damndest exposed places. My hunting partner -- ex-USMC with time in Hue during Tet -- claims they have tunnels.

oneb