I've been scouting deer for archery season for years, and see bucks on cam from May thru August. Come September the big bucks disappear for the most part until rut. Where are they headed? Terrain is hills of Pennsylvania, located in creek bottom area with plenty of acorns, neighboring grassy area and lots of cover with zero hunting pressure. Higher elevations are available in the surrounding area. Ideas and observations?

Elsewhere. Without tagging them, it is going to be a guess.

Mine do the same thing here in the Trans-Bluegrass. My place is a series of finger ridges with hollows leading down to the river. My guess has always been that the bucks head out for the bottoms where all the AG is and feast on corn. When that's spent they come back up onto the ridges when the acorns start dropping. Larger bucks are like football players. They consume massive quantities and the crops are a big buffet table. When the rut hits, they start roaming. Their targets are resident doe that are still on top of the ridges and the acorns that they are feeding on..

You only relying on cameras or do you actually walk the area? I’m in Pa and the Bucks don’t go anyplace new. They may be be in all male groups at this time and don’t seem to move as much, but in the evenings you often catch them together in fields.

Only natural they will spend more time near an abundant food source. Which here would be corn, but they are still close to their home grounds.

September is the season of change for whitetail bucks.

Once velvet is shed, they're pre-programmed to understand big changes are ahead. You and I don't note necessarily note the subtle differences in daylight but that's what makes their world turn - and they know their life's purpose lies in the months ahead.

The bachelor groups disperse and bucks begin trading the areas that might have had great summer shade and good breezes for areas with better cover and different browse. This is not to suggest they abandon areas altogether (though they will do that too) - they just start doing things differently.

Amen Scott. Couldn't agree more.

Here we have enough Does to keep the Bucks around....If not, then they will they will be gone to where they are.

One small local Buck is already hanging out with a group of three Does....

My experience is on the west coast. You would see the bucks when they were in the velvet but once they got hard horns they disappeared until rut. I always believed they avoided the thick stuff because their horns were tender but once they shed the velvet, they went deep in cover and typically only came out at night. They were always there but in areas you couldn't even crawl through.

I tend to agree with some of the responses here that they stay out of the thick stuff to protect antlers and once they get the trigger to shed they seek higher cover. My area is entirely remote in big woods, meaning no farm fields are anywhere within 10 miles. I've been studying the shift and for sure it happens, but have not found "the area" where they go. Other experts claim they will be within 200-300yes in higher elevations, and within range of rub areas. More scouting work to do, but interesting discussion and I value others' experience.

In my wanderings around here,(have not put up a trail cam in years) coulee farm country along with all the above sound logic, the bucks strategy and travel corridors change drastically. I have found many to not move much. Just across the street at another farm which this year is surrounded by corn, I have walked the field edge and found two different bucks only wandering out of the corn to get to water in the nearby (100 yards max) stream. I will eat one of those bucks in November. The property owner leaves end of October and I have permission to hunt his property!

Bowhunting the big woods is a completely different ballgame and certainly not for the faint of heart - I salute you.

I did so with a modicum of success in my younger days but never had much in way of success those first couple weeks of the season. Not until leaves started turning and rub lines began to sort themselves out did things ever click for me. Even then, one can wait a few days until the maker(s) passes by. And just about that time, the does start smelling right and the makers are gone from there. And just about the time you begin camping on scrapes, they're already with a doe, and, more waiting.

Archery or gun seasons in the big timber for me - find the hard edges, begin to find deer.

To be clear, every year i see does with bucks together, then the bucks disappear come late August, early September. Does remain around with no change. Seeking more seclusion and areas with lower stem count to rub and mark territory is all I can guess. i also see that they go more nocturnal during this time - all based on multiple cams. I've hunted around scrapes near or during rut and have not had the traditional success others experience. Sign me Still Trying to Figure An Out...

one of my cousins worked summers with the fish and game dept {va} to determine the deer census. this determined how long the season was in a given county west of the blue ridge, which could be as long as 10 days or as short as 6. in the flat lands east of the mountains, it was all the same, from nov to january, if i remember.

he got to recognize a lot of the deer and said the game experts said most whitetails stayed fairly close to where they were born, only going out if pressure from hunters or lack of food in mid winter.

i have had most of my success hunting the edges. in deep forrest, the low brouse is crowded out by the big trees.

find the food...find the water. find the beds. this was back in the 60s. there are many more deer now and the seasons are longer.

My hunting buddy has a cattle farm in the hills. Every year he has some monster bucks hanging around in his fields until the end of September. Then he doesn't see them till next fall. He thinks they go to big woods that aren't hunted nearby.

They go nocturnal. Been a coonhunter for many years. You wouldn't believe the bucks I see at night..............

I've heard that the bucks are out in the open more when they are in velvet in order to protect the velvet/growing antlers from damage. Once the velvet comes off they go hide in the thick brush. Maybe just a coincidence but kinda makes sense.