Cameras showed very late food plot feeding and doe family groups beginning to re-assemble. The warm temps undoubtedly contributed to the late evening food plot use. Morning (cooler) sits were more productive than evenings with deer still on the acorns. Unfortunately they didn’t have to cover much ground to find them. So there wasn’t a lot of moving around. Our best sits were in acorn areas when bucks came by to check on feeding does and fawns, unfortunately most of the bucks were young ones. We predicted this week would be one of our most frustrating and it was. Just couldn’t seem to get in the middle of that mature buck-doe activity and most of the buck sightings were young bucks.
Let us know what you are seeing. One of the NCW families has already reported a great Veteran’s Day weekend so all of you can’t be in slow down mode like us. It is important to hear from as many of you as possible (a sentence or two is sufficient). Also, check out our cameras and blog at www.wonation.org for some cool pics and Neil’s analysis. A new blog will be up late today or tomorrow.
If the weekend of the 7th had bucks “actively engaged” with the does, the weekend of the 14th found “married”
This week we logged 51 deer in 35 hrs. of sitting, for an average of 1.45 deer per hr. (almost identical to last week). A total of 8 bucks were sighted. The big difference being the number of 2.5 yr. old bucks or better being lower than past weeks; 15% vs. almost 30%. This is a very low number for our property but the data don’t lie.
We have not reported “unique” buck sightings in a couple of weeks due to the sheer volume of photos to go through. We know we are seeing new bucks weekly but the process is time consuming what with hunting two shifts per day, time is short. But, we are storing the pics. and will be analyzing them as soon as more time is available. Be sure to save your “unique buck” pics as they are an important part of the picture and we will be needing this data at season’s end.
Neil hunted another farm one day this week that allowed him to keep an eye on hundreds of acres of deer habitat at a time. He watched does feeding peacefully on food plots with older aged bucks working not too far away. The bucks never came by to check out the does. His take away----does on food plots are not necessarily, or at least not always, the “main attraction”. You would expect to see these roving bucks “all over those does” but they took a pass and never worked the plots. Guess nothing is for sure in the deer woods this time of year.
Last week we encountered a perfect storm in the form of a huge acorn crop blanketing the area, warm temps, and mature bucks in “lockdown” with receptive does. This perfect storm wasn’t a total bust but it sure slowed things down here at Kindred Spirits.
Our success here at Kindred Spirits has in no small way been driven by setting a better table than the neighbors. This year Mother Nature created a “welfare state” by delivering a bumper crop of acorns throughout the neighborhood. The “food playing field” was leveled this fall with the adjoining land owners not so much as buying a bag of fertilizer or a gallon on chainsaw gas.
Combine the parity in available food with our continuous hunting pressure since Oct. 15 (in spite of our low impact hunting approaches) and the fact that many neighboring properties have yet to see a boot track and you begin to get the picture of our situation.
With gun season just around the corner we are concerned about the initial neighborhood kill with the deer spread throughout the woods. That will change after two days of gun season as the pressure mounts and the deer seek out the safe havens of our sanctuary areas. If we can keep the pressure to a minimum we will see a migration of good deer home to Kindred Spirits and we will have a good chance of seeing some pretty good deer in the gun season.
However, deer are slaves to their stomachs, and as soon as the pressure drops on the outside they will head for the acorns once again and be once again vulnerable to neighborhood ambush. We sure hate seeing all those young bucks picked off. Especially with an over abundance of does that need to be taken. Oh, by the way, our corn crop failed this summer and our late season food source (other than acorns) will be a late summer catch crop of brassica put in after the corn drowned. Whaaaaa!
We share this as a means of helping all better understand how the dynamics of property management operate. We have preached “food, cover, security” as the keys to property management for years. This year our food advantage has been marginalized, but we are still looking at a positive situation as “high impact” neighborhood hunters put pressure on mature deer. Our enhanced cover and security might be our “ace in the hole”.
But, bow season is still with us all week and we will stay after them hoping to catch breeding bucks moving from one doe to another. We’ll hunt the acorns hard at the traditional feeding times and won’t be afraid to put in a midday shift or two in some core areas. When a buck is done he is done and there is no rule as to when he moves again. Mild temps will keep movement to a minimum but to quote Woody Allen “80% of success is showing up”.
If you are experiencing the same bowhunting frustration take heart. Heavy acorn crops combined with mild falls and winters (yet to come) typically result in great deer the following year. How’s that for a silver lining? And, there is always the chaos of gun season.
Next week we will report on the first weekend of gun season and tell you how you can get your hands on a few hundred thousand acorn producing oaks, free for the digging.
Best regards,
NorthCountry Whitetails
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