Lance_M Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Has anyone else had a problem with their deer becoming more nocturnal this season? I've got 4 trail cams set up on my lease (all over food sources) and this year I would estimate that 75% of my pictures are after sunset and before sunrise. I've hunted this place for 4 years and never had this problem until this year. The place is extremely secluded, can't see any of the property from the road, which is a rarely used gravel road anyways, so I know it's not from drive by poachers. Was just curious if anyone else had noticed the same kind of behavior or had any theories on why this may be occuring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Maybe too much human activity going on at the property? are there any food sources that have changed? now is the time they'd be noctural most though. thing's may get better later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance_M Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Literally zero human activity. The nearest homes are over a mile away. Food sources are failry constant between corn feeders, food plots, and natural acorns. The only thing that has changed since I first started on this place is that its been fairly dry the past two years. But we still hold water in the creek bottoms after rain and the ponds have never dried up. And I know it'll get better as the weather cools and the bucks start chasing, just discouraging being in a stand all weekend and seeing no activity, then checking cameras Monday morning only to see they're coming in at midnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Been hearing that alot. I've , got activity all times of the day, morning, noon, evening, night. I say mother nature is to blame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter42 Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I will say I am from Oklahoma and haven't been seeing deer on my place but there is sign I don't have aany cams up right now but I'm guessing they are moving at night my theory for my place is the siesmic crews that have been working my area for about 2 months now they have been all over my place on foot and in vehicles and its really starting to irk me!! I don't know if this is the same for you or not ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrown Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Good question, alot of variables. I really don't know what it would be. The area I hunt, the deer are moving pretty good. Only thing I know is there might be some ag fields their hitting, then hitting your feeder and cam on the way back to their beds? I had some bean fields, and not alot of bucks where hitting my feeder except after or before light. Now that they've cut them, I'm seeing more machure bucks migrating to thicker and more territorial areas. Unless the neighbor's have hunters that's leasing the boundary and their keeping the deer stirred up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Haven't had that problem in the Southeast corner. Have seen shooter bucks in the daylight hours and have several friends with them on trail cams during the daytime. Several around noon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance_M Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Yeah, I'm hunting out near the fairview area and the one kind of traffic we do have out there is oil crews everywhere. But there aren't any pump jacks on our land. And to abrown -And I'm fortunate enough to only have other hunters on my east side. The owners of the remaining adjacent land don't hunt or allow hunters on their property. As far as ag fields, the nearest are over half a mile away. We used to have a large wheat field next to us, but they pulled that out three years ago and don't farm any longer. Our property is still holding as many deer as back then, but this past year they've become very nocturnal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter42 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Getting off topic Here do you live in fairview or just hunt there?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance_M Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Just hunt there. Live in Tulsa, go to school at OSU in Stillwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter42 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Oh I see lol. Well opening day of muzzle loader season is Saturday and with this cold snap maybe the rut will start kicking in and we will see deer movement....I hope.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance_M Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Question for the Oklahoma hunters Ya I'm hoping the same thing, I actually drew McAlester this weekend so I'll have a recurve in my hand all weekend and definitely hope the bucks are starting to chase. Are you out around the Fairview area yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter42 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 I'm a little north in the Helena Goltry area! You know where that is?? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter42 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 And Congrats on the draw! That's will be a good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrown Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Good choice of school. If they pulled the wheat frield out, did they turn it into CRP? I hunt a 160 CRP field in KS, bucks LOVE IT. The cover and bedding area. There were soy bean fields, they where half a mile and farther, shouldn't make a difference, they'll still hit em. Talk to the land owner, his friend done a deer count with the KS wildlife department, pretty well all the big bucks where on bean fields. Now that there cut, and colder weather has moved in, they should really start to move. If I was you, I'd be hunting cover. I'm not saying the oil field workers poach, but the traffic alone will push them into cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Don't get so worked up over night time pictures of your deer. A trail cam pic on gives you a small part of the big picture. They may be hitting your camera at dark, but they're on their feet somewhere headed to your camera during daylight hours.....ya just gotta figure out where. Remember, deer feed primarily at night. They're nocturnal by nature. I've had a mix of deer on cams this year....but after driving the place 3 times we saw deer each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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