Alisha Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Okay, I talked to my Dad on the phone last night and asked him how things were going up where we hunt. He's been up there since the middle of October and has only seen ONE rub and ONE scrape in the entire area which has been FULL of sign in previous years. They've seen lots of does with fawns and several small bucks but he said the bucks aren't chasing the does at all! Now...we just got permission to hunt some new property 30-40 minutes away from the location I'm talking about above. My Dad and Uncle checked the place out and said there are rubs and scrapes EVERYWHERE and the bucks are chasing the does like crazy! We've been having warm weather (in the mid 70's during the day) so could this have them screwed up? Like I said... the two locations are within 30 or so minutes of each other and have around the same temperature/same weather so I don't think this is a likely answer. I just can't understand why the bucks aren't chasing the does where we normally hunt but they're going nuts at this new location. Usually in that area the rut comes in at the end of October but according to Dad the bucks just don't seem interested at all. Are we dealing with a bunch of gay bucks on this paticular piece of property or what's going on? LOL Maybe someone can shed some light on this for me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... 30 - 40 miles shouldn't make much difference in a deer's rutting activity. My first thought is that you don't have many larger bucks in your old area. Who knows why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisha Posted November 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Texan.. the reason why there aren't many older bucks in the area is because the surrounding area is heavily hunted, but in previous years even the small bucks (4 points, spikes, etc) were chasing does.... but this year - nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo_buck Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Buck / Doe ratio???? How many does are there? Maybe there's no need to chase if they have that many to run..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisha Posted November 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... [ QUOTE ] Buck / Doe ratio???? How many does are there? Maybe there's no need to chase if they have that many to run..... [/ QUOTE ] There's never been a shortage of does...but never a whole lot of bucks, so you could be right in that aspect. Buuut it's always been that way and the bucks have always had rubs/scrapes there in the last 8 years I've hunted there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo_buck Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Maybe they're just shy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QDMAworks4me Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Have your food sources changed this year as opposed to last year, there may not be as many bucks this year due to lack of food? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisha Posted November 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... [ QUOTE ] Have your food sources changed this year as opposed to last year, there may not be as many bucks this year due to lack of food? Just a thought. [/ QUOTE ] The mast here hasn't been very good the past few years..... and this year one ridge won't have any acorns, etc..... but the next one will. So you may have something there! We're allowed to hunt the property across the road from where my Dad and Uncle have been hunting but they are getting up in age and aren't able to walk into that area because it's too steep. I've hunted there in years past and have always seen deer so I'll have to make the treck up the mountain and see what's up. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtBowhunter Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Sounds like it's a question of Mast and cover for the deer. If the area you've been hunting is getting much older growth in it, then the bucks will wander off so they don't have to fight with does and fawns for food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... I've seen that phenomenon too. No explanation for it. Good example was last week. I sat on Thursday evening and saw 3 deer before I shot the 3rd, all of them were bucks cruising around looking for love. 2 days later I went to a spot that has lots of deer, but only saw 3 fawns, no chasing or cruising at all. Weird. Sometimes I think seeing deer one year and not the next in the same area is due to the crop rotation and what has been harvested. I usually see a lot of deer around my place if there's corn planted next to me. This year I haven't seen hardly any deer and the fields to the east and south of me have corn in them this year, so I'm betting they're hiding out in that corn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller66 Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Boy do I hear ya, for the longest time we were at a loss for words! We couldn't find a scrape or rub or even see a deer to save our lives, we really seriouly thought we had a mountain lion in our timber, finally about 1-2 weeks ago the deer finally broke and just went NUTS!!!!!!! It went from as dead as I have ever seen it to just the wildest and most active and most fun rut I have ever hunted!!!!!! We got bucks running all over and comin' to calls like nothing I have seen!!!!!!! Hope your heard turns around like ours did, trust me, it is the right time of year and the bucks won't miss it, the will turn on! Good Luck!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bigbuckmiddaugh Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... In my area, i goes on bedding areas. If the doe's switch main bedding areas, well....so do the bucks main activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Could be a couple logical explanations. Different food sources or different buck to doe ratios in the areas would seem to me to be the most likely reasons for the difference though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckbuster11 Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Re: I\'m puzzled by this.... Could be alot of things. Mast might have a lot to do with it. I'd talk to him again in a couple days though. It was really slow here too until that cold front came through on Thursday. I'd bet any money he is seeing alot more deer now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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