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Welcome to our Deer Hunting Outfitters web site. This is a fairly new web site and we
are still working on getting our outfitters set up. If you are a licensed
outfitter or guide & would like your site advertised here please
email me.
Much has been written about deer movement in hunting magazines and I have been
intrigued by differences in deer activity over the years myself. We have all
been in the woods or maybe just while driving to or from work and noticed large
differences in deer activity. You will have some days when you see many deer
from your tree stand and other days when, from that same stand at the same time
of day, you won’t see a single deer. It is also most obvious when you drive to
and from work at similar times each day and see large swings in deer activity.
After thinking about these changes in deer activity, reading several articles
and my hunting observations over the years I've found several situations that
effect deer movement.
The Rut
Some would say that the rut causes the demise of more mature bucks than any
other factor. There's no doubt that deer are very active during the rut. It is
an exciting time to be in the woods. The woods can explode around you at any
time during the rut and at about any time of the day. All deer hunters have
stories of seeing bucks on the prowl. One year a spike buck let me take three
shots at him. The doe that this buck was following ran right by me. When the
buck ran by I got him stopped and he just stared at me. After my first shot
missed he moved a few feet and let me miss another shot. When the doe saw that I
had missed, she ran him back by me again. I think that she was trying to use me
to get rid of him. Fortunately I’ve learned a thing or to about shooting a bow
since this episode almost twenty years ago.
Weather
I have noticed that weather conditions and upcoming storms have an effect on
deer activity. Warmer than average temperatures during hunting season definitely
minimize deer activity. I also have found that wind makes deer very skittish. It
seems that wind messes up all of their senses. The wind causes everything in the
woods to move confusing their sight as well as both masking and making noise. I
would also think that their great sense of smell is also confused as well. I
have spent many days out hunting on windy days where I couldn't hear anything or
tell what was or wasn't moving it's no wonder that the deer lay low on these
days. Deer don't seem to mind a mild rain, but when the rain is falling heavier
I've seldom seen a lot of activity.
Changes in the weather definitely cause the deer to move. Most likely it is the
change in barometric pressure that triggers deer before large storms arrive. On
several occasions I have noticed deer out feeding at odd times of the day in the
hours preceding a storm.
The Moon
There have been articles written on the effects of moon phases and moon position
on deer activity. I haven't figured this one out yet but I think that there must
be something to it. I have seen increased deer activity on days when I can't use
the rut or weather to explain it. Research has been conducted in an effort to
determine the effects of the moon phases in relation to the start of the rut.
What I have read of this information seems promising as far as predicting the
start of the rut and the intensity of the rut. A few years ago there was some
research into the effects of moon positioning, or in other words when the moon
was high in the sky, on deer activity. I haven't seen any further discussions on
this theory in the past couple of years. I have to believe that if the oceans
tides can be predicted with the moon than we might also expect the animals to be
effected as well.
Most of us only have a limited number of days that we can hunt each year and the
best that we can do is to take full advantage of this time. If you can plan your
hunting time in advance and you want high deer activity you should plan your
hunt during the rut or pre-rut when moon prediction gurus say activity will be
at the heaviest and pray for the right weather. In the end, the best way to
handle changes in deer activity is to be in the woods as much as possible.
About The Author
I have been deer hunting in West Virginia for close to 30 years. Now I am
teaching my children to hunt and enjoy it more each year.
Please visit my web site at www.whitetaildeer-management-and-hunting.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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