Reprinted from Oct 28, 2007 column in MOrgantown Dominion Post and from material found in "Whitetail Advantage", a book found elsewhere in this website.
Every bowhunter knows that getting close to deer is difficult. The more that deer move around, the better the chance for an encounter. A recent study done in Maryland showed that in October bucks moved between 330 and 650 yards in the morning before they bedded. Then in the evening they moved between 220 and 330 yards. They also went on to state that these are average figures, but there was tremendous individual variation among bucks. Some moved a lot and some moved very little.
Dr. Mickey Hellickson is one of the top deer researchers in the country. He does his work in South Texas and he has some data that confirms that individual variation in buck movements can be huge. For example, Hellickson found that one 6.5-year-old buck was active 87 percent of the time, while an 8.5-year-old buck was only active 18 percent of the time.
But these bucks are the extreme. Hellickson found that on average, older bucks are inactive 57 percent of the time. That means that the majority of each 24-hour day, bucks are either bedded or are standing, but not moving around. Bow hunting them at such times is virtually impossible.
Many factors affect deer movement, but temperature just might be the most important. We’ve had an exceptionally warm October, and studies show that the warmer the October weather, the less deer move. One recent study done in Maryland shows that the hotter it is in October, the less deer move. Let me add this caveat. Once the peak rut kicks in November, temperatures have less impact on buck movements.
Ten years ago I was bowhunting in Illinois in late October. It was hot. It was 85 degrees during the day and I wasn’t seeing any bucks. I was hunting on a farm owned by Jerry Beverlin, an employee of the state DNR. I’d met him two years before when we were working with Bill Jordan of Realtree on his Outdoor Education Foundation. We hit it off and he invited me to bowhunt with him in Illinois. I jumped at the chance, but the hot weather really had things in low gear, so I asked him where the coolest spot was on the farm. We hopped on his ATV and he took me to a small, but steep ravine with a slow-moving stream at the bottom.
It was a short hike to the stream, and as soon as we dropped off the ridge, it seemed to be at least ten degrees cooler if not more. The stream had almost no water due to dry conditions and we probably hiked only fifty yards when up jumped a super ten point buck. He had been bedded in the gravel in the stream bed against a steep bank. I took my climbing tree stand in there an hour before daylight the next morning and as the sun peaked over the hill, a dandy buck did so as well. An hour later Jerry and I loaded that buck onto his ATV for the short ride back to the farm house.
My good friend Charlie Alsheimer photographs deer all year round. He feels that bucks do not move around much in October as long as the temperatures are above 42 degrees. I’ve found that to be a pretty good rule of thumb. As I write this on October 17, it is hot. Forecasts for the next 15 days show continued unseasonably warm weather. This means that we will have a very strong rut period, with lots of scraping and chasing compacted into the November 7-15 time period. Why will this happen?
Normally things are cooler in October. If you get a little snow or even colder temperatures in October, this stimulates some early rut behavior. Some bucks will make scrapes, and bucks will start to move around a bit. The peak rut will still be in November, but it isn’t as noticeable because some rutting behavior started during the cold spell in October.
This fall will most likely be different. With the warm weather, buck movements will be delayed. If it stays warm in November, buck movements will be reduced to a degree, but they will move around regardless of temperature. Bucks will start chasing does, and they will be much more active in the day time. With continued warm weather, be ready for that first cold snap. When it happens, deer movements will jump, so be out there. Meanwhile, find the acorn trees and spend time in the woods. For many of us, this is the greatest time of the year, even if it is warm.
