Strange season

[Stingray23]

Likewise, I'm in Troup County. I filled 2 feeders the week of Thanksgiving and have a decent plot growing considering the dry conditions we had. Went back 2 weeks later and the deer hadn't touched the corn or the plot. I did notice a good many willow oaks dropping and I believe water oaks drop late to as well. They may have something to do with it.

Same here in Troup, November was wild, saw lots of chasing, lots of deer then when December rolled in someone shut the gate, the deer being seen are in or around the thick stuff early and late, very limited daytime activity around feeders and food plots but of course we have a golf cart cowboy who can't stay out of the woods checking cameras and messing with feeders so all that added pressure ain't helping. On our property the secondary rut was virtually non existent

 

[1eyefishing]

I've noticed it for a long time period I don't think it's anything real new.
Every year the October lull gets to me to thinking that maybe I'm just doing something wrong and need to go back to the basics...
Then the rut pops and everything seems to be back to normal.
After the rut, they seem to all go hide on the moon. I think during that time the hunting is best in the upland pines and thickets.
The thing I did notice this year is that all my top tier bucks completely disappeared from my cams, even at night. About the time I got burnt out after the rut, they came back.
But by then, even the sun had the sads and I haven’t been hunting since the week after Thanksgiving..
Fixin ta fire it back up...
Just another year for me, but the rare one that I haven't killed a single deer yet.

 

[gma1320]

Same here in Troup, November was wild, saw lots of chasing, lots of deer then when December rolled in someone shut the gate, the deer being seen are in or around the thick stuff early and late, very limited daytime activity around feeders and food plots but of course we have a golf cart cowboy who can't stay out of the woods checking cameras and messing with feeders so all that added pressure ain't helping. On our property the secondary rut was virtually non existent

My lease is just me and my boys and 1 other person. It is extremely low pressure. It has been hunted 5 times all season. So I can't say it is due to hunting pressure on our place. I think part of our problem is our land does not hold many does.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

My GA farm shuts down pretty much completely after the rut…SC farm still producing plenty of sightings.

 

[Mackie889]

Only seeing deer after dark on my trail cams in SW Georgia ... no daytime activity at all. They are eating the corn I throw out on the ground and browsing some on the plots.

 

[Ashmcc455]

I managed to get a decent doe yesterday (12/27) at 9:40am. I am not sure if it was sheer luck or what

 

[gma1320]

I managed to get a decent doe yesterday (12/27) at 9:40am. I am not sure if it was sheer luck or what

Congratulations

 

[across the river]

Has anyone had their herds just… disappear? My spots are private land with little to no hunting pressure. The last week I have gone from corn, food plots etc just being devoured, like digging into the ground devouring it, and 100+ pictures of 20+ deer at all hours to absolutely nothing. Not a single picture, not a single sighting and not touching any of the feed put out or the plots. I am in appling county, but I’m not the only one. My old club, my ex is still at, you saw 12+ bucks and 20+ does every sit no matter time of day or where in the season you were. Same thing happening there. Like the herds disappeared. Nothing on camera, plots and feed untouched. Strangest thing cause it’s never happened in all the years I’ve been hunting.

Deer are similar to cows in their digestive system in that they are rumimnants, and they are browsers that just eat whatever is present as they move through the area. They don't use stomach acid like humans to digest food and instead have micro-organisms in their stomach that breakdown their food. The microorganisms that work to digest one food source don't work well to digest another, so the "makeup" of microorganisms change depending on what they are eating as the primary food source. They eat a lot of high protein legume in summer, then move on to acorns which have protein and carbohydrates. Corn fits right in in terms of digestion during that time period. In the wintertime, when those more preferred food sources are gone in most places, deer often go to a heavy diet of woody browse, so the "bugs" in their stomach change to that food source being more fiber based. That doesn't mean they won't eat corn or hit a food plot, but the don't have to "bugs" to digest it well if most of what they are eating isn't similar in makeup. They often aren't getting much in terms of energy from corn or small food plots, so they will often just ignore them to continue to eat on stuff they have the "bugs" in their stomach for.

 

[bhouston]

We are in Johnson County and have always seen 12-15 does and several young bucks every sit. They were sticking around in the food plots even when we were climbing down the ladders. That was up to this last week and since then NO deer in the food plots and none being spotted with 5 or 6 stands occupied. Never seen it like this in 7 years of hunting our 300 acres. They have just disappeared..!!

 

[Ashmcc455]

We are in Johnson County and have always seen 12-15 does and several young bucks every sit. They were sticking around in the food plots even when we were climbing down the ladders. That was up to this last week and since then NO deer in the food plots and none being spotted with 5 or 6 stands occupied. Never seen it like this in 7 years of hunting our 300 acres. They have just disappeared..!!

I’m actually seeing this more and more on Facebook local hunting groups. It’s super crazy to me. What a strange year! I did switch it up and go over to a neighbors property (with permission of course) and have seen a couple does now which is nice. But this spot had 20+ bucks on camera daily all season and none now.

 

[gma1320]

We hunted all day yesterday accept for about 2 hours midday set up in the thick stuff that usually holds the deer on out place. All that came from it was my son getting busted by resident nanny doe. They are hitting the feed and the plots. I'm guessing at night. But we do have a good many tracks of all sizes.

 

[Ashmcc455]

We hunted all day yesterday accept for about 2 hours midday set up in the thick stuff that usually holds the deer on out place. All that came from it was my son getting busted by resident nanny doe. They are hitting the feed and the plots. I'm guessing at night. But we do have a good many tracks of all sizes.

See my plots and corn at my main spots are still untouched. Now the one spot I started hunting three days ago the corn gets ate up over night. And I saw (and harvested) one doe on Tuesday saw nothing Wednesday, saw a doe and let her walk yesterday and saw nothing today

 

[NCHillbilly]

Plenty of deer still in my spots, they’re just simply not moving in daylight, even back in the woods and thickets.

 

[gma1320]

Plenty of deer still in my spots, they’re just simply not moving in daylight, even back in the woods and thickets.

That's what it looks like is happening for us too. Looks like they are moving at dark. My son hunted the thickest mess he could find yesterday and ended up having a doe walk up on him and bust him about 3 in the afternoon. But where he was hunting you probably can't see 10 yards.

 

[antharper]

Pressure ! Whether it’s your property or the land around you , people have been in the woods for 4 months . I have one place , 700 acres, that is very low pressure and the land around it is private property thats hunted lightly . I’ve been seeing plenty on it . I’ve got another spot that has a lot higher population and a lot of hunting pressure around it and I can’t hardly see a deer .

 

[bfriendly]

I've had it happen some years on some places, then the last week of the season they all come back. Not sure why and not sure where they went. Had to be some food source somewhere that hit the peak in December.

This is what I’m thinking. What ATR said makes sense along the same lines. The feeder in Taylorsville will have action but I think the turkeys are eating as much as the deer…….there are a bunch of em!
I found a bunch of fresh acorn looking sprouts 2 weeks ago. There is sign all over where they were, but they are gon! I think it’s a food source issue but I bet they’ll be back! Cept the ones been getting shot at and kilt of course.

 

[B. White]

Here is what's left of a gut pile from a buck yesterday after buzzards and an overnight rain. Same thing with another from two weeks ago. All I have ever killed later in the year in middle GA was the same. You ought to be hunting them, or near them, if you have them. They are some of the first to fall and continue to fall all season. I'm sure someone has feeders around, but no corn evident in either deer.

I have found white oak trees from late Dec. to the end of the season where a buck would come into and root the last 10 mins of light. He would come down a bottom by hundreds of other trees and never stop at any but this one. He'd have his head buried in leaves and all I could see was the rack sticking up, then after a while he'd wander off. It was pure luck finding that tree and it doesn't happen very often.

 

[antharper]

Here is what's left of a gut pile from a buck yesterday after buzzards and an overnight rain. Same thing with another from two weeks ago. All I have ever killed later in the year in middle GA was the same. You ought to be hunting them, or near them, if you have them. They are some of the first to fall and continue to fall all season. I'm sure someone has feeders around, but no corn evident in either deer.

I have found white oak trees from late Dec. to the end of the season where a buck would come into and root the last 10 mins of light. He would come down a bottom by hundreds of other trees and never stop at any but this one. He'd have his head buried in leaves and all I could see was the rack sticking up, then after

View attachment 1199824

Water oak acorns ?

 

[B. White]

Water oak acorns ?

Yep

 

[antharper]

Yep

Buck I killed Wednesday was full of them also