Where did the deer go??????

AgE

Senior Member
Well gang, this has been one frustrating deer season. During bow season and the first weekend of rifle, I saw right at 200 deer from the stands on two different tracts, in two seperate counties. Since October 17, my deer sightings have dwindled to almost nothing, actually getting skunked more often than not. What has happened to the deer on my hunting leases? The guys that I hunt with are having similar results as well.

On one of my tracts, we boarder a 200 acre soybean field. Back in the summer, I thought it was going to be a blockbuster year, and indeed it was through bow season. Then things went down the tubes in a big hurry. This past weekend, two of us hunted that tract three times, sitting six different stands, with a grand total of zero deer seen.

On another tract, where I saw 56 deer during one sitting on the afternoon of October 17, we are having the same problem. This past weekend, two hunters hit the woods there three different times, sitting five different stands, with a grand total of three deer sightings.

What's going on here? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's like the deer packed up and moved out. No fresh tracks, no fresh rubs, no fresh scrapes, and the food plots are knee high.

Anybody else having this problem? This is a first for me.........

AgE
 

Condor

Senior Member
Acorns

The deer have moved over to the acorn food source and are moving mostly at nite and probally not moving much at all in any case. They will come back to their old haunts when the acorns stop falling and get stale on the ground. Probally another week or 2 in most places.
 

AgE

Senior Member
We've got the acorns - there ain't a deer around to eat them. They're just rotting on the ground. One of these tracts is a solid 600 acres of white oaks, saw tooth oaks and red oaks. The other tract with the soybeans has plenty of acorns as well. The acorns are being/have been hunted, with hardly any deer sightings.

As far as pressure goes, I can't imagine that being a problem either. The tract with the soybeans is almost 700 acres and is hunted by myself and one other person. Total number of deer killed this year: two does, the last of which was the afternoon of October 15.

The other tract is right at 600 acres and is hunted by myself and two others. Total number of deer killed this year: one buck back on September 17.

Sorry gang, just a little puzzled right now.........

AgE
 

mpowell

Senior Member
join the club! we've experienced the same thing.

i did see a shooter buck friday morning. he came out of a thick bedding area on a run and parallelled the pines i was hunting for about 30 yards than went right back in! never had a chance to get my gun up but my heart was racing!
 

Buford_Dawg

Senior Member
join the club part II

Same here Age, we're in north Oglethorpe and south Elbert counties. We saw a few deer during bow season and early gun season, but sightings are just about non-existent now ::huh: . 4 of us hunted Saturday in Elbert county and I had 2 does chased by yard dogs come by me. That was only sightings and deer tracks in our roads after fridays rain were not to be found. I'm going back down tomorrow afternoon and hunting in the afternoon and then all day Wednesday, if things dont pick up, I'm going to start squirrel hunting around Thanksgiving with my 4 and 8 year olds. I am seeing alot of squirrels ;) .
 

AgE

Senior Member
I've been considering squirrel hunting myself! Anybody got any good recipes for squirrel????

AgE
 

GeauxLSU

Senior Member
Haralson county

Glad it's not just me. I saw 17 deer from the stand opening morning (gun). Haven't seen 17 deer since! :rolleyes:
Exact same thing. No scrapes, few rubs etc...
Yeah, I'm a little frustrated.... :banginghe
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil
 

Arrow Flinger

Moderator
They crawled in the same series of holes that they crawl in at the farm. There must be an underground civilization for them. Ever wondered why they just seem to appear out of nowhere? Makes you wonder don't it?
 

Meriwether Mike

Senior Member
They were all picked up by the mothership and went back to Jupiter for a rut reunion. ::gone:
 

Snakeman

Senior Member
Arrow Flinger said:
They crawled in the same series of holes that they crawl in at the farm. There must be an underground civilization for them. Ever wondered why they just seem to appear out of nowhere? Makes you wonder don't it?

One_Shot_No_Mor's and my theory is that they teleport through holly bushes/trees. On several occasions, a deer would walk behind a holly tree, and disappear. Then, on the other side of the property, where the other of us was hunting, a deer would suddenly appear! And guess where it would appear from? That's right, a holly tree.

So I always look for a holly tree in close proximity to my stand location. You never know when a deer might fall out of one!

The Snakeman
 

GeauxLSU

Senior Member
Now that I think about it, even the 'urban' deer have gone incognito... ::huh:
I 'guess' that should make me feel better about not seeing anything recently while hunting. :rolleyes:
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil
 
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