I need some comments from those wise in the ways of the whitetails' daily life habits.
This year on my favorite farm, there is much less deer activity. It was so full of deer over the past years, that if one saw some and did not get a shot, not to worry, more would be along later in the day. The farm is nestled amidst turf farms, and horse boarding operations, so there is very little cover or food for the deer except on the farm where I hunt. Which is why it was a favorite feeding, bedding, and watering area. Not to mention the fact the surrounding areas are not hunted.
This year the deer trails are not well worn, nor is there as much scat present. I was the only hunter on the property, but last year the landowner allowed a wounded warrior on the farm, who wanted to bow hunt. He got two deer, and I got three.
Now that's only five deer last year, but I counted as many as 20 deer feeding at one time on the property in the fields in the week prior to opening BP "early" season. Does and youngsters. Normally one would see two groups, maybe even three in a day at the same time, consisting of 5+ deer. It was a "deer hotel".
So my question is, could we have taken the larger more mature deer, perhaps the "matriarchs" that the rest tended to follow, and so broke the habitual use of the farm by the larger groups of deer? So now those deer that we didn't take have developed a different feeding and bedding circuit, and the farm has less activity? I didn't think that individuals in the herd other than a dominant buck would have that much impact on the behavior of the whole.
Is this possible or are there too many other variables having nothing to do with last year's harvest of deer?
:hmm:
Should I stop worrying like an old woman? :redface: I only saw 1 deer in three days last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Normally I would run out of fingers each day on the deer that were seen, even if a shot didn't present itself.
LD
This year on my favorite farm, there is much less deer activity. It was so full of deer over the past years, that if one saw some and did not get a shot, not to worry, more would be along later in the day. The farm is nestled amidst turf farms, and horse boarding operations, so there is very little cover or food for the deer except on the farm where I hunt. Which is why it was a favorite feeding, bedding, and watering area. Not to mention the fact the surrounding areas are not hunted.
This year the deer trails are not well worn, nor is there as much scat present. I was the only hunter on the property, but last year the landowner allowed a wounded warrior on the farm, who wanted to bow hunt. He got two deer, and I got three.
Now that's only five deer last year, but I counted as many as 20 deer feeding at one time on the property in the fields in the week prior to opening BP "early" season. Does and youngsters. Normally one would see two groups, maybe even three in a day at the same time, consisting of 5+ deer. It was a "deer hotel".
So my question is, could we have taken the larger more mature deer, perhaps the "matriarchs" that the rest tended to follow, and so broke the habitual use of the farm by the larger groups of deer? So now those deer that we didn't take have developed a different feeding and bedding circuit, and the farm has less activity? I didn't think that individuals in the herd other than a dominant buck would have that much impact on the behavior of the whole.
Is this possible or are there too many other variables having nothing to do with last year's harvest of deer?
:hmm:
Should I stop worrying like an old woman? :redface: I only saw 1 deer in three days last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Normally I would run out of fingers each day on the deer that were seen, even if a shot didn't present itself.
LD