Breaking Summer Patterns

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Twenty Up
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Re: Breaking Summer Patterns

Unread postby Twenty Up » Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:51 am

Marcus.smith620 wrote:
Twenty Up wrote:
UofLbowhunter wrote:Hate to tell you most big bucks are extremly paranoid all the time! In the summer they appear to be more relaxed. I watched a group of bucks one night calm and cool as can be didnt pay one bit of attention to passing cars or nothing, a bird flew in the middle of them and tried to land on a bean stalk and they all bolted at the fluttering! :roll: Then i can stop my car and just try to get a look at them and there blowing and running everywhere, who knows, but i do know one thing probably is true, the most paranoid bucks on public land are the most extreme nervous nellie’s walking. Thats probably why they get big, if there not they will get shot quick!

Yes they will change there patterns ive seen it happen but i have also seen them really change for no reason. I have alway kinda thought they do make a circuit like around an area! Take to the account of things changing, you can have a field of beans planted in early may be full of deer and they will move to the next field planted in june a half mile down the road. But the will change bedding if pressured as well i seen fist hand!


There’s no AG around here so we don’t have to worry about crop rotations thankfully. But I too have noticed deer getting skittish if I stop the truck, even on paved roads.

My main concern was that I had a bachelor group on cell camera for 2 weeks pushing through a creek bottom at 4:45 PM through 9PM everyday. Spider made a web on my camera so I cleaned the camera up and they all disappeared to not show up again.

This would be the second time hanging/checking a camera blew a bachelor group out of an area.

The realization that I may be too aggressive with my trail camera placement is also a strong possibility .. :doh:


Have you seen them come back after a certain amount of time, or just stay inconsistent?


Depends on the situation i think. Near food they’ll come back but bedding they seem to completely relocate to an area they feel safer in.


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may21581
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Re: Breaking Summer Patterns

Unread postby may21581 » Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:48 am

Twenty Up wrote:Have y’all experienced summer bachelor groups on a consistent bedding to feeding pattern completely change their location from pressure?

I’m well aware of mature bucks reacting and adapting to pressure, but they seem to be hypersensitive during the summer months as compared to Sept-October. Even late season for that matter. (Not the rut)..

Have y’all had similar experiences regarding bachelor groups during the summer?


Summer bachelor groups of big mature bucks haunt my dreams for most of the season. It's an awesome experience to witness such a gathering of mature animals in such a concentrated location. We hunt them all season to be blessed with just one or possibly two cracks at such a magnificent animal. When you see them gathered together it seems to be some sort of miracle unfolding in front of your eyes, it is mind boggling.
Often this just seems like the perfect scenario about to unfold. We watch them all summer, they come to that bean field or other top summer food source on a regular basis. Then as the summer days dwindle and we make our way towards september they gradually get later and later. Then about a week or two before the season they disappear like a smoked brisket at a graduation party. Instantly we think it was something we did or have done. In reality it could of been, perhaps they new you were watching them the whole time. Then there is the possibility those older wiser bucks just have an instinct for survival and when the wind blows a different direction or a certain food comes available they know to get out of dodge.
My dreams were crushed a few times in this type of situation. Every now in then we can catch them on an opener but odds are against us.
Sometimes I have found a particular buck to visit his bachelor group area during the rut. I would imagine because he knows the does there. Some theories have it that they were born in that area and the does in the area are their family. I would imagine they were pushed out and forced to find the secluded spots where the general herd doesnt hang as much. I think some are better survivors than others and just find the better spots naturally. I guess this is how they got to be older. Whatever theory we chose to believe though the end result is the same, they survive!
"Failure is the price for entry for achieving something great"
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DaveT1963
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Re: Breaking Summer Patterns

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:43 am

Couldnt possibly have anything to do that they are in velvet? When they shed they often return to thicker bedding. I think too many attribute superhuman powers to deer. They react, some have better "instincts" but they aren't grad school graduates. Despite having an uncanny nose, good eyesore, good hearing a lot of them, even the most mature, die every single year. While it might feed our egos a bit to think differently, deer are not even high on the animal intelligence scale.


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