"The Shift"

[Grizzlyadam]

I run cams on two different private places I have. Both places same thing every year. I get the big boys very regular until mid September then like someone hit a switch gone. Sometimes a different one or two shows up, and the smaller bucks usually always stick around. Then later during the rut the big boys usually make their way back. Very little pressure on both of the places, and I don't see them shift due to my pressure. Sometimes I don't even go in there till there already gone for a few weeks.

Do you have acorns on your propertys? Maybe a food source shift?

I do have acorns. When they are productive it makes it very difficult to get near the deer. They don't have to move much if at all from bed to feed.

[may21581]

Yeah this shift breaks alot of hearts come September! Mine was broke a few times with it! Summer is a great time to see some monarchs, when you see multiple book bucks within yards of each other feeding gracefully in the open field it's as if a miracle has unfolded in front of us. Our opener isn't till september 28th and I have yet to scout a summer buck and shoot him on the opener. I've got on to a few this year and I'm keeping tabs on but I cant help to remember the sting from the last time my heart was broken from the shift. It was my goal this year to get an early season buck and I'm trying my hardest. I stay optimistic but i am still committed to my goal!
With that out of the way i will mention that i have frequently seen the same bucks i watched in the summer return back around come rut time. I know some shift farther than others but a shift of a few hundred yards onto private would be enough to not see them. Also spotlighting is illegal in my state so that tool I cannot utilize. I would think though if I could use a spotlight I would have much more success in locating them again. The shift is real, maybe they shift a few hundred yards or a few miles, perhaps they just shift their routines and times they venture out too? i guess this is where knowing a specific buck and building a history with them comes in!