BackWoodsHunter wrote:So is this midday movement related to hunter movement, the rut or a deers need to feed. I don't know if it was discussed on this thread or another about deer needing to eat every six hours (in theory) could it be related to that? Do deer in bigwoods have less food and possibly return to their beds earlier than deer in other settings forcing them to get up and move midday or am I off?
Deer are a slave to their rumen, the bacteria in their stomach. If they don't keep something o their stomach, the bacteria will die and that's bad news for the deer. Thus, nature makes them feed often, not necessarily major feeding. But every 4-6 hours they will feed on something.
I have seen that deer will rise in mid morning, usually close to where they're bedded and feed, bed, feed til about 2pm. Mostly in the same area, not traveling far at all. This is when I'm all day hunting and that's very late October thru mid late November. So that's rut time and when most hunters are in the woods here, namely rifle season (early to mid November). And being that time of year, the bucks aren't far away. I've thought for a long time that deer will pattern human activity the same as we try to pattern them and they'll move and feed accordingly.
So, I think it's a combination of both, the need to eat and hunter pressure.