Insight into deer patterns

[Eship]

So I have noticed a drastic difference in buck behavior specifically between last year and this year. This difference that I describe has been consistent across my personal private property, the public land that I hunt regularly, and completely unhunted private land within the city/suburbs that I work at (which is 65acres, roughly half is wooded). Last year, from early in August up thorough the end of October I was seeing bucks out in the morning up until about 10am. This includes all the way from them being in bachelor groups in the yard on a daily basis to having 6 large bucks in the field near my house fighting it out at the end of October, specifically Oct 21st in that last example. On public I saw multiple bucks during daylight, although none were shooters, and at my work, it was common to see massive bucks in the woods right next to parking lots during the day throughout the season. This last one you’d expect to be consistent with this year since they are unpressured city deer, but that has not been the case.

Oddly enough, I haven’t seen a single buck at my work this year despite there being no hunting. On my private land, we have not seen a single buck all year. You’d think maybe there are no bucks traveling through, but we have at least 13 different bucks on my trail camera in just the last two weeks (I didn’t have the camera up before than). Of all of the photos we have of this 13 different bucks, there were only three individual instances in which a buck was seen during shooting light. That vast majority of the photos were taken between 830pm and 330am. I should add that no one has hunted my property or even scouted it this year since we are keeping it off limits until the rut. So the bucks are around, just not at all during the day.


So really, I’m trying to figure out what would have caused the bucks all across my state (MD) to have been out so much during the day last year and this year they seem to be nonexistent, and as far as my trail cameras are concerned, only active at night. Any thoughts? Only major changes around my house is that my neighbor planted spy instead of corn this year. There were no changes around my work or the public land I hunt.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I think it is likely that they are facing some pressure from something or someone. I don’t know what or who your cameras cover, but is it possible that someone is poaching during early bow season? Are there more coyotes around? Did one of your neighbors set up feeders?

I also think it is likely that you don’t have enough data to really determine the baseline.

 

[Eship]

I think it is likely that they are facing some pressure from something or someone. I don’t know what or who your cameras cover, but is it possible that someone is poaching during early bow season? Are there more coyotes around? Did one of your neighbors set up feeders?

I also think it is likely that you don’t have enough data to really determine the baseline.

Unlikely anyone poaching. I only have 18 acres on my property and we don’t have any sketchy neighbors and there is no access to it without going through a lot of other farms. We know our neighbors well. The neighbors that do hunt are almost all rifle only guys. I’ve actually heard fewer coyotes this year than last year. I had seen some last year, haven’t seen any this year. It’s possible a neighbor may have set up a feeder that I’m unaware of. I also agree I don’t have enough data for a baseline, especially since this is the first year I’ve put up trail cams.

What I can say, is that I’ve lived on this farm for 21 of the last 25 years, and what’s going on this year with the bucks mostly being unseen during the day is actually the normal, and last years behavior was abnormal. I just don’t know why they were out so much early and during the day last season.

As far as the private where I work, it is quite literally in the middle of the city and I don’t think anyone in this area of Baltimore is out hunting. It’s possible someone is out poaching, but it’s just odd to me that these patterns are occurring within the same year in three different places that are all a good distance apart and with varied hunting access from basically unrestricted on the public, to restricted at my property/house, to off limits at my work.