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Slow year

Death by Arrow

Death by Arrow

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Hey y'all. So I have a question for some of you to ponder. I have been hunting this farm of mine for 4 years now. And every year it seems that I don't get anything mature to show up on cameras. (which I have moved all over the place in the past years looking for them earlier) until after oct 15 or so. Then I get plenty of pictures and see many mature deer all the way through shotgun season when they get run around like crazy. After that they don't typically stay around because there isn't a lot of cover once the snow flattens every thing. This leads me to think that they just don't live on the property until the rut, which isn't all that bad a thing : ) so what I am wondering is this property just not where they prefer to live preseason? They sure don't mind camping out from oct 15- dec 20. They seem to have plenty of cover food and water. There is one giant corn field to the south that doesn't typically get cut until mid October, could they just be hanging in there? Or maybe they are just out there and I haven't quite found there small travel patterns? I have also not had many returning deer every year, always seems to be new ones. Iam not all that concerned about it I have a good feeling they will be showing up soon, but just curious what you all think. I know it hard to guess without seeing the property etc. but just wondering if anyone else has this sort of experience. I have learned not to hunt this property until late october because all it does it bugger up the doe's. Makes for a really boring October waiting for these guys to show up.
 
I have the exact same issue. Nothing but different small bucks and the same herd of does until November. I just shoot a couple does in October for the freezer then buckle up for newcomers in the rut.
 
I have similar issues...mostly because there isn't a ton of food. However, once they lose their summer range, they usually show up in October. It's just how they operate sometimes.

That's the great part about the rut...almost all deer are fair game! :way:
 
Seems like common issue. I hunt about 110 acres, and only about 5 acres are timber. Had my trail cams out for 7 weeks and just started seeing a few good bucks last week. Checked one of my cams tonight and there was almost nothing all week. I'm guessing its because it got warm again this week, but who knows.
 
It sounds to me like this property it more of a pass through for them. In my opinion you should be seeing resident bucks that you are recognizing year-to-year or at least day-to-day. We hunt 300 acres that we tend to see the same bucks consistently before rut really kicks in and after. There typically are big resident bucks that we see all season and on a fortunate occasion kill. But we see many larger and smaller bucks that we've never seen before (other than maybe some of the "big" ones we think we recognized from past rut).

For example...:) On a certain day of the rut...There is a MONSTER buck that busted me in my tree two years ago.Thanks to him I moved about 15 yards and luckily killed a 155 inch. Last year he went by me again (same day) but I didn't have a good. shot. The good part is he didn't see me!
What about does? do you see many of them? I also like to hunt places I normally wouldn't during rut if there is a large population of hot does!
 
Ive had the same issues on our farm. my dad has a 600 acre farm so you would think we would get at least one or two big bucks calling it home but I usualy dont see anything huge until Nov. I used to get really frustrated because i didnt get any awesome trail cam pictures of for sure shooters that lived on the farm in the summer, but after hunting here for 4 or 5 years Ive learned that a few shooters always show up in November so i dont get my panties in a bunch anymore. But I have had an awesome young buck and nice 10 that showed up this summer and have been getting regular pictures of, so i just hope that i finally have some nice bucks calling our farm home.
 
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yep, had similiar situation before. I think we should all realize, even if there's a corn/bean field adjacent to the property, deer eat upwards of 200 different plants. I used to think that since there was an ag crop next to the timber, all of the deer in the county would come through; definately not the case. I think there's several factors to consider: available food in the timber throughout early Fall, buck:doe ratio, temps, etc. When I was able to hunt a property like this (was my best spot) I tried my best to stay out until thinks got rockin in Nov.
 
Thanks for all the reply's guys. This too is a very large piece of property 600 + acres of which 100 is timber another 150 is crp. I suppose if I were the land owner I could manage the timber and food sources and cover to try and keep them around a little more. I just never get why every year I see 3-4 mature deer who I see consistently for three months and then they disappear.... I get lots of other traveling bucks as well.... Just always wonder we're these big guys disappear too.... Thanks guys!
 
Yes it runs along a large river. Always full of water and a few years back flooded the whole place which made hunting interesting : )
 
Southwest corner of Johnson co. It is a great piece. And like I said could be even better if I owned it lol. Doesn't produce monsters by any means but have had 160+ deer every year.
 
Same issue here. I dont mind it though. I usually knock some does down in oct. then when nov. rolls around the newbies start showing up. My buck 2yrs ago was a buck that summered around my buddies place a little over 4 miles from where i layed him to rest. they seem to come into this core doe/ small buck area, find a hot doe, then push her out into the open country where they dont have to worry bout smaller bucks intefering.
 
Wiggle I like you take on it. I do have a large piece of crp that Iam convinced holds the big guys this time of year. I know it's loaded with ladies. Just heavn't found the right way to hunt it yet. Ps I hate hunting out of ground blinds. Thanks
 
can't find the deer

if there's standing corn and timber the deer will prefer the corn. the food is only a reach away and the sceeter's don't hang in the corn like the timber, i've seen them while the corn is being picked waiting until the last few rows are left before leaving it. standing corn and windy conditions are perfect for stalking you can cross the rows and look for deer while the wind keeps the noise level high so you can get real close.
 
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