This weeks report sums up the last week of NY gun season. It was a very quiet week as most of the hunting camps had emptied out, the temperatures plunged and the deer kept movement to a minimum. We heard very few shots with the exception of Saturday morning which sounded like the muzzleloader guys who were probably taking advantage of the good weather to sight in their smoke poles.

     We averaged slightly over 5 sightings per hr. With the majority of them being does, fawns, and young bucks. The big guys are still not showing up on food sources during daylight hours. Looks as though our last chance at that big buck will be towards the end of muzzleloader season as both Craig and Neil had to get back on the road for business purposes. To make matters worse, the snow and ice is piling up on the seasonal roads making access pretty scary. It may be time to get out the Argo for the last weekend.

      If you think food doesn’t concentrate deer during the late season, think again. Daily snowfalls allowed us to keep track of deer movement in our area pretty well last week. It was amazing to see the concentration of tracks crossing roads near our food plot locations compared to almost none a short 500 yards further up the road. We also ventured into the woods to do some photography for a habitat project and crossed a dozen or so bare dirt (our woods have 3-4 inches of snow) arteries all leading in the direction of our plots. Corn was the major draw (of course) but there was plenty of use in the brassicas as well.

       The deer are pretty much back on pattern and can be hunted that way. We have been hanging out on the corn fields (love those numbers) but good bucks can be patterned and killed coming and going.

        Last week a NorthCountry property owner and good friend spotted a nice 150 inch shooter a long distance from his fancy Shadow Hunter shooting house (we use them too and they are terrific in cold weather) in the far corner of a corn field. He was “on the feed” and pretty much ignoring the does that were feeding nearby. Sadly he hunts the shotgun zone and the deer was out of range. He had seen this deer a number of times near this spot during the rut but he was always “on the does” and unpatternable.

        The buck now appeared to be ignoring the does and in “repair” mode. He could be patterned. He decided to set up within range of the buck’s feeding area the next evening. The buck didn’t show but our hunter stayed with the program and set up again the next evening. Sure enough the buck came back for another evening feed and our hunter took the biggest buck of his life at 20 yards. Best of all, he was wearing a white sheet he bought at Wal-Mart the day before and sitting on a sheet rock joint compound bucket.

      Our hunter could have stayed in his comfortable shooting house but he made the adjustment and got the job done. Now that’s what we call “adjusting to conditions”.

        Lesson learned--after the rut, big bucks will get back into a movement pattern, especially when they are feeding heavily to repair their rut ravished bodies. If you have been smart enough not to put too much pressure on them during the rut they will resume feeding during daylight hours and can be patterned much as they could be patterned in late Sept. Don’t be afraid to adjust and always have a white sheet and sheet rock bucket handy.

      Keep your eyes open the rest of the season and look for travel patterns to food sources. You may have to move around a bit to see where the deer are traveling but if the food source is a good one, chances are they will use the same travel routes repeatedly (subject to wind direction). As always hunt low impact but it pays to do a little scouting in the late season.

       We haven’t seen any rut activity in a couple of weeks and anything that would happen now would have to be called a fluke. We are thinking that most of the older bucks are “laying up” as much as possible allowing their bodies to repair after the rut.

     We have had scores of season summaries lately all pretty much describing an earlier that usual rut (late October) followed by spotty breeding activity for the next 30 days. The reports mentioned fewer breeding related behavior sightings than “normal years” and often referred to a “weird” or “unusual” year with rut behavior just “bumping along” without the dramatic, synchronized “explosion” of demonstrable rut activity so often described by the outdoor writer community (including us). If anything, this year’s pattern resembled what the biologists have been stating all along, -- that most of the does are bred sometime in a 30 day period with a measurable peak somewhere in the middle of the breeding period. One thing for sure, if there was an “explosion” of breeding activity this year; it didn’t break any windows or shake any trees. Anyone like to weigh in?

        Make no mistake, we have seen plenty of “synchronized” breeding years and have described and documented it pretty thoroughly in past years “Deer Reports” but this year didn’t quite follow the formula we had seen most years and frankly had expected to play out again this year.

       The good news is we now have another chapter to write for our new book. The bad news is we will have to go back and ‘soften” some of our language and qualify some of our claims. The really good news is we will now have a fuller model of rut behavior to share with our readers. The book will be finished this spring.

        Our cameras are still out there recording late season deer behavior. They have not been checked in 3 weeks as Neil absolutely hates disturbing the woods when other hunters are in the woods.

          This week marked the second full week after the gun opener and like most mid-seasons could be characterized as quiet, extremely quiet. Deer movement was minimal at best and restricted primarily to late afternoon and by the appearance of many of the plots, much of the night. We sat exclusively on our corn fields and watched as the deer settled in on this high carb food source. Our deer are definitely feeling the effects of the pressure in the neighborhood and probably will not begin to normalize until late this week or next (this depends primarily on neighborhood pressure).

          This week we averaged slightly over 8 deer sightings per hr. So what’s quiet about that you say? Well most of the sightings were in the last few minutes of daylight as the deer streamed into the corn fields. About 25% of the bucks sighted were 2.5 yr. olds but nothing on the mature deer side of things. Most were 1.5’s who show up in certain fields on a regular basis. It is clear the deer are staying on their bellies until they can move under the cover of darkness, especially the older mature deer.

          Breeding behavior was almost non-existent. We witnessed only one half-hearted chase all week and that was when a 2.5 year old came into a corn field at dark and took a run at a group of does. Our guess is he spent most of the days on his belly and when he finally got up and got a nose full of does he couldn’t help himself and took a run just to let them know he still could.

         The second half of our season is playing out just as it has in prior years (at least since we have had winter feed). The deer are stressed from hunting pressure and laying up as long as their bellies will permit. The neighbors are working the woods hard, looking for the last deer standing and more and more deer are making their way into the interior of our property. Now is when all the work of creating cover and food sources really benefits us as hunters and the deer we hunt. Those of you experiencing second half doldrums seriously need to start thinking food and cover.

          Our allies now are bad weather (snow covers woods food, while stormy cold makes deer more inclined to feed during the day). Competing hunters are also allies (indirectly) as their activity keeps moving deer into our property. As soon as the neighborhood really calms down and the hunting pressure goes away, the deer will relax a bit and get on their feet more during daylight hours.

          Going forward, our hunting strategy will be to hunt super, super stealthy to the point of not even hunting dead still evenings so as to remain undetected. We know the stealth hunting thing must be getting old to you but once a mature deer knows he is being hunted in a given area, he is almost impossible to kill. We will stake out our corn plots and hope the weather drives them to the food during daylight hours.

          This is not exactly the most romantic method of hunting but over the years our best deer have been taken during an active rut period or during the second half of the season when deer were seeking out late season foods. But, late season feeding should not be confused with early season feeding.

         In decent habitat with the usual array of food sources found on many managed properties (food plots, good browse, ag. crops etc.) it will take a deer about 1.5 hours to fill its rumen.  As the cold weather mounts and less and less lush food sources are available deer start to consume more woody browse than lush greens. This increases the time needed to digest the food in the rumen.

       For example, our early hunting season deer were spending a fair amount of time in easy to digest clover plots.  Clover combined with succulent pre frost forbs found in the woods and brushy areas have little fiber and move relatively quickly through a deer.  Once the rumen is full early season deer will bed and work on emptying the rumen. This takes roughly 4-5 hours.  At some point the rumen empties sufficiently to initiate renewed feeding.  This quick rate of digestion results in a good three solid feeding sessions during daylight hours.  It's not uncommon for us to see the "rumen movement pattern" on our cameras as deer show up on their feet and in front of our cameras every four to five hours daily. 

      The situation changes as the season progresses.  It still takes about 1.5 hours for a deer to fill up but things change on the digestion side of things. Cold weather eliminates most of the lush, easy to digest, food in the deer woods. Late season deer are feeding primarily on woody browse combined with corn and some of the more durable food plot plants.  The higher fiber diet is slowing down the digestion process and increasing the time needed to empty the rumen by as much as two to three hours.  The “hungry trigger" is not firing nearly as often. This dramatically reduces the amount of time deer are on their feet and providing hunters with sightings.

      Our cameras tell us that most deer have been leaving corn fields with the approach of dawn. If we assume that the deer are leaving the plots with a full rumen of corn and browse and browse their way to a bedding area by 8. If we start the empty rumen clock around 8 and add 7.5 hours (approximate time to empty the late season rumen) the deer are not back in the “I feel hungry” mode until about 3:30. Add at least 30-45 minutes or so for the deer to make their way to the feeding areas (remember they are very wary during daylight hours) and you are at pretty close to dark when they hit their feeding areas.  If deer felt no hunting pressure their stomachs alone are bringing deer to the plots late.  Throw in a little mid-season hunting pressure paranoia and it's easy to see why it’s tough to see good deer during daylight hours.  Their bodies are working against us and so are their natural defenses.

      However, when the weather turns cold, single digit nighttime cold, with some good calorie burning wind it's a different story around the plot.  Two or three days of nasty cold weather will shorten the "rumen movement pattern" by an hour or so and bring our better deer into the plot during daylight hours.  The nasty weather will also encourage deer to conserve heat and burning calories by exposing themselves to the elements during the mild conditions of mid-afternoon as opposed to after sunset. All this assumes hunting pressure has been minimized.
  
       This scenario played itself out last week with Neil and one of his clients. Neil and his client pulled the film from the cameras and were pleased to see that a nice10 was feeding past one of the shooting houses at 7:15 on the same morning they pulled the film. The buck was feeding heavily in a brassica field and from the looks of things was taking a day or two off from chasing does to repair his body with some easy groceries. Based on the types of browse in the area and the quick to digest brassicas, Neil estimated 6 hours maybe less to an empty rumen.  This buck was not cruising looking for does so Neil thought there was a high probability that the buck would show back up that afternoon for another easy meal. This case had a low probability that the buck would wonder a 1,000 yards or more to the next plot. The plot the buck was photographed in is surrounded by thick evergreen swamp and great bedding cover so a short commute time to the plot was probable.  Neil estimated a possible return to the plot in 6.5-7 hours, or an estimated ETA of 2 pm (hunting pressure is light on this and surrounding properties). Neil’s client hit the stand early in the afternoon and before he could settle in, the buck showed up for another easy meal. He was on the ground 45 seconds later.

       The moral of the story, keep an eye on feeding patterns, understand digestion and adjust accordingly. 

          This is the time of year when gangs of hunters take to the woods to drive deer. It is highly effective as it gets the deer up and moving and really stirs things up. We have no interest in this kind of hunting as it results in so many non-target deer being taken. We look our deer over very carefully before shooting and have no interest in shooting at running deer or uncertain targets.

       It is also the time of year (snow cover) when deer trackers take to the woods and dog a mature buck’s track in the snow all day until they kill him or, for one reason or another, are forced to give up. Good trackers are amazing hunters, but the places you can follow deer until you catch up with him and kill him are few and far between. You need super big ground for this kind of hunting.

       Most of us who own property, hunt relatively small tracts of land have no business following deer tracks in the snow. It usually results in a deer drive that benefits no one other than your neighbor. Neil calls it “pushing snow” not the proverbial “tracking snow”.

       The best strategy for small property owners with food sources is to give things a rest and hunt only when conditions will permit you to hunt undetected. Hard hunted deer will generally return to normal (or almost normal) a week or so following the removal of pressure. Hunt food high-carb (acorns and corn and maybe brassicas) sources and if things get really brutal weather wise don’t be afraid to hunt during the warmer parts of the day to take advantage of changing feeding patterns. Severe weather generally will get them up earlier and bring them out earlier.

        Once again we didn’t pull film at Kindred Spirits last week. We just couldn’t risk disrupting the deer as we are trying to get them settled down. Neil is waiting for a stormy windy day when his checking cameras will disrupt as little as possible. He will try again this week.

       We are starting to see some pretty good doe numbers as the deer are starting to be concentrated on food sources. Looks like we will need to take a half dozen or so before the season ends, hopefully, we can take another nice buck before we go after the does. Radar does not discriminate which he tracks so he will love it one way or the other.

       Thanks for your rut observations last week. The consensus seems to be some pretty consistent rut action late October-early November followed by on and off rut behavior right through the end of November. We will be writing on this shortly.

    This week, like all first full weeks after the opener, could pretty much be dubbed a “recovery week”. That is, we back out of the woods as much as possible, hunt only the absolute fringes (usually in the evening only) and let the deer find the peace and quiet and food we have for them at Kindred Spirits.

    Neil hunted only one shift (early last week) and killed a respectable 3.5 yr. old and Craig hunted only a couple more. Neil’s buck was mistaken for the bow buck he missed earlier in bow season (due to a similar shaped rack) and while not as large physically as the buck he hunted all bow season it still was nice for 3.5 and tipped the scales in the high 190’s.

     Our sightings from stand count jumped from 1-2 deer per hr. (all season) to 5.6 deer sighted per hr. Almost 50% of the sightings have been bucks. This increase is significant and largely a result of the deer starting to use our food plots more (principally corn) and our staking out locations where we can watch more ground and more deer as they move into feeding areas. This number will continue to grow as the season progresses and more and more deer seek out our food sources and sanctuary areas. It will really grow if and when the snows come and temps dip.

      We are seeing yearling bucks “stake out” food plots hoping for an interested doe but most of the does using the plots appear to be totally uninterested in these young bucks. The does arrive in family units and are just interested in a “free lunch” on the food plot. A few older bucks are also using the plots in daylight hours and most are quite tolerant of each other. We need some real severe weather (snow cover plus nights in the teens) to force the bucks into using the plots during daylight hours.

     We are still seeing some scattered breeding interest by bucks but most seem to be “over it”. We have seen a few half hearted chases often occurring after a buck and doe have fed together for upwards of a half hour or more. Breeding is definitely in the back of their mind but not with the intensity of earlier in the month.

      Actually, for the past month or so we have been seeing the full range of deer behavior from breeding to no interest at all; it has definitely not been a fully synchronized behavior year where the majority of deer are doing the same thing at the same time. It has been a real crap shoot not knowing what you would find behavior wise from one sit to another.

     Craig just spoke with QDMA CEO Brian Murphy who is seeing a similar year himself. In fact he reports racking up more “zero sightings” than he has in years. Craig definitely broke his “zero sighting” record this past bow season. How about you guys out there? Was everything in sync or just bumping along from week-to-week. Let us know so we can figure it all out.

     Our hunting strategy is set for the rest of the year (hunt food and hunt low-impact). We can access a number of strategically located box blinds overlooking food sources and hunt to our heart’s content with little chance of serious disturbance. We will alternate location in hopes of finding the buck we are after and always keep disruptions to a minimum.

       We did not check cameras last week as we know how we are going to hunt and we don’t want any pressure put on the property. A surprise encounter of a nice buck during the first few weeks of gun season can well mean a buck on the run through 2 or 3 sets of boundary posters. This usually results in a dead deer which is the last thing we want. We will probably check cameras later this week when we are relatively sure that the neighbors are not in the woods.

      We have heard quite a few reports of good bucks being killed up and down the valley in which we hunt. This is good news to us as it means that more and more neighbors are letting the youngsters live. The buck pictured here was taken by a neighbor who works closely with us. He has been passing young deer for years but not all of the neighbors do. Little by little they seem to be coming around. The pebble in the pond may just be sending out “let em grow” waves 20 years after the first one was dropped in the water.

      As many of you know, we are happy to see our neighbors killing older bucks (even when it is one of “ours”) as that only brings them closer to becoming better deer managers. It makes no sense to get upset when they kill legitimate shooters; get upset when they shoot the youngsters. As for shooting “your buck” just cause you fed him and photographed him all season, doesn’t mean you own him, plus, it is easier on the ulcers if you approach this individual property deer management thing with a little perspective.

      We are still trying to get a handle on our doe population for 2010. By now we know how many does we want to take off of the property but this year is still a puzzle. Normally we would just “have at em” and quit shooting when we were out of tags but with the proliferation of predators (especially bears) around our property we don’t want to do anything hasty. More than one deer manager has gotten burned by not taking natural predation into account when setting harvest goals. We can take quite a few does in a relatively short period of time so we have a week or two to make up our minds but right now we are still uncertain as to how many tags to fill.

      Early in the season we got a press release on a new service that allows you to track all kinds of weather variables. One of our favorites is a scent cone feature which you can place on an aerial photo of your hunting property and for that matter hunting location. It is a handy way of keeping track of wind direction and a constant reminder that wind matters. Unfortunately it will not accommodate terrain changes like rows of conifers, mountains and natural thermal troughs caused by topography but as far as checking out what the weather will be doing for the evening hunt www.scoutlookweather.com is a pretty cool resource. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

      On a final note, QDMA Founder Joe Hamilton is up for Budweiser’s Conservationist of the Year Award. If you are enjoying better deer and better deer hunting and managing property, you can thank Joe by giving him your vote. Go to: http://budweiserconservationist.young-america.com/Register.aspx and vote for him now.

     This week brought more solid signs of the approaching rut and leads us to anticipate a very good upcoming week. Not necessarily a call in sick week but a good week to be in the woods none the less.

      This week we observed 1.4 deer per hr. from tree stands. Our older (2.5+) buck sightings were down to less than 10% but they were up on cameras. As the week went on we shifted most of out sits to “travel intercept” stands, from food source stands. These stands were created by manipulating habitat to create funnels or make use of natural topography and air currents to pinpoint buck travel routes and natural crossings when they are on the march. They always produce fewer deer sightings than food plots and fields but they (along with core area stands) are the best place to intercept a big old buck on the march. 45% of our deer sightings from stands this week were bucks; young bucks on the march. They may produce only a few sightings per day but they are the best place to kill that buck you are waiting for. We didn’t spot much in the way of big bucks but you gotta play the percentages. The big guys just seemed to zig when we zagged (almost). But more on that later.

      Our cameras began to catch older age bucks during daylight hours this week. This is one of 4 or 5 signs that we have been looking for. We photographed zero unique bucks this week, not exactly the influx of new bucks that we look for to call “rut on” but when a unique buck spike happens it happens in a hurry. Last week we “guestimated" 4-5 unique bucks from a cursory look at the film. (A closer analysis this week revealed 7 uniques which brought our seasonal total to 51).  Perhaps that was the spike we had been looking for, only time will tell. The big news with cameras this past week is where the bucks (including older age bucks) are being photographed. The bucks are now showing up on crossing locations with regularity (more than food plots) and many of them during daylight hours. This is a great sign for the upcoming week’s hunt, and why we shifted to travel intercept stands later in the week. By the way, notice the dark hock stains on the buck below.

      We will be hunting travel routes most of the week but deer still have to eat. Most of our turnips are being left alone with the exception of one field which is the only food source in the area. Kale, rape, and clover are getting a pretty good workout. Corn is being used but not to the degree it will in about a month. Our acorns are steadily being cleaned up but not on an exclusive basis. They are using other foods as well. Our does have not been runoff of the food plots as of yet.

      On the behavior side, we are hearing more grunting and more “crashing” than in past weeks. We haven’t seen any full fledged tongue out sides, heaving chases yet but we feel like they are not too far off. We have not observed “lost fawns” looking for momma or large groups of does and fawns “coveyed up” going out of their way and altering behavior to avoid bucks.

     And speaking of avoiding bucks, Neil has a story to share. He went after his old pal in earnest this week. He saw him in broad daylight in a field full of does next to the cabin on Friday. (see photo) He was clearly not the secretive “night rider” he has been all fall. Neil felt he could catch him crossing near his core area on Saturday and hit the stand at 0-dark-30. He picked up the buck not long after daylight “shadowing” does on an oak flat near a 6 acre green field. Attendees of last summer’s “Whitetail Weekend” will remember the field as the field was under construction that weekend. They will also remember a certain gap on the downwind side of the field Neil left open as an ambush site. He sat there, perched 20 ft. up in a leaf laden oak, just where he said he would hunt last summer when dodging dozers and explaining the set-up to the group.  

 

     He spotted the buck 4 or 5 times as he moved among the various does using the area. He was working his way into the field to Neil’s left, when a crash to Neil’s right got buck’s attention. The buck came on the trot hit Neil’s tracks at 30 yards and stopped dead. A minute and a half at full draw and he finally turned broadside. At the release the buck turned inside out and Neil had a handful of back hair from a very mature buck for his trouble. The broadhead crease was clearly visible as the old boy trotted off. Game over; the ultimate catch and release.

    Neil was pretty philosophical about the miss preferring to celebrate the strategy victory over the missed shot. This has been a really tough buck to hunt. Neil worked the edge of his territory earlier in the season then moved in for the kill when the old boy got a little stupid. The habitat trap built last summer worked like a charm and everything went right except holding low on an alert deer who would more than likely be ducking the shot. Anyone who knows Neil knows he would rather outsmart an old deer and kill him than just kill him at random. The fact that this near miss occurred exactly as Neil had planned (including the habitat modifications) made this a very special morning. Neil sent Craig his version of the event which follows this report. Give it a look.

     Back to the rut stuff. Notice we used the term “shadowing” when describing that old buck’s behavior. We see this often with mature bucks. They know the drill and will check out the does from a distance. Young bucks will crowd the does and eventually “flush” them but the old boys take their time and make their move when the time is right. When they do make their move, they move aggressively and that doe knows what she is in for but the older bucks don’t waste too much energy chasing unreceptive does. Once again, we have not seen any hard chasing of does yet but are sure we will hear from many who have.

     Craig’s highlight of the week came with a nice “Radar Recovery”. Neil made a nice shot on a doe that he watched wander off with a hole in her side until she disappeared into a brushy clearcut. She never fell and if you didn’t know better you would think she was just another doe moving through the area. This would be a perfect trail for Radar in the morning.

     Craig dropped the pup on the impact site and he was on the trail in a minute. 40 yards through the oak flat and a hard left into the goldenrod and briar clearcut; out the other side and back into the woods. She lay dead 150 yards from the point of impact shot through the liver and high on the opposite lung.

        Radar worried the carcass for a good long time with his, now to     be   expected growling routine, before being picked up by Craig for the  trip back to the electric cart. He screamed bloody murder when  Neil started dragging “his” doe and had to be let down to triumphantly follow the doe back to the electric cart and skinning shed. This was a great experience for the pup. A nice distance of moderate difficulty and a very happy ending. Would we have found this deer? Probably but not without a whole bunch of disturbance and probably a bunch of grid searching as the blood was strangely very sparse. With Radar’s help, we were on it in about 5 minutes and out of the woods without a bunch of disturbance.

      In case you were wondering, there is a volunteer wounded deer tracking group in NY (which is a leader in the country) called Deer Search, Inc., they can be reached at 585-935-5220, should you need help coming up with a wounded deer. They volunteer for the love of working their dogs and do not charge but most who use them offer a donation to defray costs.

      This week is time to make your move into your prime spots. The deer should be on their feet and moving around. Full fledged breeding and chasing parties could be occurring on a given property at any time going forward. We will be hunting crossings and travel areas this week and will pull off of food plot watching. We will also spend as much time in the woods as possible. We are not going to tell you to use up all your vacation just yet but it might be a good week to get some fresh air (20 ft. up) to ward off any germs that may be trying to get the best of you.

    Things could break loose at any time. We will be posting daily on Facebook so keep an eye on those and we will get out a “Special Dougherty Deer Report” (just like “breaking news” on TV) if things break wide open this week. Stay tuned and be safe.

Below is Neil’s version of his encounter with his old friend.

I had a chance at an old buck I have been hunting yesterday morning.  I have been trying to shoot him for three years now.  I think the old boy is five or six with a nice standard mature 8 rack.  I have been working him all fall up on top near the new field I had Shad of Evergreen Logging build for me.  I was able to sculpt the new field to bring in play a few slight ridges and converging air currents.  It's an awesome place to hunt.  It took a lot of work but I finally have a good rut spot to hunt with steady winds.  Better yet, the old boy doesn't know my hunting strategy around the new field. He is trying to figure out how to walk around the field while staying safe at the same time I am hunting him.  This year will be my best chance to kill him.  He finally showed up during daylight hours yesterday morning.  Watched him walk a few does around, chaise bucks, etc. for a couple of hours. He wasn't interested in any calls I made, too smart to run in half cocked just because I snort-wheezed at him.  He took a shortcut across the corner of the field mid morning just like he was supposed to and gave me a 30 yard shot.  Unfortunately, he was standing on my morning walk in trail and had smelled me.  My mistake, the old boy still has good reflexes.  He was able to duck down under the arrow, well for the most part.  He has a nasty cut on the top of his back. I know better and should have aimed low at that range especially after he smelled my boot tracks.  He snuck away after the shot and showed back up around 11 cautiously following a doe past at 60 yards.  I let a little air out of his sails, he wasn't nearly as bold as before. It was a wonderful morning, an incredible privilege to have the encounter with him.  I'm declaring it a win-win.  I win because I outsmarted him and got the shot, the habitat changes combined with the terrain pulled him into a vulnerable location.  That's the part that winds my clock.  He wins because he remained alert enough with does on the brain to stop cold out of a trot when encountering a man track not to mention was quick enough to get under my arrow.  He's going to be a handful for the rest of the season. I think I burned my best location to kill him.  The chess match will continue. 

Neil Dougherty

            This year’s snowy winter has prompted many of you to ask about supplemental feeding. Seems like many of you in the more southern climes (most all of you are south of us) are seeing more snow than in years while many of us to the north are in pretty good shape.  
 
Most of the deer profession frowns on supplemental feeding unless it is in the form of “natural” foods like corn which has been left standing all winter or woody browse which has made it’s way to the ground do some type of woods work like TSI or a timber harvest.
 
So, if standing corn is OK what’s wrong with “standing corn piles”?  Well, for starters many states have banned the practice of transporting food into the woods for deer or other wildlife.  This is an attempt by state agencies to limit the amount of close contact among deer.  Most agencies believe that nose to nose contact increases the transmittal chance of many deer diseases including CWD.    

Secondly, deer which have been feeding on native browse species struggle to digest corn when it suddenly is made available to them. Deer depend on specific stomach bacteria to digest food stuffs and the bacteria come and go based upon what deer eat. Deer who have been on a steady diet of native winter vegetation struggle to digest corn, hay or similar cattle feeds when it is suddenly made available. Their stomach is full of digestion bugs (for woody browse, leaves etc) but not the kind that will digest corn or for that matter alfalfa hay. The corn or hay lays in the stomach while the deer starve to death with a full belly of food.  In past years when feeding was legal in NY Neil used to find dead deer with a stomach full of hay; victims of a well intentioned landowner trying to “save” deer when the snow piled up in the Adirondack Mountains.

Let’s take a closer look at how rescue feeding typically plays out.  Let’s say you own a property in southern PA where the weather has been rough this winter. The deer are being hammered by wave after wave of deep snows.  The deer are losing body weight too quickly and you know that antlers sizes will be off next year due to the tough winter.  You drive down to the local feed store and pick up 500 lbs. of corn just to get them through the next month or so.  You dump the feed out in a couple of piles near the center of your property, set up a couple of deer cameras over the piles, and drive away. A nice yearling eight point buck discovers the corn pile and fills his belly with high quality food for the first time in weeks.  Other deer find the corn and do the same, your deer cameras document that all the corn was cleaned up within a week.  Two weeks after you put the original corn piles another snow hits so you run back to the feed store and buy another 500 lbs. of corn.  After all, they have been without corn for a week now.

After eating the corn the nice 8 pointer traveled off and lay down to conserve energy and digest the corn.  Before long he isn’t feeling too well.  The bulk of corn he ate actually dropped the pH of his stomach and made it acidic.  Typically, his stomach pH is a nice neutral 7.0.  Tums to the rescue?  Not quite, when his stomach became acidic most of the bugs (bacteria) in his stomach died.  Now he is in real trouble, the nice yearling buck has a stomach full of corn and very little possibility of digesting the food.  But all is not lost, after awhile more and more bugs that digest corn multiply in his stomach and in a few days he starts to be able to digest the corn.  

A week passes and he is back on his feet and seeking food. Upon returning to the corn pile he finds it’s totally cleaned up.  Bummer, but he still has the hemlock trees and a nice hinge cutting area he can feed in.  After feeding off and on all day his belly again is upset.  You see, the bugs that digest corn dominate his stomach, most of the bugs that digest hemlock and maple buds are gone.  Again he lies down with a full belly and waits for things to change.  After a while the bugs that digest woody browse multiply to the point where he can digest the hemlock and maple he had eaten and he is again on his feet trying to find food.  He is tired and weak because very little nutrition was absorbed over the past weeks.  His body weight has dramatically dropped, he needs food and fast.  In the distance he hears the ATV and soon smells the scent of fresh corn.  Hallelujah!!  The yearling buck fills his belly with corn and pretty soon the same old feeling sets in.  Yep, the pH has dropped again in his stomach, his bacteria are dead and the cycle repeats again.

As the snows melt in the spring you go out to survey your property.  After a long day of shed hunting you return back to camp and toss two skulls on the wood pile.  Too bad about the nice little yearling eight pointer, you had passed him three times last hunting season.  You found the eight pointer and another yearling buck dead within a hundred yards of one another.  The camera had showed the little guy feeding on the corn for a month or so.  You call your hunting buddy to report finding eight dead deer on the property and you agree it was a tough winter and next year you need to put out bigger piles of corn. End of story.

Rapid changes in a whitetails diet is a very dangerous proposition especially during the winter months.  If you are running a feeding program make sure that you slowly introduce new foods into their diet.  Once they are feeding on a particular type of feed make sure you don’t run out of food for days or weeks at a time.  Whitetails just can’t handle the rapid change in food sources.  If the young buck in the above story had access to a limited supply of corn all season he would have maintained bugs to digest corn and tree buds at the same time.  The month he gorged off and on “rescue corn” screwed up his digestive system to the point that he had little chance of survival.   Without being “rescued” he would more than likely have been a little skinny at winters end but not dead.  

You can feed corn and other grains throughout the winter if you so choose, provided you introduce a small bit at a time or better yet have it out all fall and winter. You just can’t expect deer to be able to handle drastic changes in diet. But supplemental feeding is expensive.  Corn is over $5 per bag in most places and one deer can go through a bag in a short period of time.  Neil has a few clients who are feeding deer to the tune of $1,000-2,000 dollars per month.  We would rather see landowners plant a corn field and leave it standing all winter. One acre of corn will generate around 5,000 lbs.of corn for deer and other wildlife to eat.  It’s quite a bit cheaper to plant than to buy in a bag.      

Supplemental feeding is also tough on habitat. It tends to concentrate deer and concentrated deer destroy habitat. Studies show that a great way to destroy your native vegetation is to start supplemental feeding deer.  And by the way, that native vegetation is next years fawning cover, and next deer season’s habitat. If you want to really screw up your neighbors ask them if you can supplemental feed on their property. They will have all the deer all winter but you will have all the cover next fall. If you don’t have good habitat your hunting will suffer.  Habitat destruction caused by over concentrating deer is the principal reason we do not recommend feeding deer.

Cutting trees and woody browse is another matter. Cutting generally creates habitat due to increased sunlight on ground. The tender tops of cut trees makes for welcome food for winter whitetails. They are more than likely already eating woody browse so their systems can handle it when it is introduced through cutting. Deer will generally immediately start feeding on tops as soon as they hit the ground.
 
Bottom line, if you want to do something for your deer all year round, get out your chainsaw and cut down some food and shelter. The deer will use it all winter long and it will stimulate new growth come spring. You can leave some standing crops from fall but don’t introduce new foods to starving deer that cannot digest them and will surely die a slow and malingering death.
 
It is also important to differentiate between supplemental feeding and “rescue feeding”. Rescue feeding can be summed up in one word “forgetaboutit”! The example cited above lays out the danger of rescue feeding and the reason most wildlife professionals are against any form of supplemental feeding. Supplemental has as many negatives as positives so if you feel you must supplemental feed, proceed with great caution and of course follow the law.
 
A good fall food plot program coupled with summer cropping and a strong habitat development program (thermal cover, browse cuts, mast trees etc.) will allow your deer to dodge Mother Nature’s winter bullets and give you peace of mind that you have taken care of your deer. As we have said time and time again, “If you want to take good care of your deer, take good care of your land”.

            OK, the season’s over, you made up for hunting season by going shopping over the holidays and you are ready to get out there and do something, right?  Good!

Most of you know we are not big fans of pre season scouting. It disrupts the woods and gets the deer all on alert just when you want things to be nice and quiet. But, we are big fans of post season scouting and now’s the time to get out there as the deer are still on their hunting season patterns and most of us have some tracking snow to work with.  Stuff you learn now will help with next year’s mid to late season hunts.

Get into your hunting areas and figure out how “old big boy” out smarted you.  Closely evaluate trails around food plots or your stand locations.  Concentrate on trails 75-150 yards from your stands or food plot locations.   How did they approach your set up? Where did they scent you from? Have they figured you out? How can you change the set up to beat them next year?  Remember, deer are scent driven.  They have the ability to scent check a food plot or stand locations from a few hundred yards away.  If you put too much pressure on one of your food plots you more than likely will notice a trail that swings deer downwind of the plot prior to them entering.  Envision a jet airplane swinging out and around to get a head wind (or at last side wind) prior to landing.  In the late season you are often looking for ways to ambush deer on their final approach to a food source rather than on the food itself.  Cut a tree here, block a trail there. It’s time to work out a strategy for next season.  

One more thing, if you’re trying to find “old big boy” don’t be fooled by trails with lots of activity.  We have noticed over the years that some of our best deer had their own way of doing things.  Look for the road less traveled, older deer will often take their time in the woods zigzagging back and forth using cover and their nose to avoid danger.  Neil gets excited by faint trails in the thick stuff; he feels he has a better chance of connecting with a good deer on a trail that has a few deer traveling on it per day rather than a “cow path” to the feedlot.     

Don’t rely on your memory, make maps of the trails the deer are using.  Overlay them on your topos or aerials. It’s a safe bet that deer will be traveling the same way next year once the pressure mounts or the snow piles up.    

This is also a good time to check out your sanctuary areas if you are wondering about the habitat in them. We stay out of sanctuaries but every 5-10 years we take a look to see if they are still providing food, security and cover. This is a good time to check ‘em out if you haven’t in a few years. Also, it is the only time you should be doing sanctuary improvement work.
 
Go to your food sources and “walk ‘em back”. Take the track backwards to see what they are up to. Walking ‘em back is a great way to learn about how deer are interacting with their environment.  How do they approach a given area in a given wind?  Do they change approaches with the wind?  How about bedding areas?  Be sure to map where deer are bedding on your property.  If you look closely you might be able to determine if many different deer are using an area for bedding or just an isolated doe with her fawns.  Good to know when bucks are looking for does next fall.  

How far are your deer moving to visit a food source? If it is more than a couple of hundred yards you may need to do some work to shorten the distance between bedding and feeding areas. You want to keep your deer from having to move too far to feed and bed.   If your deer are traveling off your property to bed than you had better find out what type of bedding cover they are seeking and replicate that cover on your own property.   

Tracks in the snow can tell you all kinds of stuff about the deer you are hunting.  This is the time of year when Neil’s clients get him in to fine tune their properties for hunting. It is one thing to grow big deer; it is another to kill them.  If you are frustrated with your hunting and thinking about getting Neil in for a hunting tune up this is a great time of year to do it. All the critical signs are there for the reading and it won’t wreck the deer hunting for next fall.  

Best regards,
NorthCountry Whitetails

The Calm before the Storm

            I have spent the last week pouring over thousands of pictures and can say that things are starting to get interesting in the deer woods.  We are fast approaching prime time when bucks will start to aggressively cruise during daylight hours.  For those of you monitoring the live WOW cameras www.wonation.org you might be surprised, buck photos are way down over the last week.  You should correctly wonder, if the buck photos are down how can we be close to all hell breaking loose?

The answer; we are stuck in the yearly calm period.  Let’s back up and evaluate what we have seen on cameras so far this season.  The WOW cameras have done a great job this year documenting deer movement on our 200 acre test site.  We initially started with about ten unique bucks using the farm.  A few bucks left and a few new bucks showed up as testosterone levels elevated to their peak level around October 15.  Buck photos were at their peak level for the season around the same period.  The WOW cameras were showing dozens of photos daily of bucks feeding, sparing and just hanging around the food plots.  Many of the photos were taken during daylight hours.  It was a good time to be in the woods.  Not a lot of big buck activity but good deer movement.  But things changed.

Around the 21st of October the photo number started to drop.  Bucks were hard to find on camera, especially during daylight hours.  So what happened did the neighbors kill all the deer already?  Did hunting pressure on the WOW site spook the deer to neighboring properties?  How about a food shift, did the deer switch to a new food source not visible on camera?  

I am sure the neighbors killed a few deer already but the buck population remains fairly intact.  The WOW property has only been hunted one evening so far this archery season so the low photo number is not related to hunting pressure.  What about food shift, I visited the property two evenings ago to see if the deer have switched to the standing corn.  Nope, I only saw one gray fox, couple of coons and one very brave skunk.  Past experience has taught me the answer is bucks are lying down.  Yup, it’s that simple, they are on their bellies right now and not very active.  The lay down period is a critical marker that helps determine when bucks will again become active.
Ok, so what’s happening with the bucks on the WOW site?  Deer physiology can explain.  If you look back to an earlier blog I described how the testosterone level on bucks will double from September until around October 15th.  During this time period bucks often experience 30% body weight gain.  The buck photo level was at its peak as bucks finished packing on the pounds in the food plots.  They were fattening themselves up in preparation for breeding when they will bleed off the 30% body weight gain.  So where are the bucks now, they are fat and happy they don’t need more body weight so the desire to feed is not as high.  Bucks have reached peak body condition and are in a holding pattern until does trigger the next segment of the fall rut.

Ok, we are all hunters, what do we do when the bucks are lying down after they reach peak body condition.  First and foremost don’t push them.  Don’t chase them into bedding areas just because you aren’t seeing them around the food plots or transition areas.  If you push them hard now you can make them nocturnal and very difficult to see in another week when they start moving on their own.  If you are hunting mature bucks take some time and do a few more chores around the house, it’s a good time to earn brownie points and keep the pressure off the big guys.   I raked the leaves yesterday and will forgo tonight’s evening hunt to take my father in-law to diner.  Based on the ongoing camera survey I think we are getting very close but we have a few more days to go.  

So here is how I see the next ten days playing out in the deer woods.  A few lucky hunters will start to see good buck movement starting this weekend.  Yearling bucks will be on their feet first followed by two year old bucks flexing their muscle.  Dominant bucks will start to walk younger inferior bucks off of food plots and away from doe groups.  When a more dominant buck uses his body size to intimidate another buck and continues to pursue the lesser buck it is called “buck walking”.    I am not talking about the little shoving matches we have been witnessing for the last month.  Dominant buck walking can last five to ten minuets when bucks can be totally obsessed with one another.  Expect to see quite a bit of body posturing within the next five days, this time the body posturing will be the real deal.
Bucks will start to more frequently use grunts while with does and snort-wheeze when confronted by other bucks.

Bucks will not be focused on feeding just checking does.  I would expect to see better daylight photos of older bucks starting this weekend.  I will start hunting for the first time morning and evening starting this weekend.  Buck pressure on does will increase until the middle of next week.  Around November 4th doe family groups will start to disperse.  Does will be sick of bucks midway through next week, they will do everything possible to avoid bucks including avoiding traditional social areas like food plots.  The dispersal of does will make bucks cover more ground to find does.  Good time to hunt ridges or any known funnels.  

Around the 6th of November good bucks will be on their feet hanging with does.  If you observe this behavior it might look like the buck is tending the doe but they are just hanging close.  He may hang with a doe for an hour or half a day before he switches to another doe.  I usually don’t see long chases during this period of deer behavior.  Bucks just seem to want to be close to the girls at this time.  This will last a day or two and then…….
Well, the next phase is the frantic chasing period when bucks are seeking does for breeding.  Based on the WOW cameras and other camera research I estimate around November 8th bucks will be on their feet and running hard!  Daylight photos of bucks streaking through plots with their mouths gaping wide should show up between November 8th and 11th.  The “magic time” usually only lasts a couple of days and then the breeding starts.  Bucks will run regardless of weather, rain or shine they will move.  Several years ago the “magic time” started while we had 60mph gusts of wind.  It was so windy I couldn’t make a twenty yard shot with a bow but still had a ball watching the bucks run does.  One factor that can mute the “magic time” is temperature.  Buck movement will be significantly reduced when the temperature is above 45.  They will still run but they will have to frequently rest to cool.      
Of course there will be some properties that kick in a little early and a few that are later but if you have been saving your vacation time for hunting season November 4th – 11th should be dynamite.  I will be in the treestand sun up till sun down if possible during those days.    
 
I’ll be blogging more frequently over the next couple of weeks to let you know what we are seeing from the treestand and on camera.  I’ll be discussing hunting strategies as the next couple of weeks play out.  Let us know what you are seeing?  Blog when you see your first three year old bucks during daylight hours on camera or from the treestand.  Let us know if you are seeing good bucks chasing does as you drive to and from work.  Let’s all communicate together on www.wonation.org.

        We are kicking off a pilot study that uses scouting camera photos of bucks to track buck movement.  Over the past couple of years we have noticed what appear to be a relationship between buck activity (as evidenced by photos) and the progression of the breeding season.  This year we are inviting you to participate in an exploratory pilot study that will enable us to gather and analyze more data.  If you have deer cameras we need your help.

Study 1 (Unique Bucks) Individual bucks will be documented on a weekly basis by antler characteristics or other distinct body markings that allow for positive identification.  A photo should be printed to create a “mug shot” showing at least one view of an individual buck.  Hint, save the pic as a JPEG and use Photoshop to crop the image prior to printing.  Don’t be afraid to print more than one angle of a particular buck.  Multiple photos of an individual buck make the process of “uniqueing” easier.  Give each buck a name or number to aid in keeping track of the individual.   
           
For the purpose of this study keep track of all new bucks showing up on your cameras on a weekly basis.   Fill out the report worksheet and email back weekly to Neil@northcountrywhitetails.com. 

Study 2 (Buck Movement) If you have a little more time on your hands and want to keep track of buck movement in more detail, a second more detailed pilot study is also kicking off this fall. The buck movement study will use deer cameras to track individual buck movement.  For this exploratory camera survey “unique” individual bucks and keep track of the individuals during the twelve week survey period.  The goal is to track movement patterns of bucks as they come and go (at least in front of your cameras) during the fall breeding season. 

Use your unique buck photo log as a comparison and document whether or not each buck was photographed during each week of the survey. Survey documents follow below.

We will tally the results of these surveys at season’s end and report back to you.  We will use the results to shape a national scouting camera study we are planning to launch next year. Thank you for your help.  If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email Neil.   

        Well, it’s about time to fire up the old rut tracking machine for another year. Due to popular demand we will once again be writing our weekly deer report to keep you wired in to what’s going on at Kindred Spirits, and what is happening rut wise.

We will also be hosting a blog on the website of a new national magazine called Whitetails Only. The blog will be tracking the rut and will feature 3 live cameras operating at an “undefined” location in southwestern NY. Craig is the new Publisher of the magazine and Neil will be directing a variety of field projects for the organization. We are very excited by the magazine project and would encourage you to get involved by visiting www.wonation.org  and clicking on the Whitetails Only link.

Our weekly deer report will be more “personal” than our Whitetails Only blog. Many of you are close personal friends (and that’s how we like it) and most of you have been to Kindred Spirits. The report we send you each week will have more detail than our national blog. You can check it out at www.northcountrywhitetails.com . In addition to our weekly report we will also be posting some updates and camera photos of Kindred Spirits locations on our website that will not be seen on the Whitetails Only site and will not be in our weekly report.

Now, we need your help. We pay special attention to the “unique” bucks that show up on our cameras. They seem to ramp up as the rut approaches and peak slightly before breeding time. They are great indicators of the rut. We would like you to start tracking your unique bucks as we track ours.

Start counting now and finish on Oct. 4. That is your “unique buck baseline”. Let’s say 20 uniques by Oct. 4. After the 4th count every newcomer (you might add 1 or 2 or more each week) your cameras pick up. Tally only the uniques your cameras pick up each week until Dec. 15th.  Tip, you might want to copy a “mug shot” of each unique as he shows up as well as all the bucks in your initial survey. Some bucks leave early only to show up at a later date. Keeping a mug file will help you keep track of who is coming and going.

We will develop a reporting form for you as the season progresses and asking you to fill it out when the season ends. It will really be cool to keep track of uniques and this will serve as a pilot for a large national study we will be kicking off next year with our new magazine. Imagine, thousands of hunters tracking buck activity as the rut develops, peaks and ends. Thanks for your help. Let us know if you have any questions and let the fun begin!

Best regards,
NorthCountry Whitetails
www.NorthCountryWhitetails.com
315-331-6959

        The last few weeks have found us out and about doing our fall planting and maintenance. Judging by the volume of calls coming in, many of you are doing the same. Here’s some stuff to be thinking about:

The time to fall plant in the north is now! Rule of thumb, you should have your fall seed in the ground at least 45 days before the first frost and the seed you put in should be capable of producing mature plants in 45 days. In our neck of the woods that is about now. Earlier can be better, but you run the risk of late summer drought and heat killing the tender young seedlings. That doesn’t seem to be a big problem this summer. In fact, excessive rain and cool temps stunted our corn so badly that we were forced to turn it under last week.  Hopefully most of you have better drained soils than we do here and your spring plantings are doing fine.

One thing for sure, the rain and cool temps really grew clover and unfortunately grass. We have been mowing our green plots all summer and they keep coming back for more. We have also been applying grass specific herbicides to keep them as grass free as possible. Broadleaf weeds and flowers have been having a good year as well but we don’t get all that concerned about a few broadleaves unless they begin to damage a plot. Many “weeds” are readily consumed by deer and are used by other species for food and cover and not all that horrible. Grass is the real enemy of food plots as deer don’t eat most grasses and some are very invasive.

If your clover plots are a foot or so in height, now would be a good time to take them down to about 8” it would also be a good time to kill the grass if it is threatening your plot. We use POAST or Arrest for grass control.

What to plant for fall? Most folks plant annuals in the fall. They are interested in attracting deer to hunting food plots and providing whitetails with some fall and early winter nutrition.  Corn is of course out, because corn is a 90 day crop. Clover is a little slow but some fast growing annuals are ok. Most folks like to plant brassica in the fall. It grows aggressively in the late summer and does well in the cool temps of early autumn. When early frost turns starches to sugars in the plants the deer gobble them up like candy. Best of all brassica plants like rape, kale, turnip, have great nutrition. Remember brassica are annuals so they are one season wonders. If anything comes back next season, it will be of no value.

If your ground is marginal (new, weedy ground, or acidic) a stand of oats, winter wheat or rye can be a good fall attractant and place holder for a spring planting. Deer use it heavily until it gets to be 8 inches or so in height. Some of it will be back next spring which will result in use but it should be turned into the ground once deer stop using it in spring. “No plow” mixes are good in the fall and often feature a blend of oats, rye, annual clover and other goodies that are easy to plant. Yes, you should use fertilizer and they all do better on soils with as close a ph to 7 as possible.

This afternoon we will be putting a brassica blend supplemented with turnips on the 6 acres (sniff, sniff) of corn we turned under last week. We tried to save the corn twice this summer with extra fertilizer but frequent floods, cool temps and poor draining clay soil was just too much for the plants. We have had great luck with this combo in the past, just hate to loose a couple of thousand dollars worth of seed, fertilizer, fuel and time (sniff sniff again). Hopefully we will get adequate growth out of these plantings to help the deer out over the early winter. Guess the turkeys that use the standing corn heavily will just have to figure it out on their own.

We aren’t the only food plotters sniffing this year. Many of you have been weighing in all summer wondering what to do with all the rain.  Short of us all starting our own church and praying for ideal growing conditions every Sunday, all we can do is hedge your bets and work with the hand you are dealt.  If we were “corn only” guys we would be in a heck of a mess. Our clover did fantastic all summer (as did all our native vegetation) so our deer are in great shape. If it had been hot and droughty our chicory would have carried the ball. What we lack with the corn failure is a fall destination feeding area that will concentrate deer on our property and give them some late season nutrition. Our decision to cut our corn losses and go with more brassica than usual (we always do some fall hunting plots in brassica) is simply an adjustment that will be helped by our recent warm weather. Wish we had the warmth last month but it didn’t happen.

The trick is never to depend on a single planting or a single variety or for that matter a single anything to carry the nutrition ball. You are almost always safe with native vegetation enhancement projects and if you are running 60% annual plots balanced with 40% perennial you will always have something going on for deer.

Our cameras are out and very soon we will have a very exciting announcement to share with you on how we (with your help) will be tracking and hunting the rut and related deer behavior this season. For now, get your plots in shape for fall, start checking your stands for safety and get your cameras in the woods. We’ll be back to you shortly with the big news.

Some of you have been calling on properties. We have sold all of our 2009 properties except one (2 in the last month). The remaining property is an Allegheny Co. 100 acre piece near Neil’s home farm. We were on it last week and it is in great shape. The food plots we put in last year are producing good clover and chicory and recently mowed. Serious mud trails are everywhere and the strategic placement of the plots and set ups is working nicely. Plenty of apples and hard mast is in evidence. This property has not been hunted for the past 2 years and has some very good sign of mature deer. Good antlers routinely come out of this area and the old owner has the pictures to prove it. It is in an excellent neighborhood with vast expanses of state forest nearby (bordered on one side) which receives only light pressure. 

This property has been reduced to $1,450 per acre and is priced to sell. Hunting property sales are really starting to pop again and prices will begin rising.  If you have been looking for a hunting property now is the time to act. Do your buddies a favor and pass this on to them or gobble it up yourself.

We are also actively seeking our nice properties to purchase in the central to south central NY area for fix up and resale. We are only interested in good properties with good hunting neighbors in good deer areas with potential to become great properties with a year or two of work by the NCW  “Deerscaping” crew. Pass the word. 

Best regards,

NorthCountry Whitetails
www.NorthCountryWhitetails.com
315-331-6959

        The long awaited (and seemingly delayed) NY opening weekend finally arrived with Neil and Craig opening their 19th season at Kindred Spirits. The weather was great, gentle breezes from the west-north west and morning ice on the windshield. Picture perfect!

All sits yielded sightings and confirmed what our food plots and
9 scouting cameras had been telling us.  We are covered up with deer including 20 unique bucks photographed so far.

We set our cameras on food plots in order to keep track not only of unique bucks but deer behavior and movement. Keeping track of buck doe ratios on camera and behavior (feeding vs. chasing) helps us better understand rut timing and pin down when we need to be in the woods.

Most of what we saw in the last five days was typical feeding behavior. No serious chasing behavior was observed or recorded on camera.  A couple of yearling bucks made some unwelcome advances that sent the does scurrying but nothing that could even be called close to rut like behavior.

Most of the bucks observed were young ones (we seldom see older bucks till 10 days or so before breeding). The majority of older bucks we observed have been moving comfortably through the woods intent on getting somewhere but not trailing does or even attempting to locate them.

Feeding has been interesting. No feeding is occurring in our hardwoods as our acorn drop has been light. They are not browsing (leaves or woody stems) much either. This weekend we observed intense food plot feeding pretty much like we have been observing all summer.  Interestingly, much of this plot feeding is occurring within yards of acres of standing corn. Yes, they are in and out of the corn but the major draw is still the clover, brassica, chicory and some fall planted oats in some late season plots.  We’ll look for them to use the corn more as the season progresses.

They are also working soft mast sources. Our apples and pear trees are dropping fruit hourly and the deer are doing a good job of keeping them cleaned up. Hawthorn fruit, rose hips and dogwood berries are also being worked heavily.

Next week’s game plan will be to continue to hunt food sources located on the edges of our core hunting areas. We’ll keep the pressure off the core areas until we start seeing reckless behavior from the big guys then move in for the kill.

A couple of arrows were launched but not by Craig or Neil. A guest took a doe (one down, many to go)) and his son took his first deer ever, a fat 1 1/2 year old (remember, youngsters get the green light at Kindred Spirits.

Speaking of green light, Craig had a special treat Sunday night when a buck ( aptly named high and white) he reluctantly passed a few times last fall showed up a whole bunch higher, wider, and longer than last year. He put on quite a show working a scrape, rub, urinating and tearing up an apple tree with some good looking horns.  The green light is definitely on this year.  We let him go and boy did he grow!

        Weekend # 2 was pretty much a washout (if not a blowout) with only one sit recorded (Sunday night) but we had all kinds of time in the woods leading up to the weekend.

The weather all week was almost ideal-- mornings frosty and winds calm.  We saw most of our deer in the evenings which is par for the course at Kindred Spirits.  Food plots were hot with high numbers of deer sighted on the plots. In a weeks time 25 bucks were sighted with well over 100 does and fawns.

We hunted 27 hrs. to run up the tally concentrating for the most part on food plots. Neil has been working on a couple of bears that have been in our standing corn and Craig has been spending most of his time hunting brassica and clover.  We each gave the hardwoods a shot but keep coming back to our core food sources.

Food is definitely the key to these early season hunts. All our plots are loading up with deer nightly. Our only “single sighting sit” occurred away from our food plots on a ridge known for buck movement. It would have been a tough week were it not for the food plots.

Once again, the deer are working the green plots much harder than the corn and very little woods browsing was observed. Pears and apples were also a big draw this week.

 Most of the bucks sighted on the plots were young (1 1/2 yr. old) with a handful of 2 ½ -and one 3 ½ thrown in for good measure and keep the binoculars clean.

We saw some “chasing” (hate that term) behavior on and near the plots which was more like “flushing” behavior. That is, a young buck would take a quick run at a group or single doe and the “flush” her. A brief “chase” might or might not ensue.  This behavior seemed to pick up as the week went on with the doe groups leaving (under pressure) the plots earlier each evening.

Our food plot cameras told a similar story as our observations. As the week went on we photographed more and more bucks on food plots after dark. We also are photographing more walking deer than a week ago when most of the deer were photographed feeding (before and after dark). Seems as though the boys are taking over the does hang out and the does are getting uncomfortable with all the unsolicited attention they are beginning to receive.

We have not seen any “trailing or driving” behavior with sustained chases occurring to the point of panting, open mouthed deer that obviously have been running a good distance.  We have also heard little grunting. It has been mostly spot “flushing”. We expect “trailing and driving” to pick up later this week and next. This often occurs in our woods and on our ridges adjacent to our planted food sources. 

We also expect to see some older aged bucks start showing up in the next week or two. The cameras are showing quite a few new and unique bucks arriving almost on a daily basis.  To date, we have photographed 24 unique bucks on Kindred Spirits. He started “uniqueing” individual bucks in mid-September. Five new bucks showed up last week.

The hunt plan for this week is to stay on the plots (hoping for Mr. Big) to take advantage of more use by bucks but be ready to shift onto known buck travel areas (ridges and edges) when the older animals start cruising and showing up on film. 
We also have to start harvesting does which will be done away from the food plots in the mornings.

We are still in “hunt-scout” mode waiting for the big boys to get moving before we put on the face paint and get serious. We are trying not to put too much hunting pressure on any one area and are staying out of our core hunting areas so as not to alert the big boy’s bucks to our presence.

The trick is to be in the right place when the switch is thrown and things are really hopping. We have yet to hunt our best “killing stands” .You can only sit a stand once or twice before it goes “cold”. Being in the “right place” too early in the season only serves to shift mature bucks elsewhere.

Given what we are seeing we’re looking at about 10 days till it’s time to paint our faces and suit up for “game day”

Note: Neil’s cameras also picked up the “big guy” I sighted last Sunday. The green light has turned to “yellow” but I’ll be taking a good hard look. Hate those cameras!