That big buck you’ve been seeing all summer suddenly vanishes. Has it changed food sources, visited another farm, or been seduced by a neighbor’s corn pile? Chances are, that deer is still in the vicinity, yet his travel pattern has changed, and the trick is to find out how and where without spooking him.
Bachelor Buck Break-Up
Many whitetail bucks across the country will be losing their velvet next week. Subtle changes in sunlight trigger a hormone release that stops blood from flowing to the velvety skin; it dries up and falls off. Those same changes in body chemistry create the beginning of dominance in bucks, and most animals begin to distance themselves from other males in the area. As bachelor groups dissolve, travel patterns may change. You haven’t done something wrong; it’s just a natural occurrence.
Radical Crop Change
If you are hunting farmlands or suburban properties, one of the easiest ways to rescout your deer is to drive the area to see what crops have been harvested. Dairy farmers “chop” their fields so that the stalks and ears are removed, turning what was once a feeding and bedding paradise into a parking lot. Deer will feed on waste grain for a few days, but their travel habits will be radically changed. When farmers “pick” corn, the stalks stand until mid-October or later, which gives you a longer window to hunt near the fields.
Acorns Dropping
My neighbor has two large red oak trees in his front yard, and usually by this time, his home is like a squirrel festival. Yesterday, I walked under the trees and could not spot a single acorn, and the squirrels were elsewhere. The Eastern US experienced a devastating late-April freeze last spring, and both soft and hard mast crops have been significantly affected. If baiting is legal in your area, it will be much more effective if you suffer a poor mast crop. On the positive side, deep hollows and other geographic features can protect oaks from freezing, and finding one of these producing timber stands will be dynamite.
Here’s an Overall Look at Early September Strategies
