I don't believe in "nocturnal" deer. Their on their feet somwhere.... there is not a buck that lays all day long and doesn't get up till dark..... I think they get up off and on all day and browse in their bedding perimeters. He's up and feeding in the afternoon well before dark... just how far he travels is the key question.......
Nocturnal: Over used word or fact?!?!?!
- Thread starter finelyshedded
- Start date
Deer move during the day…I also think they move around no matter the weather. They gotta eat, drink, and shit . At the rate that the younger deer grow, they need to get up more and eat more, while those "retired" deer are more relaxed and are done growing. Anyone ever go to breakfast with an older person? I don't do it often because it's usually earlier than I like to be out and about… How about dinner, thats generally early too.
If any of that just made sense? I think I contradicted myself, I'm tired and going to bed.
If any of that just made sense? I think I contradicted myself, I'm tired and going to bed.
I watched a bill winke video not long ago where he was talking about two mature bucks. One was a daylight mover and appeared around the farm quite often in daylight, the other one was straight nocturnal for the most part. There has to be something in the bucks personality that makes him want to explore more throughout the day rather than at night. What I'm wondering is, if the buck that liked to move during the day was kicked out of his home range by hunters, predators, or a bigger buck would he still move during the day when he found another core area? He obviously didn't run into much pressure on winke's farm and felt comfortable swinging his balls around in the daylight.
Last edited:
motorbreaker
*Supporting Member I*
Good tread. I'm pretty sure pressure has something to do with it sometimes, And not just for bucks. If the does are pressured it has to carry over to seeing less bucks.
And why does daytime movement slow down after the peel? Even with no pressure.
There are bucks we have never seen in the day nor do we have daytime pictures of them.
And why does daytime movement slow down after the peel? Even with no pressure.
There are bucks we have never seen in the day nor do we have daytime pictures of them.
- 25,263
- 261
Their entire attitude changes once they peel. A buddy has a pet deer. Hes friendly until he sheds. He will try to kill you after.
I've found that the bucks out home love to hang on my place during the summer, but as soon as that velvet peels, they move out, and I typically don't see them on a regular basis until January. I have two particular "shooter" bucks that I saw almost daily this summer, but as soon as the horns were polished, one disappeared, and the other only shows up on camera once or twice a week now, and typically late at night. At one point this summer, I was getting pics of both bucks at 6-8am, and 6-8pm almost daily.
Very good question Chad! I really enjoyed everyone else thoughts on the matter. I still believe the personalities have a lot to do with how they interact with other deer and react to outside interferences to their daily routine.
Like others have said, pressure can alter their daily movement and relocate them to places where they feel safer. As far as age making them lazy and more anti-social, don't know, I guess it could. From my observations I've seen deer young and old take the easier route as they saunter on through but I don't necessarily think when a big buck is trailing a herd of deer during a deer drive during gun season it's because he's old and lazy either. I believe we all have seen that situation before! It appeared to me they the big mature bucks lay back and let those ahead test the waters of security first versus being out front and busting through areas he hasn't had a chance to scent check or survey yet.
Looking forward to reading others thoughts on the matter.
Like others have said, pressure can alter their daily movement and relocate them to places where they feel safer. As far as age making them lazy and more anti-social, don't know, I guess it could. From my observations I've seen deer young and old take the easier route as they saunter on through but I don't necessarily think when a big buck is trailing a herd of deer during a deer drive during gun season it's because he's old and lazy either. I believe we all have seen that situation before! It appeared to me they the big mature bucks lay back and let those ahead test the waters of security first versus being out front and busting through areas he hasn't had a chance to scent check or survey yet.
Looking forward to reading others thoughts on the matter.
Very good question and point about ALL bucks change in movement after they peel! Do the young bucks do it naturally as well or follow the lead of the older bucks. Probably something genetically altering their behavior or the testosterone levels just amped up a smidge! Lol
From what I've seen on the farm I hunt the last 2 years is the young bucks seem to stick around after they peel, while the older ones might disappear for a while then come back.
What makes deer do what they do? This could be an entire thread. Heck, could be an entire website. In regards to personalities. . .Ric and I have had this discussion. I agree on different deer having human like personalities. Some active, some passive, some grumpy, some irritable, some social, some not. What causes it? Genetics? Instinct? Learned behavior? I don't know. Hunters will never know. We can't even figure each other out and we have the ability to communicate better than animals.
I am thinking some attributes are more genetic than learned behaviors. The genetically programmed behaviors are ingrained by watching and learning. Not deer, but children have taught me some of this. Wife's brother and his wife are shitheads. We are raising a nephew. Wife's sister is raising the youngest niece. Friend of the family is raising the middle child. Our boy is the oldest of those three children. We tend to have the most problems. (He has come a long way. Not trying to sidetrack my own post and point.) The friends raising the middle child have some issues very similar but not as severe. This child was maybe 2-3 when removed from the home. The youngest child was an infant. In communicating with the others, it is uncanny how the three children have similar behavior issues. The youngest was an infant! How in the world would she have picked up on some of these behaviors? Not possible. For this reason, i believe more is in our genetic make up than we may realize. Obviously, if a child is raised in a house by the same parents, I feel the genetic tendencies are further instilled by watching their parents. Then we assume these are learned behaviors. Seeing these three children removed at different ages has opened my eyes. My point to this is: I still believe deer are similar in these ways. I think some is genetic, some learned behavior from watching others, and some they pick up as survival mechanisms.
At the end of the day, they are deer. Brock says it best when he talks about how random they are. I think he is right too. I am not so sure they bed in the same bed or even on the same property every night. I do suspect they move more during the day than we think, but I don't think it is miles at a time, more like 10-30-100yds at a time in my opinion.
All the stuff I posted first? That can be thrown out the window too because there are always exceptions. There are 3 sets of twins in our family. Some look alike, others don't. Some act very similar, others have totally different personalities. Some kids are raised in good homes and turn out to be heathens. I suppose deer are no different. The only known factor: Way too many variables to every figure them out. If we did, it wouldn't be fun to hunt them.
Spencie
Senior Member
I don't think mature bucks are nocturnal. They may only travel in high profile places during darkness but in their secluded sanctuaries where they feel comfortable and safe they get up to stretch, browse and rub trees. They may not travel during the daylight but they don't lay down for 10-12 hours straight either. For anyone that has had the opportunity to watch mature deer in these sanctuaries you have seen what I mean.
- 25,263
- 261
For where most of us hunt, (high travel areas between food and bed), I think they are nocturnal. I don't believe they lay in one spot all day, but I don't believe they spend a great deal of time traveling enough distance to get on their version of the interstate highway...and most all of us hunt the interstates. It's too hard, in most cases, to get in close enough to an older bucks bedroom without him knowing it. And that, is why killing a really good deer is tough. It's hard enough to decipher where it is that a good one likes to be a high percentage of time, let alone be able to access it without him knowing you are there. That is why the rut is where most hedge their bets... those bucks will use the interstates with daylight, at least a few days a year.
Last night as I left the Mountaineer Casino at 1130Pm the field across the street was loaded with deer in the dark.
brancher147
Junior Member
Great thoughts on here. Some are a bit anthropomorphic. I think sometimes we try too hard to figure deer out. Deer do what they want when they want to do it and learn from their mistakes, if their mistakes don't get them killed. All deer move more during the night than during the day, and the times they move are always changing. They are mostly crepuscular and also move a lot under complete darkness. Finding where deer and especially where mature deer move during the day is tough and unpredictable. I have killed most and seen most of the bigger bucks at daybreak and dusk before the rut, and between 11am-1pm during the rut. But you never know. Once late October and early November hit I plan on being in the woods all day from daylight to dark every day I can be. Once November hits if I can't hunt all day I will usually try to hunt the middle of the day if I can, it has paid off multiple times with mature bucks right around noon.
But I don't think any deer are completely nocturnal.
But I don't think any deer are completely nocturnal.