When Your Deer Disappear

By Chuck Nease for Whitetail Times

Free ranging whitetails respond to hunting season in many ways. When the buck you captured on camera throughout the summer and early fall goes off your radar screen be prepared to change your strategy to get back in the game!

If you have been hunting for a few years, patterns for success and reaching your deer harvest goals can become consistent; until you hit that one season when the deer just disappear.

Looking back over 55 years of hunting, I can see the great seasons, the good seasons and the bad ones. In the early 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, the only way to know what deer were on the property was to put boots on the ground and cover every acre and make notes of the sign and actual sightings. If you were lucky enough to hunt private property, a farmer could give you valuable information he had experienced while working on the land over the years. Rural mail carriers and school bus drivers can also shed light on sightings and locations. With the ‘90s came the increase of deer populations in most states along with the beginning of quality herd management and food plots. I totally enjoyed those years of seeing more mature bucks and learning about their habits and interaction with does in their different core areas. My property is only 40 acres of mostly wooded rolling hills with a power line, and it is in the middle of 300 acres of neighboring properties with permission to hunt the adjoining land. All the improvements I make benefit everyone, but I need to adjust for all the changes that are occurring around me.

This photo shows the property terrain and boundaries with the food plots and best stand positions located from year-round scouting and hunting. In the past I have had deer leave the prime areas for all types of reasons. The first 10 years the deer were just traveling through the property and sightings were sporadic unless we had a good mast crop on the ridges and hollows. There was a great amount of hunting pressure during deer season and especially the two weeks with firearms. The only chance of killing a buck or doe was to hunt the low gaps and flats below the ridges.

Over the years, new neighbors limited hunters and began clearing areas and allowing more grasses and deer browse to grow. My property is a 1,000 yards of grown-up power line right of way with a long, wooded ridge connecting hollows and points. Although timbered on various adjoining acres, there are still oak flats and old fence lines consisting of chestnut, white, red, and black oak. Several cherry, persimmon, and beech trees are scattered around the area. Learning all the best natural and manmade food sources in your hunting area—and when they become available—will be the first key in locating your deer year-round.

There are six main reasons deer will leave your hunting area:

1. Migrating to the best available and preferred food source.
2. Heavy hunting or continuous human pressure in core areas.
3. Aggravation from free range dogs and coyotes.
4. Extreme and prolonged weather conditions.
5. The rut and lockdown period.
6. Deer diseases such as Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (HD) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

Many times, deer left my hunting area due to better food sources even with tons of acorns on the ground by my stands. I finally learned that chestnut acorns fall first, but the deer leave them till late fall or December if others are available. The white oak fall next and are the most preferred, and they will leave every food source to gorge on these. At about the same time red oak starts to hit the ground and later comes the black oak and finally beechnut in late November. Knowing the timing of the available preferred food is the one key to finding the most deer during the hunting season. Another neat trick when the leaves start turning and falling is to locate the oaks still dropping fresh acorns. Find a point where you can see your hunting area even a mile away and look for the trees that are still green. That will show you where the deer will be concentrated with fresh falling acorns.

In the ‘90s I had been seeing lots of deer early, but they had vanished in late October from my favorite stands on the ridge top. After zero sightings the next morning I started to scout and try to find signs and more activity. After hours of walking, I headed down the ridge for lunch. Traveling through wide open woods I usually never hunted, I stumbled on two major rubs and a large flat where the ground was torn to pieces. At the bottom of the ridge in a steep drain I could see fresh and chewed up acorns below one lone white oak tree. I picked a good downwind spot for my climbing stand to hunt that evening.

There were very few acorns that year, so this was going to be an excellent opportunity. I got to the tree three hours before dark and quickly settled in. Within 20 minutes, three does and a spike were feeding under the oak, and you could hear the deer crunching fresh acorns and more nuts hitting the ground. Within two hours there were more than 20 does and younger bucks coming and going from the area. With 30 minutes of light left I saw all the deer look to the ridge and the young bucks drifted off when a beautiful high racked eight-point swaggered in. All eyes were on the buck, including mine. The buck was partially hidden by limbs and shadowed by does as they fed. Light was fading fast, and I just needed one good opening for a clear shot.

At last, the buck came out to the edge and the does cleared offering a 20-yard broadside path. Like a dream, I was anchored with the pin behind his shoulder and the arrow was already finding its mark. The big buck whirled and bolted down the ridge and slowed after hitting a dead tree; that sent both rolling down the hill. I waited 20 minutes and eased down to put my hands on the biggest buck I had taken with a bow—a big, heavy-horned eight-point with split brows, and a buck I had never seen on the property. A little in-season scouting and just walking in areas that hadn’t been hunted allowed me to find the deer and a great trophy.

After 40 years of hunting this property and getting too lazy to walk and scout rough and less favorable areas, I realize that I have missed many opportunities on bigger bucks by just hunting my favorite spots. And I also realize the older does and bucks were learning more about me than I was about them. Now I look at my hunting area as new ground and check my go-to spots first, but spend more time scouting and learning where the deer migrate when they disappear from my normal hunting area. Learning the early and late food sources will allow you to predict movement and locate the deer quickly.

When you experience too much hunting pressure or human intrusion, the deer will move to a more unpressured area until things calm down. My property is pressured more by the electric and gas companies than neighboring hunters. And when they decide to do work during the hunting season, it is necessary to have other properties available until activities cease. Getting all the power line neighbors to call and sign a petition is the best long-term fix. Occasionally I have dogs running deer through my area and they disrupt the normal movements and habit for a brief period. If I see them again, I will call the neighbors to make them aware and contact the Conservation Police and animal control in the county. If it continues, it is best to contact state regulators to seek help on the issue.

The weather can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the timing and the extreme temperatures and the wind direction and velocity. Having prior experience with these conditions, and where the deer bed and relocate, is the best solution. After a few days of poor sightings on your stands, it is time to get moving and locate some deer. Finding fresh beds and moving deer around can benefit deer returning to their core area and provide a better area to set up and hunt.

You can be patient if you have the entire season to hunt, but you must be on the move and aggressive with only a few days to be successful. I have known several friends that jumped deer and just set up 30 yards downwind and shot the buck or doe when it circled and returned to the same bed. Sometimes getting on the ground and expanding your range is the best solution when bow and gun hunting.

When the bucks are chasing does, it is time to be in the woods every minute. Using your favorite stands in low gaps and pinch points is the best choice until deer movement slows or stops. From experience you may want to hunt where the bucks isolate hot does in thickets or brushy areas on powerlines and grown-up fields. The key now is to follow the girls between their bedding and feeding areas and hit your stands again when the bucks are moving.

Sometimes deer disappearing from our favorite hunting properties is beyond our control. Nature has a way of affecting the deer herd, even with our best efforts and plans are put forth. Chronic Wasting Disease has been isolated to small areas in several states. Hemorrhagic Disease is a devastating disease caused by a small fly that gathers around mud puddles during a severe drought. They enter the deer’s nose and start the progression of the fatal infection. The evidence shows up in early fall around water sources with young and old deer carcasses. Unfortunately, most of the older mature bucks are taken. It is best to relocate your hunting efforts until the herd can recover. You should still do the food plots and property management to improve the health of existing and surrounding deer.

Most hunting situations can be controlled on private, less-pressured property, but the public land hunter needs to put more effort and hunt smarter to be successful. When hunting public or state management land, I try to hunt thick brushy areas as far from parking and entrance points as possible. During the firearms season, I will hunt more by hunter movement affecting normal deer movement.

There are more reasons why deer can exit your hunting area, and the best solution is to keep an open mind. Trying a different strategy can lead to the best results.

A good friend in Pennsylvania always sends me pictures of his archery buck kill by the first two weeks of the season. Bill Burns is a five-time IBO archery World Champion, and he uses trail cameras year-round to locate and keep track of his hit-list bucks. He waits until his target buck moves in daylight and when the wind and weather is perfect to hunt his best stand. His success happens in the first or second sit. Knowledge of early buck habits and predictable deer movement gives him continued success. Occasionally he waits till the pre-rut when weather and conditions can be more favorable. Understanding deer and how they utilize your property throughout the hunting season is the key to achieving your yearly goals.

Today, we have the tools to locate, monitor and hunt the best places and times to be successful. The mobile phones with apps to see property lines and owners, allowing precise locations and recording every fact, can benefit the hunter. Up-to-minute weather conditions with moon times and major movement periods. Access to Facebook and social groups that discuss and share hunting and shooting information in all state and local areas. Hundreds of outdoor hunting and shooting videos to share techniques and strategies for improvement and future success. We even have thermal drones that can locate wounded or downed game or do a live deer survey of your property. With all these modern advantages, that cagey old buck and seasoned maternal doe can still outsmart our best-efforts year after year. That is the ultimate challenge we enjoy and what makes victory so sweet when we achieve it. Real success is just enjoying your outdoor passion with friends and family, while making memories that will last a lifetime for generations.

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Chuck Nease, who lives in Salt Rock, West Virginia, has been actively involved in archery competitions, bow hunting, and designing archery equipment for over 50 years. His love for bowhunting, competition shooting and helping archers is still his passion.