What are deer doing now?

[happy honker]

It's mid to late winter. 2 months after the rut.
Not too much deep snow around.

What are deer up to this time of year compared to a few months ago in hunting season?

Im thinking of moving a stand, and was wondering if traffic and trails I find now will be a good bet next fall?

Whats your observations and opinions?

[Mickey]

Forcing me to pile on the brakes tonight. Closest I have ever come to hitting one.

[Smokinyotes]

Got a few feeding on our bales. Not as many as last year though.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by happy honker

It's mid to late winter. 2 months after the rut.
Not too much deep snow around.

What are deer up to this time of year compared to a few months ago in hunting season?

Im thinking of moving a stand, and was wondering if traffic and trails I find now will be a good bet next fall?

Whats your observations and opinions?

I don't know about farm deer, but IMO the sign you find in big timber right now is barely relevant. I've been snowshoeing an average of about 20 k a week since the second last week of November and the sign is very different right now. I'll probably quit scouting until spring, when the ground is bare before the bush gets green rut sign and well used trails show up pretty good. At this point the tracks don't necessarily mean much and wandering around eying up country is only food for speculation at best. I would suspect that farm country would be similar as preferred food sources are most likely different, bushwhacking through suspected bedding cover might provide some useful insight right now, May would be better.

One interesting thing I've just noticed this year ( I'm sure its been right in front of me for years though) is that once the snow gets deep enough the deer will follow moose tracks the same way I follow a skidoo trail if its headed the same way as I am. I'll take a picture of it the next time I see it, pretty much deer tracks placed precisely into old moose tracks, letting the moose break trail for them.

[SonofDixie]

In farm fields it's very similar. The field I've been hunting has some great bush cover that's usually crawling with deer activity. Went there for some rabbit hunting and all I've seen are coyote beds and rabbit tracks. I guess they travel to where there's food. Hopefully they'll be back next year like they were this year!!

And I've seen deer tracks follow in my own tracks in deep snow before. Was pretty cool.

[expmler]

They are yarded up into big herds out here.

[hal53]

They are surviving the winter, expending as little energy as possible. The less they are bothered, the better chance they have

[deerhunter]

Three days after the season closed 12 came out to the field I hunted.
The farmer says they were still there last nite. A month and a half later.
He has alfalfa standing in field
11 are whitetail 2 of which are bucks and 1 Mullie Buck

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by SonofDixie

In farm fields it's very similar. The field I've been hunting has some great bush cover that's usually crawling with deer activity. Went there for some rabbit hunting and all I've seen are coyote beds and rabbit tracks. I guess they travel to where there's food. Hopefully they'll be back next year like they were this year!!

And I've seen deer tracks follow in my own tracks in deep snow before. Was pretty cool.

I find that right now dealing with snow cover affects their movements quite a bit. There is a lot more activity in old growth, not way back in the old growth but they like moving through it as the snow is a fair bit less. Places on the downwind side of a ridge which previously were good bedding areas don't have much sign, probably because of the large amount of snow that drifts in there. Places that they used to cross drainage ravines are not well used, but at either end of the drainage the trails are more heavily used. South facing slopes, which are also good in hunting season, have more sign than usual.

In my area deer don't seem to yard up, if anything they seem to be less concentrated as feed gets harder to find.

[AlbertaWhitetail]

the deer have disappeared from my area it seems, since about december 12 i have only got 4 does on cam when i used to get way more, & about 30 bucks and a group of mule deer, dont know where they have went, wanted to try to find sheds this year but have no clue where the deer moved too and ive been looking and finding nothing

[recce43]

lots of mule deer in in 210 saw 17 of them on friends farm