Well, after a very good last couple of weeks of October, the deer movement has gone to close to non-existent. My hunting buddies from all over Louisiana and Mississippi and I were having great hunts from Oct.15 through around the first week of November, and all of a sudden it turned off like a light switch.
I think the problem might be similar to what happens to duck hunters when we have high water. The ducks get spread out because they have so many places they can be and it is hard to find significant concentrations of birds. Well, my hypothesis is a few things are happening at once.
The deer are out of their predictable summertime feeding patterns and spread out. First, Hurricane Gustav hit last year and stressed the trees, and usually after this kind of event the acorn and pecan trees respond the following year with a bumper crop. All of the reports I have been getting are that there are acorns on the ground everywhere – so many that a deer can almost open its mouth and acorns will fall in.
Second all of the hunters have planted food plots everywhere, and have feeders and bait piles scattered all over the place.
Third, human activity has increased exponentially. You know, four-wheelers, scouting, building stands, cleaning and clearing roads and trails, and all the things that come with the opening of gun season.
Right now I am trying to keep human exposure to a minimum to make my land the sanctuary and getting away from hunting the food I was hunting in October. Instead, I’m trying to get lucky in the hardwoods.
I like to set up near some white oaks, or I even have a couple persimmon trees that are still loaded and the deer are hammering. Or I might stay tight to cover right on the downwind side of the edge between cutover and hardwoods, and I try to pick favorable weather days.
I think we are in for a very challenging month , and I am looking forward to the rut when the odds will tip back in our favor. Find out when your deer start their pre-rut, and stay in the woods for the next few weeks to bag the deer of a lifetime. And remember to always most of all obey the wind.