1.) luv2bowhunt - 02/16/2016

Once again an interesting study from the Penn State deer study. We're starting to get a good sampling of data across the last 3 years and once again, we see that the rut here in PA is being governed by photoperiodism and not by moon phases.

Although this particular research was focusing on weather, we also see a real shocker. The buck movements pick up the last week of Oct. and decrease sharply after the second week of Nov. Been the same all 3 years even though the full moons have been different.

But don't take my word for it, check out the study.

[url]http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2016/whether-it2019s-weather[/url]

2.) Swamp Fox - 02/16/2016

I like this: :tu:


[I]"So, here’s my conclusion about deer movements during the 2015 deer hunting season compared to other years:

The weather was warmer than usual."
[/I]


I read the post twice and I'd say that would be my conclusion, too, LOL. I'll have to comb though it at least one more time plus read in the Comments section when I can pay a little closer attention.


Very, good stuff from this guy, Luv2! Thanks for keeping "all of us" up with it. LOL :tu:


What was mast production like in this area? I saw a brief comment about it but was just skimming. Don't see if anyone claimed it was heavy, average or poor. If does moved less, bucks would, too...I would think.

3.) luv2bowhunt - 02/16/2016

Mast crop was poor in my area, and over most of the areas my friends and co-workers hunted. Several of the guys I know hunt in this general area. I've hunted in both of these study areas and they really are very typical of the terrain and habitat you will find on most of PA public land.

Because it is so 'normal' of a study area, I'm finding the information very useful.

4.) Swamp Fox - 02/16/2016

Cool. I'll read a little deeper later and may have more questions. LOL

5.) luv2bowhunt - 02/16/2016

Interesting to me was the chart showing the daytime movement of the bucks in 2015. I killed mine on a Monday afternoon, Nov. 9. Looks like the peak day for daytime movement in 2015 on the chart was Nov. 9.

So cool to see that my deer was doing what the other bucks were doing.

6.) Swamp Fox - 02/16/2016

Huh!


That is cool.

An acquaintance of mine killed a very nice deer around the first week of October, which is a little early. The flooding we had this year had pushed him out of the swamp, so he made an unusually early appearance on the soybean field before the end of shooting light, and paid the price. When I saw him, I immediately thought to myself, "That's a deer you never see except during the rut, and maybe not even then."


Nothing beats being in the right place at the right time, and I know several people who swear by specific individual days---They're all between Oct 31 and Nov.12.

I can't argue.


Your post reminded me of another story, but it might come off as teasing rather than complimentary, so I'll just keep that one in my hip pocket for now. :wink

7.) luv2bowhunt - 11/02/2016

Another cool video from the PA study showing how a buck expands/changes his range during the rut.

[url]http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2016/where-do-they-go-and-where-did-they-come-from[/url]

8.) Swamp Fox - 11/02/2016

Please follow up with us as to what they disclose/determine the rut travel date margins to be after the poll closes. Unless you already know what they say they are...

I wonder what the short jaunts to the east are all about.

It would be cool to see the travel lines between points outlined in red and green on a static map so you could comprehend the daylight and nighttime travel more easily.

But as it is, I got some of the point and managed to avoid an epileptic seizure with all the blinking, which is nice, so I have that going for me...

9.) Swamp Fox - 11/02/2016

No bear dogging in Pa., correct?

10.) luv2bowhunt - 11/02/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;45160]Please follow up with us as to what they disclose/determine the rut travel date margins to be after the poll closes.[/QUOTE]

I didn't post a link, but in a related blog they stated that since they've starting studying deer in PA (about 15 yrs worth of data I think), the rut has been virtually the same every year. They can find no data that relates to moon phases like Charles Alsheimer claims.

No bear dogging allowed here, but bear drives are the norm, deer get a real good dose of hunting pressure the week before gun season. Which I can't say I'm upset about.

11.) Swamp Fox - 11/02/2016

Okay, that goes to my unasked question, which was about bear season vs. ""gun" or "rifle" season, or however the article put it. I overlooked big man-drives.

Don't you think they probably peg the end of the rut travel period after Nov 20, though? I'd be almost as interested to see the travel post Nov 20 as prior. Maybe they have already published the data about and just aren't getting into it for purposes of this particular article.

Really, what I'd like to see is a map of an area during the entirety of a hunting season (pre-, rut and post- or trickle), compared to a map of the same area during a year when no hunting was allowed. That way you'd have a pure look at behavior, and a look at behavior under hunting conditions. That would tell a lot, I think, that we don't get in the standard studies/conventional wisdom.

12.) luv2bowhunt - 11/02/2016

I'm sure there is rut activity after 11/20, but movement drops off dramatically after the big hunting seasons kick off. I think movements would slow down dramatically anyway around the end of Nov. even without hunter interference.

On a related note read the blog about this doe and watch how she has learned to survive gun season in the State Forest.


[url]http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2014/discerning-doe[/url]