Pennsylvania Game News - October 2012 - 57

WHEN ACORNS begin to fall, deer will abandon other food sources to feed on them. Having a stand located near a white oak tree is a good decision.

The place was once an old farm, long abandoned, and the tree had been there forever. It was clear from my September scouting visits that any windfall apples didn’t last long because deer eagerly snapped them up. The tracks and droppings I found around the tree last year indicated deer were visiting the site regularly, and as far as I was concerned it was as perfect a bow hunting set up as anyone could ask for. Needless to say, I was optimistic about my chances for tagging a buck. The day after the archery season opened last year, I saw a single doe and her twin fawns feeding below me. I didn’t realize it would be weeks until I saw another deer. There appeared to be a lot of deer activity in the area, and I was optimistic it was just a matter of time before a buck came along. I never suspected I would go almost the rest of the season without seeing a deer from any of my stands, but that’s what eventually happened. Frustrated with the lack of sightings, I climbed out of my stand one evening and decided to conduct a little experiment. I searched for some of the windfall apples and arranged them in a straight line. If any of the apples were missing when I returned the next morning I would know the deer were there at some point between the time I left and before my return the next morning. It was a trick I used for years and it gave me valuable insight about deer feeding patterns in my area long before there were such things as trail cameras. It was about an hour before first light when I parked the truck, walked about a quarter mile across a farm field and got to my stand. I attached my safety harness, climbed the tree and waited. After daylight I could see that the apples I had placed
OCTOBER 2012

neatly in line were missing. It was clear the deer arrived after I left the previous evening and fed after dark. They were gone by the time I arrived and I decided I had to try some other tactic. Rather than stubbornly stick to the spot, I decided to try a different location. I had to satisfy myself that I wasn’t missing deer movement somewhere else on the property. I used to make the common error of being unwilling to abandon an unproductive location. Because I saw deer from a certain location a month, or even a week, before, I was reluctant to change areas. Now, once a stand goes cold, I don’t waste my time. I go to one of my other stand locations, especially if I see evidence of deer activity at the new site. In addition to talking to other hunters and reviewing our daily hunting experiences, I keep a daily diary, noting such things as wind direction, temperature, moon phase, the number of deer seen and the time I see them. One thing I’ve noted is that as the season progresses, the daily changes in average temperatures and the length of daylight have an effect on whitetail behavior and, thus, in the time they move from their bedding areas to their feeding areas. Temperature plays a big factor in white57

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2012

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