To have the best hunt, you must understand how your deer population moves and survives. Food is king when it comes to any animal and deer are no different. Having those food plots that bring in the deer is something that can make or break your hunt. When you start with food (whether it is on your's or your neighbor's land) and you then offer adjacent doe bedding opportunities, you are one step closer to creating enough space for buck bedding opportunities. Within mixed agricultural regions, a typical complete deer movement pattern can be 600 yards or more, including mature buck bedding opportunities.
Also, the best thing to do, if you’re lucky enough, is to get out to your hunting area in the winter after it snows. Here, you are able to see the trails that the deer travel on. You can then cut down branches to get better shots and see more.
Remember, Deer move most at dawn and dusk. End of story. Like taxes and death, you can count on two things when talking about mature bucks: they move most at dawn and dusk, and during the rut. Deer are crepuscular. It’s built into their DNA. It doesn’t matter what month of the year you are talking about, pretty much every study out there shows that the time of day bucks are most active is at sunrise and sunset. Can you kill a mature buck during the middle of the day? Sure. But if you want to hedge your bet, be in a stand during those magic hours. And the time of year they are most active is…? You guessed it, the breeding season. Keep these things in mind when trying to predict when that buck you’re after will be on his feet.
Hunt Smart, Hunt Safe
-Sportsman John