The use of the term "nocturnal" rant....

Nocturnal

I hear that term thrown around so much and irritates me more than the phrase "october lull."

I was reading the October lull thread and this got me thinking about it.. There are two things I dont believe in when it comes to whitetail deer hunting, October lulls and nocturnal deer.


Now days most everyone has a trail cam, or ten. They constantly get photos of bucks at night, so they deem that deer nocturnal. There's not one deer in the woods who lays down all day and doesnt move at all in daylight. It just doesnt happen. Somewhere, that deer is on his feet in the daylight. He may only be moving in a 100 yard area, but hes is on his feet. Regardless of what you see of a buck on your trail cam at night, he is on his feet somewhere in the daylight.

Now, the bigger question is, "can I access the area this deer is moving during the day time?" Often times mature deer position themselves in such a place that it is sometimes impossible to access them where they are walking during shooting hours, but not always. I cant speak for other locations through out the country. Although, I can speak for my region of Ohio. Deer are like people, every deer has a different personality. Some are more prone to be wanderers while others tend to spend most of their time in a small area this time of year. Rt now, mature deer for the most part, are living in a small core area. An area where they dont need to move far to obtain every day necessities. Welcome to early season hunting. Like I stated before, there are always exceptions. But im not speaking of those exceptions.

The October lull is something made up by hunters to excuse their lack of buck sightings. Do you think there is a slight coincidence that this said "lull" occurs almost immediately after season opens? Some blame it on heat. Well thats odd, I drive around all August watching big bucks in beans 1-2 hours before dark. Why doesnt the heat affect them then? Is it also a coincidence that the beans are turning at the exact time acorns start are falling? The deer vacate the fields and become wanderers of the timber. They shift areas to adapt to their new found food source. Yet people still hang out on the edges of brown/yellow bean fields wondering where the deer went. Have there been deer killed under these circumstances, you bet, but as a whole, deer change habits, so should hunters.

I killed a mature buck October 9th that was a habitual field lurker, prior to losing his velvet. Most all of my photos prior to sept 18th were in fields. I relocated him on a ridge that was infested with briars and inhabited by cattle. There were 3 cameras in less than a 7 acre area... Only one camera consistently captured him in daylight. 1 camera got him a couple times, and there was 1 camera within 150 yards of him, that he never ever appeared on that I was getting photos of other deer he would often times be seen with. If I went by the other cameras, I would say this deer was Nocturnal or not in the area, but a 100 yard shift in camera location produced daylight photos of this deer, and a lot of them. I put corn out at the camera he was seen at the most.. He became a habitual visitor. Im talking every day, multiple times a day at all hours... That let me know, I was in his core....

I backed off a bit on the night of October 9th and saw him the first time a little after 5 browsing on briars. I killed him about an hour later meandering down a fence row, which Im positive he was headed to get a bite to eat of corn. He was on his feet for probably 1.5 hours and never left a 100-200 yard area.

So my point is, just because you dont have day light photos, doesnt mean that deer isnt on his feet in daylight. that camera is covering such a small area, and if that small area isnt the right area, you are spinning your wheels for nothing. Dont get wrapped up in terms such as October Lull or Nocturnal. Instead, ask yourself, if hes not here is daylight, where could he be and why?

Im sure there will be some arguments with my beliefs, but I can only speak for what I have found and whagt works for me. Early in my hunting career I used those two phrases as a crutch as well, and I couldnt have been more wrong


Heres a photo of the deer I killed October 9th. Not a giant, but a healthy,mature ohio whitetail.

 

So because you baited a buck and killed it on October 9th it supposedly disproves " October lull "? Seems a little narrow a sample size to draw such definitive conclusions, not to mention the fact that you baited him and he became a " habitual visitor ". The fact alone is so somewhat contradictory to your conclusion in that you might not of even killed him if you didn't alter his natural behavior with artificial bait. In short your theory or conclusion has a lot of holes in it .

 

You obviously didnt read very well.. I stated I had found him using an area before I had put some corn down. You would have also saw that I didnt kill him over the corn, I said I suspected thats where he was heading. How is that any different than someone killing them on their way to a food plot?

Second, most people who complain of nocturnal photos are baiting themselves.

Third, could you explain to me how using corn is artificial baiting? What kind of bait used would be non artificial?

4th, I have more instances than you have fingers and toes. I just chose to use this deer as an example. As it was just shot a couple days ago..

And judging by your response, Id say you are one of those people who lean heavily on the October lull and Nocturnal crutch.

 

I agree with everything you stated Kaiser, good read! A lot of us need to do more hunting and less waiting/hoping. That's a great buck, congrats!

 

Thank you..


Also, I didnt write this with intentions of singling anyone out. Its an observation ive made and is clearly my opinion of my findings.

Whether someone baits, doesnt bait the variables are still the same.

 

Have you lost your security blanket or something?

 

haha

I've lost nothing. People like you, keyboard warriors, is why I rarely post on forums anymore. You have nothing to provide, so you constantly feel the need to make snide comments on others posts.

I guess if you disagree with my comments you are free to share your wealth of knowledge.

 

No you mostly only post when you have a picture to share. If your so insecure in your ideas that you feel the need to pm someone as form of self validation just because they expressed an option contrary to your own then you might be just a little insecure.

 

Trial, thanks for ruining a thread that may be constructive for a change. I guess we'll get back to political, I bought this gimmicks product, what bow/broadhead threads that this forum provides. How dare someone talk about hunting. Coming from you I'm dissapointing.

 

haha Im sorry for providing a post and having a picture in it? ha I didnt know that posting deer photos in a bowhunting forum was frowned upon...

Ha people like you remind me of why I dont post on forums anymore.

 

I will say that people who hunt in states where baiting is illegal do think, right or wrong, that it is a huge advantage. A pile of corn in the middle of a hardwood flat IS unnatural in my opinion. I do agree that core areas are small, but deer definitely move during daylight.

 

The use of the term "nocturnal" rant....

Then be disappointed. I expressed the fact that I didn't think the example proved the point of the post. After that I get a PM with some grade school nonsense chest pumping.

Did the OP really think everyone will agree with him? Did he plan on pming everyone that expresses a contrary option? If that's the case then the post wasn't meant to either informative or a discussion. It was a venue for him to pontificate.

 

You have almost 6k posts on a hunting forum, and your calling me insecure? Perhaps if you spent more time in the woods and less time on a keyboard you would have photos to share also. You must be one miserable individual to live with.

 

You remove all doubt of your insecurity with every post.
Please tell us again how a buck killed coming to a corn pile disproves an October lull?

I have plenty of photos. I chose not to plaster them all over the Internet every chance I get however I have been guilty a time or two of posting them in some venues.
Few of guys on here get some texts from me yearly. Why Them and not joe public? It's called friendship and personal interactions.

If you can't handle people disagreeing with you with out resorting to name calling and sending private messages then you really should consider not posting.

 

Your right. I don't know what I'm talking about. I got lucky. The lull exists, mature bucks are nocturnal in October. No sense in hunting in october. Waste of time. Disregard my opening post

 

Now I'm up to nine hunts as of yesterday hunting woodland deer . No bait no cameras. I'm seeing bucks and does. Only one hunt I did not see a deer. These hunts average 3 hours. One stand hunted twice.

We all know they move around at night.

 

Kaiser congrats on your deer.

Nocturnal to me means mostly at night and not 100%.

I think people experience a lull in October from a shift in food sources and hunting pressure. I think there is somewhat a lull in November due to lockdown.

Trial is a wealth of knowledge get some thicker skin and carry on.

 

It is debate season, lol. I find the information to be true. I don't use lull or nocturnal as a crutch, just hear it from other people I always go and "try to find" where the deer are at all phases of the year. Good info and interesting convo haha

 

I'm curious as to why the cows didn't eat the corn that was out? Anyhow nice buck for sure.

 

I find it interesting that people who can legally bait often rationalize it saying how is it different than a food plot, or saying people that have trail cameras out with an attractant are baiting. Bait is not bait until the worm is on the hook per say food is not bait until you are using it to hunt.