On the property I hunt there is a cedar field with a grove of about 15 persimmon trees. Last year I got a ton of trail cam pics of doe, small bucks, and several shooter bucks. This year is a different story, only two shooters, and way less doe pics, what gives? I suspect it may have something to do with this years bumper crop of acorns. One thing that baffles me is the deer lately have been passing thru without even munching on persimmons, can they be less/more palatable from season to season?
Possible that the surrounding farmers put in a different crops than last year and they are being drawn in. Or it is possible that you are leaving a lot of scent when checking the camera which has them avoiding the area.
I'm religious about my scent regimen so I don't think that is the case and I only check cams when I hunt which is maybe once a week so I don't think is pressure either. As far as disease, it can't be ruled out I did find one nice buck in the creek, but nothing else(I walked the entire creek on my property). I did finally get 2 shooters on cam though. Thanks for the help guys
Are there plenty of persimmons? I didn't know a deer could pass a persimmon tree that is dropping persimmons without cruising by for a quick snack. I am betting on nocturnalism. (yes, made up word)
Yea there are tons of persimmons, they are all over the ground too. I don't know about nocturnalism because I dont have any pics at night
