Turning Deer nocturnal

[Ice Chicken]

I hunt in northern MN where I am sure most of the deer in our area have never seen a planted field. A few years ago we made a couple of food plots thinking of maybe giving Deer a better chance of making it through the winter.But now instead of having to search for food they seem to feed at night with little movement in the woods during the day. I sat every day last season in a ladder stand for a few hours at least some times all day and saw 4 Deer all season. Every night Deer in the food plot. I realize there are other factors including if Wolves are working over the area but was just wondering if anyone else was seeing the same thing.

[Fishing_Ace]

I know what you mean. I hunt up there every year and this year was a horrible year for taking deer. There just wasnt that many around.

I think the deer population is declined from the previous 4 years. We had more deer less wolves, now we have more wolves and less deer. Natural order of things, eventually we will have a large deer population again.

[crothmeier]

I agree with the nocturnal thing. I hunt NW MN and it seems like we see more deer driving back to the cabin at night then we do in the stand during the day. . . Also see more predators than deer.

[Fishing_Ace]

This year i had 3 wolves cross one of my lanes

[Ice Chicken]

The problem wasn't not having any deer around it was just they were coming into the food plot after dark. There would be at least 10 most nights. Don't ask how I knew they were there at night - I plead the 5th.

[Musky Buck]

I hear ya, in my area once Mid-october kicks in it's nocturnal time for a lot of the deer in the area. Pressure is the factor in my area, lots and lots of bowhunters, lots and lots of the fields now have spreads of goose decoys in them very often and lots of banging, now the pheasant has rebounded and those sloughs etc. get dog/man pressure. And much of central MN land has deer stands around the property lines/field edges/ then the deer run into more stands on there way inside the woods, heck I'd become nocturnal to, they seem to use the night to load up carefully and for rutting and back to a bedding site by daybreak. But, in my notes the earlier the rifle season the more deer I see, the later it opens the less deer I see. I think November is a big changing month for them to, breeding, heavy eating at times, they just progressively become more and more nocturnal in many areas once the gun hunt kicks in. I certainly don't see more deer on the last day of season vs. the first weekend and I assume we are talking about deer moving on there own and not being pushed. But way up north you are talking about deer that shouldn't be aware any of this is going on. I know a lot of the 9 day weather wasn't great for deer to be on the move. I guess deer are feeling safer after dark for some reason.

[motley man]

I agree that deer are going nocturnal. Also see a great decline in deer population. I do not see the trails in winter as before, and I see more deer in my back yard in town than when hunting in woods. Years past there where deer tracks everywere, and we harvested every year. After the years of multiple tags I don't see the amount of tracks or see them. Used to see many deer in fields at dusk and night, but they just are not there anymore. To many minds making decisions by thinking indoors and not out in the woods where the deer live. Even the farmer's in my area say they don't see the amount of deer as years past. They need to cut back on tags per person and do more studies in areas before they include whole areas for management and intensive harvest. Northern wooded areas are different than farmland, and if a area has to many deer, then the land owners must let more hunters on their land. Deer can be managed, but not by giving 5 tags per person everywere. I have hunted in 60 degree weather and 20 below weather and harvested deer. Human population, houses, and towns expanding all are making a change in the deer population.

[Musky Buck]

Snow- Gets em a little jumpier especially the first good one, also makes them a bit more nocturnal or in my area a lot more nocturnal.

[Black_Bay]

Ice chicken, find out where they are coming and going from. Set up a few stands on those travel corridors and hoprefully you can intercept them as they leave the field in the morning or more likely catch them working their way to the field in the evening.

[Bear55]

Ice Chicken, think of it this way. The woods I hunt up north are incredibly thick, you can't see further than 30 yards in most places and in some areas visibility is much less. These deer spend there entire lives in thick cover and that is what they are use to, anything in the open makes them uncomforable.

How big is your food plot? I might try hunting back in the woods between the bedding area and your food plot like someone suggested earlier. Or maybe put in one or two very small food plots, maybe half acre to acre in size, and use those as hunting plots. A lot of times a mature buck might be willing to show up at one of these smaller plots just before dark when he might be scared to death to show up at a large plot during shooting hours.

[Musky Buck]

Bingo Bear55, Bingo Black_Bay, and ditto to MotleyMan. 1 thing I had to do was my main stand, it took the deer a few years to even feel safe walking through the shooting lanes, then on the extreme end of a lane I'd catch glimpses of deer, they were skirting me and these lanes so I added a ladder stand and recently started hunting it and it's amazing how they stop and look,sniff,and listen toward my perm. stand, but there I am, watching them for once, hoping a mature buck slips up and does the same thing. Less pressure, years ago, my perm. stand was fine because the deer traveled way more on their own during shooting light, not so much anymore. I'm 100% with ya Motley man, for the past 13 years I have driven through Motley or CTY RD 7 south of Motley and have through the years noticed much fewer deer numbers. Seems the right balance is tough to get, used to see way too many deer around Motley, now not even close, but 5 tags per hunter in many areas is too many to harvest or allow to harvest. The larger deer are harvested. I've recently been seeing really large groups of fawns traveling together without a mature deer in the bunch. Nocturnal do to pressure and time of year, human pop. 6 million, more hunting areas are not anymore, few sanctuaries for some of them to grow old in, towns expanding, I hear ya Motley Man.

[Ice Chicken]

Maybe I wasn't clear in the way I asked the question. I don't want to hunt over a food plot it was just to maybe give the deer ahead start on winter. By having food in one spot the deer don't seem to be using the patterns as before planting the plot and I was wondering if anyone else has noticed something similar.Trying to decide whether or not to keep food plot going or maybe after season toss out alphapa instead. Not much hunting pressure for us. We hunt about 4 suare miles with about 6 of us. We have been feeding now and will do so until snow is gone.

[Musky Buck]

Do you guys know a particular bedding area or 3 you could try to get stands close to and hunt on, to catch them before they meander to the plot after dark. A bunch of anti plotters would figure it's cake walk to hunt on them, here you are secluded and have 4 sq. miles to hunt and they still nocturnal the plot. The nocturnal business is what seems to separate the big bucks from the rookies. I have noticed in my area to a much more nocturnal herd even without pressure, my t-cam showed me what was around but you can't force them to be on the hoof without a push during season. Go to my for sale land on the real estate forum and view my T-cam bucks from the fall, all of them are in darkness. Spring goats are in daylight.

[UdeLakeTom]

I have found fresh bedding areas on my way to our stands. These are in the middle of a pasture, no food around either. So where do they go then??? We do not see them in the am, and then try to stay near the edge of the woods sometimes too long in the evening, and nothing comes out.

Maybe they just wait until we start snoring and then know it is safe....the snoring stops, and they are on their way to hiding. Sneaky animals they are.