24 • BIG SKY OUTDOOR NEWS & ADVENTURE
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ON-LINE AT www.bigskyoutdoornews.net
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OCTOBER 2011
When Deer Move - You Better Follow By S. L. Merriam
E very year I speak with sad-faced Montana hunters that lament about the lack of success in their hunting area. They had hunted in this place with their father the last 20 years but over the last three years, hunting success had dropped to zero. What this says is that the habitat has changed but their hunting habits have not!
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Deer are always a moving target - literally. For an eastern hunter the changes are subtle but as timber matures and undergrowth becomes shaded out by a thick canopy, both cover and food disappear. Deer have no sentimental feelings towards a certain mountain or woodlot; when food disappears they move to better range or they starve. When a hunter persists in hunting such places, all he can do is hope for a miracle. Identifying the factors that cause deer to disappear must start with a hunter paying attention to changing food sources and locating the new ones. As summer browse dries up it becomes less appealing and forces deer to search for other foods. The new foods could be natural mast crops like acorns, apples, nuts, or man-made foods in agricultural fields. Finding winter wheat, which will sprout fresh green shoots during hunting season is a good place to start. Agricultural practices are one reason for today’s high deer population. Although suburban sprawl removes habitat, existing farmland remains very expensive making it less desirable for subdivisions. As farms continue to become more efficient in land use the habitat parcels they remove to add more tillable acres eventually increases deer food supply. You rarely hear of good farmland being converted to hardwoods or left to go wild unless the farm has been lost for financial reasons. Deer in agricultural areas will only migrate into the next available corn or bean field. As long as stream bottoms remain untilled there will always be escape cover amid today’s agricultural banquet.
Weather also determines deer movement. In many western locales deer migrate to lower country to reduce the effects of winter. Because they move, time spent hunting the high country, on deer summer range, insures there won’t be any deer when you arrive. As it gets colder deer expand their food search to find higher levels of protein and carbohydrates. Soybeans, being 30% protein, top both natural and planted crops while most other foods are similar to corn and weigh at about 7% protein. Protein utilization becomes a factor that changes deer feeding habits. Trees and bushes, with next spring’s buds, which are small but plentiful, provide up to 15% protein. Grass and other plants along roadsides stay green and healthy long after others dry up. Roadsides stay green because moisture drains to the edge from the crowned pavement. These roadside buffets receive extra water and stay green but often become dangerous food magnets along busy highways. Changing vegetative cover also determines movement. Standing corn provides cover during the summer but when a field ripens and is left standing, it becomes an excellent source of both food and cover. Ask mid-west hunters what happened last fall when rain delayed the corn harvest and the deer disappeared; they had no reason to leave the corn. States like Missouri suffered a significant reduction in their rifle harvest as warm temperatures and pouring rain reduced deer movement. Once the corn is picked however, the standing stubble remains an excellent food source and when a field lays adjacent to thick stream bottom cover; the combination creates a hot spot for an evening watch. Hunters that fail to respond to natural changes in the food, cover, and weather end up complaining about a lack of deer while hunters that move with the deer will have to sort through a lot of bucks before finding the one they want!