Where did my deer go...?

[Baggman]

Hi guys,   and gals.   My partner and I have had cams set up on a pretty impressive deer trail. Monroe Blacktail. These are not garden eaters. We bicycle back a few miles. Well we had pictures every few days and then this hot spell hit. Just in time for the opener of course. The deer have vanished from the trail. Do you think its from the weather and what are your thoughts on their where abouts? I'm thinking the rain will put them back on the trail.  Hoyt5199 has a picture of a great rub and he is a few hundred yards away from me on the other side of a small stream. The trails run from his stand to mine.  Any ideas on these blackies??

[Jellymon]

Dont get too frustrated, its very hard to hunt a ghost.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Maybe they got jobs.  Just kidding, but I have a game camera on a well used Mule Deer trail, and it seems like the only time I get pictures is on weekends.  I check the camera every Monday morning, and the pics are almost always from the previous 2 days.  I think the heat, water and food availability have a lot to do with their travel patterns.  That, and the Bow Season opened, and with the popularity of Bow Hunting, maybe they are getting pressured to lay low. 

[Baggman]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had ghost when the hot weather hits.

[Baggman]

Well Doggy sounds like you are getting a pattern anyway. Nobody is hunting where we are. Big timber area. There was a very big bear that walked by the cam and sniffed the 100 pounds of salt I dumped there though.  Maybe predator is keeping them away.

[Bigtine96]

My bull disappeared last week, I know how you feel...

[Heredoggydoggy]

I've had a lot more experience with Whitetails, And from what I've read and heard, Mule Deer and their cousins range a lot farther than Whitetails.  I think my camera results might verify that, to some extent.  Yeah, it's like trying to figure out what a ghost will do!