Here’s a question...if you hunted at or around clear cuts for only the first and last 1-2 hours of light, do you think your BT success would decrease or remain constant? As opposed to hunting all day...
Early season 1st hours last hours. Late in October and Nov late season should be all day. Especially with rain/drizzle
Nice responses guys. All good answers.
BT in cuts - if the trees are Christmas tree size or bigger, the deer will often stay in the cut all day and just bed where they are hidden. Even in the summer, they may stay in the cut all day. When it is hot and sunny, they bed in the shade. As the sun moves and the shade changes, they get up and move to a new spot in the shade - that is your chance during the first few days of Modern firearm or Muzzleoader (earlier) to pop off a shot at a deer you caught up and moving to a new shade position. You've got to be glassing to catch them. If you're only using your eyes, you'll miss most of the action. As the weather cools, the deer seek out the sun when it is near freezing temperatures. They move to S and SW facing slopes that warm more that other areas. These are often the same areas where the most rutting action occurs and where deer winter over while waiting for spring.
If the clearcut has no or only small trees, the deer generally come in and feed just as twilight comes,, though doe will come and go once or twice more during the day. They leave these wide open cuts just as it starts to get light out. This is when paying attention to the trails they exit and enter from can give you a start at a plan for catching them coming or going in the future (though they will often change their feeding areas and trails used based on wind direction) and why you need to be out in your spot before it gets light and hunt till last light in the evenings. In late October, the bucks will be out looking for hot does all night long and then bed in the morning. Somewhere around 10:00 AM they may get back up and start looking again (cruising), which is why many of the best bucks are shot between 10:00 and 3:00 PM during the end of the general season.
RE: Buck trails - correct answers given in previous posts. Typically, when the rut is close, you should guess that the buck is traveling trails downwind of the trails and bedding areas doe use so they can scent check for a hot doe as they travel. On a hillside, the thermals are typically uphill from 9:00 AM or so until a half hour to an hour or so before sundown. A wind indicator spray bottle or similar will tell you when the thermals reverse. In the morning before 9:00 AM (or so) and again in the evening, (when thermals are again going downhill), you would expect that bucks would use trails below the main doe trails/bedding areas on the side of a hill. On less sloped grounds, prevailing winds give you a good idea where the bucks will cruise if you know where the major doe trails are. Typically, buck trails are much less visible (not obvious) . You're eyes can pick up where an animal has traveled recently but you'll often wonder if your correct because the trail is so indistinct. (This info. is mostly from the books. How often it is actually true, I cannot not say. Perhaps someone else has better information)
Also - every deer is an individual. We generalize habits, habitat, food sources, rutting behavior amongst other things. You may happen across a deer that is not doing anything remotely near what we suggest. The moment your mind strays from hunting and you're thinking of things other than hunting, that is the moment that the buck magically appears, spooks, and disappears in just moments and leaves you feeling like an idiot. Stay in the game. When you're tired, sit and give yourself a rest as you watch what's going on around you, then hit it again once you're focused on the hunt.
Lastly - if you spook a deer, do not assume it saw you. They respond to unknown motion nearby and react by fleeing. They often slow or stop at 50 - 75 yards and assess the situation - often in the first cover they get to. That may be your next best chance to get off a shot if you spooked it when you were unaware of its presence (and if you can still see it once it stops.) All is not lost in a situation like this, even if you can't see the deer. Decide whether to wait a few minutes in your current position or pursue (quietly) immediately. Watch your wind and try to guess where the animal will be or go. This is a perfect time to tip a doe bleat can so the animal you scared will believe it freaked from a doe, not a hunter. If, on the other hand, you think the animal winded you, then assume it is gone. Move on.
Really lastly - if you're in the woods and you hear Townsend Squirrels suddenly barking endlessly at some animal outside your immediate area, assume it is a deer traveling through the forest that has freaked out those crazy squirrels. Pursue or prepare for the chance that a buck might appear. These squirrels are one of the best clues that you have some kind of animal in the area, and they are telling you what direction to travel. In late October, rattling, bleating, or grunting might bring the unknown animal towards you. Interpret all other noises you hear as you hunt and try to determine the source. BT deer stomp, bleat, blow, rattle, grunt, and jump, all which create sounds that you should listen for as you hunt.
Have fun. Enjoy Autumn and your time in the field. It will be over all too soon.
