Whitetail Security Factors

Vegetation

Because leaves have the ability to alter the light factor there is a shift in deer movement that occurs every fall that most hunters fail to recognize. Once the leaves fall, wooded areas no longer provide as much shade as they did earlier in the season. Consequently the deer begin to move in wooded areas and along travel lanes about a half hour later than they did while the leaves were on the trees. The hunter who has been watching deer appear at 6:30 along a wooded trail for a week and then plans to hunt the trail a week or two later can be in for a big surprise. If the leaves have fallen the deer probably won’t show up until about 7:00, which may be after legal hunting hours.

Available Light

As I mentioned earlier, anything that creates a reduction in the current light factor, making it resemble twilight conditions, may cause deer to begin moving earlier in the evening, and staying later in the morning than normal. These low light factors can cause bucks to make the mistake that hunter’s dream of. Clouds, fog, mist, light rain or light snow often cause deer to move into open areas up to a half hour earlier in the evening and a half hour later in the morning than normal, which means they may move during legal shooting hours. While the light conditions affect all deer they may be different for individual deer. I have kept a detailed record of individual deer movement times, including the subdominant and dominant bucks in my area. The data shows that bucks in general begin to move later in the evening and leave open areas earlier in the morning than the does.

Travel Route Changes

Because vegetation causes a change in the light factor, leaves, or the lack of leaves, cause other changes in deer movement patterns. The travel route of a deer is governed by two major factors, the path of least resistance and the need for security. Just like humans a deer doesn’t normally plow through hip deep mud, brush too thick to get through, or up extremely steep inclines. But, this desire to travel in the area of least resistance is overridden by the need for security. Deer normally travel in areas where they are not easily seen. This security need is also different for each deer. Bucks wear headgear and are more noticeable than does, which makes them more susceptible to being killed and eaten by predators and man. Because of this bucks usually travel, not on the doe highways, but on their own routes, often paralleling the doe trails. These buck trails often wind through heavy cover in gullies, creek bottoms, overgrown roads, or where they are out of sight of the top or bottom of the hill.

Early in the year when leaves are still on brush and trees the deer feel secure moving in vegetation paralleling open areas. But, once the leaves fall deer can easily see the open area and they feel insecure. This causes them to move farther into cover. After the leaves fall deer often move later than they did when the leaves were on the trees. This really hit home with me while hunting a trail that paralleled a road. Early in the season the deer used a trail about seventy-five yards from the road. During the week the leaves fell, the deer moved to a trail twenty yards from the road, farther into the woods. I couldn’t understand why the deer stopped using the original trail until I got down from my stand and stood on the first trail where I could see the cars driving past. When I stood on the second trail I could no longer see the cars. With the leaves gone the deer felt more secure on the second trail, which was farther into the woods.

Wind

Strong winds can carry scents to a deer and cause alarm. Strong winds can also cause scent to bounce of trees in thick woods, making it difficult for deer to determine which direction the scent came from. In either case strong winds make deer uneasy and hard to hunt. Winds between 10 and 15 miles per hour cause deer to seek shelter in areas with less wind. They stay in low areas, heavy cover or the downwind sides of hills and woods, where they can smell and determine scent direction better while moving and feeding. They may not leave their bedding areas during high winds

With their large rotating ears deer hear better than humans, and they probably hear every sound around them. But, when high winds rattle tree branches and leaves it makes it difficult for deer to distinguish one sound from another, and they become nervous. The point is that a deer’s survivability depends on its ability to smell and hear. When high winds make it difficult for deer to hear or smell properly they do not move far from secure areas. When they do move it is usually in areas where there is less wind and less noise.

Thermal Currents

Thermals, air currents that move up and down the contours of the land, affect deer movement because they also carry scent. Thermal currents usually move uphill as the temperature warms during the morning and move downhill as temperatures fall during the evening. Deer take advantage of this by bedding on hillsides during the day where they catch scents on the uphill currents. When the deer begin to move toward feeding areas in the late afternoon they often move downhill, which allows them to detect scent on the currents that are still moving uphill. During the night deer often bed in low areas where they can detect any scents on downhill thermals currents. As the deer move uphill toward their daytime bedding areas at sunrise they detect scents on the thermals which are moving downhill.

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