Tom2008

I don't see going nocturnal as being a way of maturing either. You can just as many pictures of the same buck showing up during the day and night. A friend of mine from North Dakota had tons of pictures of this buck that aged around 5 1/2 years old with a great 160 inch rack to boot. He showed up during the day and night and pretty much the same amount too. Mature bucks can go nocturnal because of hunting pressure or too much human precense in their area.

manuman

Technically, deer, including mature bucks are biurnal--meaning they have 2 peak movement periods, dusk and dawn. We all know that this is generally true, due to so many other factors, such as hunting pressure, moon phase, rut phase, weather changes, food availability, etc. Does will go nocturnal on you if you pressure them as well. They all will vanish if pressured enough.

Rob/PA Bowyer

That was totally my answer AP. You saved me some typing.

Honestly, if we were able to bust a buck it's whole life in the darkness, we would train that deer to only move during daylight.