Hotburn76

I have two woods that I hunt regularly. I live up here in NW Ohio so its flat with lots of farming. My honey hole is a birthing/bedding summer woods. And when rut kicks in its a hot spot, killed almost all of my deer there. But after gun season is over and the crops are gone along with a little snow and a hard freeze this woods shuts down, and I know its not because they get shot because most of the surrounding area is no hunting and I am the only one that has permision to hunt. Some of it I know is that their is no real close water supply. But the other woods is just the opposite. A few deer here and there, maybe two or three "resident" does but not much. But boy in late December and January I have seen heards of twenty deer in their. This woods has a nice big creek and lots of oaks. Maybe your deer are deed, or maybe you just have to find their winter home?

rybohunter

You cannot expect to go out and see deer in october then go out 2 months later and see the same deer in the same spot. There's a lot that can happen in the mean time....rut, hunting pressure, food source changes, etc. Heck you could go 2 days in a row and not see deer from one day to the next. Were those the only 2 days you went out this year? Do you hunt that spot regularly?

James B

Its hard to tell since I don't know your area. However if that happened where I hunt, I would know that have changes their food source. Where I hunt, in Oct and Nov, the winter wheat is green and growing and full of deer. However by late Dec abd Jan. The wheat has gone dormant and the deer start feeding in the harvested fields and hay fielllds and stacks. The will change there food source as it becomes necessary.

saltflat

Wouldn't be funny if there was some dirty deer that understood us humans. He could sell out his buddies for some corn or imunity during this years rifle season. That would make it a little easier.

Kamil

well living in new york city....and my hunting spot to be four hours away it is a little hard for me to get there more than 3 times a season but when i go its for a week at a time...the spot is very close to a water source...so it may be the food source or may not... i never have too much time to observe everything when i'm up there...sometimes its better to live out of a big city i guess

Kamil

i forgot to mention that i hunt in a heavily forested and mountanous area

rybohunter

Well then I'd take the first couple days of each week you are there and scout/hunt. Cover as much ground as possible (depending on how much you have access to) and see where the hot sign is. Then plan your hunts accordingly. Also keep tabs on these areas from one year to the next, if you see the same thing every year, you can probably stop having to check that spot each time and you can hunt sooner. When hunting continuously woodedareas look forterrain features that might force deer to use an area more often than others. Ridges, dips, saddles, creek bottoms, etc.