The woods today.....explain this......

B

bswiv

New member
So Louann and I went to the woods this morning with the plan being to trim the limbs along one of the new fire breaks that has been cut and then make a couple of passes down it with the tractor/harrow. The trimming was to keep me from getting a face full of limb as I ran the tractor.

Now it's hot here in Florida.......and HUMID....100% at the lowest.......and the bugs.....lord the bugs, but we're idiots so we went at it. By noon or so we were soaked, bit, hungry.......basically out of steam, so we decided to just spend a little while riding the roads while drinking a coke.

And what in the heck do we see over the next couple of hours.......? Lots of deer!!

Not just one or two but a dozen in groups of 2 to 3. A couple had spots, one was a GIANT ( Marked the spot! ) and the rest were healthy looking.

Now all these deer were feeding in 90+ degree full sun with 100% humidity and with the yellow flies/mosquito's/deer flies all off the charts.

What in the world were they thinking??????

And this is FLORIDA, thick woods as you can see from the picture, so we're not talking a pasture where you can see a hundred acres at a time.

Second picture is of a spotted turtle Louann found while we were wandering about.......one of the more attractive Florida turtles......and not to common either.

The second picture of the turtle was a accident......but it is interesting to look at. She's in the water..............

And yes......the bath after all that fun felt good..............

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Sounds like a fun day, sweat, bugs and all! :D

I took BossMama down to Panacea; we ODed on fried crab claws at Posey's On The Bay.
 
hungry

Hey bswiv,

I've seen that here in AL in mid summer also, when the fawns start to drop and mamma deer start to nurse. My logic is that mamma is now eating for two, herself and the fawn. Not that she wasn't before, but the fawn is now really growning and mamma needs calories. I have also seen big does that appear just about to drop (fawns) feeding mid day, terrible heat and humidity on soy bean fields, same concept, high protien chow down for her and soon to be newborn.

This is my theory, and I cannot substantiate with data, but I have seen many times and is the conclusion I have come to.
 
I have seen it a lot lately. Usually a big doe feeding during the day. I bet she has a fawn stashed in the brush. That way she run if she has to. See a lot around power line towers. You can bet there is a fawn hidden in the brush under the tower.
 
When they are nursing, they need to drink a lot of water to produce the required amount of milk. Add to that the heat, and they will need to drink even more. I am sure they are also eating when they go to find water for a drink.

Another factor may be the coyotes and other predators don't seem to like the heat either. The heat of the day may be a good time for the deer to leave their young in search of water and food.
 
The water/extra food/coyote avoidence theory makes good sense.

And it certianly fits with the fact that we did not see the first fuzzy bit of new horn on any of them........not even the really big one.

Just a lot of does stuffing themselves.
 
Some claim deer are smarter than they're given credit for. My wife swears that during hunting season they somehow manage to find there way to places where there is no hunting but maybe it's only the survivors. Of course, these are suburban deer, who I suppose have their own habits. Those that live in the city naturally are a little different and they don't worry about hunting. There is some hunting in the suburbs around here.

This is not a new thing either. There is a photo in L.L.Bean's book published in 1940 of a deer standing in front of a tent somewhere in Maine. He said don't expect to see one that close during hunting season.

They should all be a little more careful on the roads. Deer carcasses are not an unusual sight around here. But it's been a while since I've seen one here where I work, so I wonder if the range of an individual animal or family is larger than you would expect.
 
"My wife swears that during hunting season they somehow manage to find there way to places where there is no hunting but maybe it's only the survivors."

When hunting season begins, people head toward the boonies, right? Noise. Scent. Motion. All that is different. To wild critters, different = danger. What do critters do about danger? Go elsewhere.

"Elsewhere" need not be a great distance away, but they move away from disturbance. Doesn't matter if you're setting up camp or walking to a stand.

Bucks which survive--and does, as well--do whatever seems necessary to avoid detection. This often means changing from a daylight feeding/watering pattern to a night time pattern.
 
I believe some deer are very smart. I remember a first day of doe here in Pa. with snow on the ground. My wife had shot a doe early and we were leaving around 11:00. We drove down into the valley and there was a herd of deer circling way out in an open field in front of a farm. They did not know where to go and they just milled around in a circle while slowly moving to the side. There was one good sized buck in the middle and he tried everything to keep a couple deer between our truck and himself. No doubt in my mind he understood the concept of what a rifle could do.
 
I leave my game cameras out all year. Here in North Alabama the temperature during the summer is usually in the 90's. I get more pictures of deer during the day than I do at night. And not just one or two deer, but six or eight at a time is common. I once got 13 deer in one picture at one of my salt licks.

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Some claim deer are smarter than they're given credit for. My wife swears that during hunting season they somehow manage to find there way to places where there is no hunting but maybe it's only the survivors. Of course, these are suburban deer, who I suppose have their own habits. Those that live in the city naturally are a little different and they don't worry about hunting. There is some hunting in the suburbs around here.
Click to expand...

The only time of year deer are routine on my 5 acre nearly rural place is about when pre-season scouting begins... Otherwise it is not so attractive with the dogs etc... feeder be danged...:D

Brent
 
Yep. I leave my camera out all year down by my pond. The only time I see deer regularly is when the hunters are in the woods. I am fairly rural but 1 mile down the creek is 11,000 acres of managed paper company timber.
 
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