They've done the bolt...

[special]

This weekends hunt was the first time this season we havent seen a deer...numbers have been steadily falling since the rutt..it seems they've left for their other teritory...where ever that is???....my mate about 20km away has noticed the same over there...none to be found anywhere....suppose we will just have to wait for their return...maybe a few foxes and bunnies may keep us busy...

[DavidJHardy]

why do they go away after the rut? and how far do they go... cos i often hear of people saying that when the rut finishes all the bucks go away... so they must still be somewhere so why don't people still hunt them?

[Will S]

i have noticed the same... there moving paterns have completely changed and they have just disapeared, especially the stags/bucks (some have been shot though) whre do they go and why?

[Clemo]

Same here, last two trips to look for a deer have been duds, no fresh sign no animals.
I even stuck a game cam in a hot spot for 5 days, not one deer to be seen.:confused:

[jindydiver]

At this time of the year the deer need the best tucker they can find so they can grow babies and prepare for new antler growth. The areas you see them in during the rut are not always the places where this great feed is found, but more like the places where they are more comfortable telling the world they are ready for a root.

Do you have places nearby that are irrigated, or have lucerne or oats planted? Forests next to these spots are worth a look in the post rut.

[macka]

I agree with jindy. On a couple of the places i hunt fallow the big bucks and majority of the deer leave the hills after the rut and start feeding out into the crops this time of year and sheltering in scattered pieces of scrub and creeklines around the farm country. Pretty hard country to get the drop on so i usually await their return.

Same with the rusa down the southeast i see heaps before the rut but when the rut is on they all dissapear into the thick park and do their thing. I dont see any out on the improved pasture.

Doesn't look like i'll get a crack at the rusa this year tho... bummer

Macka

[hunt or be hunted]

i went out today for a very quick look at a crop where the deer were ment to be feeding. didnt see any sign, well i took a couple of photos that could of been from a deer. great country, sounds a bit like what macka is talking about, its on the edge of open farm land and has a creek running between the open and thicker scrub, perfect country for fallow.

i will try get back there tomorrow for a few hours in the hills.




Dan.

[special]

My targets have moved to a wooded hill that drops onto an irrigated winter crop..trouble is its owned by the national trust ..who are renaming it 'deer park'...its prob gonna end up a bed and brekkie for greenies...anyway..no ones allowed in there any more,so ill have to wait for them to come back across the road...bummer!...i can actually see the odd one thru my 90x spotting scope...just cant get to em...