Scott from IL asks,
Bill, I've always wondered... when do mature bucks get up out of their beds and start roaming around and vise versa in the morning? The number of pics that I tend to get in the middle of the night of mature bucks that I know are living nearby, suggest that they may stay bedded well after dark even though thats hard to imagine. Perhaps the moon phase has something to do with this? Maybe they get up but just browse nearby...not covering much ground... Kind of like midday feeding patterns? I just can't imagine that it's taking 3 to four hours or more to make it to a destination food source. It just seems way to common to me that in all my hunting spots, most mature buck pics are middle of the night. Would love to hear what you think. Thanks Scott
Bill responds,
Topic: Nocturnal Bucks:
Prior to the rut and during the times of the year when acorns are dropping heavily, some bucks won’t even leave the timber. They will spend their entire night in the timber eating acorns and browsing.
Scott,
It doesn’t make sense to me. If it was my farm, I would have to assume they are not bedding nearby. I would assume that I am not on the fringe of their core areas and they are up browsing and working their way closer from some distance off. Or they are just feeding on acorns and not really that interested in your destination food source. That might be it.
If that is not possible, then you got me on this one. In my experience, most mature bucks are on their feet roughly around sunset, sometimes a touch earlier. They may browse or mill around in their bedding areas for a while before going to the ag fields. In fact, it is quite possible that they might feed on acorns and never get out of the timber during this time of the year.
Unless it is possible they are coming from a ways off, my guess is that they are staying in the timber eating acorns. Good luck. (9/20/22)
