Deer activity in warm weather?

I was hunting in WMU 85 near Goderich yesterday and the day before, and despite being out there in the bush for two mornings and an evening tree stand hunt, I saw no sign of deer activity whatsoever. There are tracks, but few droppings and no rubs or scrapes . I thought that the first week of November in Southwestern Ontario is normally the early rut time, but I got no response at all to my rattling and grunt calling whatsoever. Is the beginning of the rut delayed thanks to the warm weather or am I simply in the wrong track of land. I am not the most experienced hunter but I have sole access to 50 acres of private land owned by a colleague which usually holds a decent amount of deer. The controlled hunt starts next Monday and I am in a bit of a loss on how to go about it to find some success. Any tips you might have would be greatly appreciated.

warmer weather has them moving less, lots of time hunker down in the swamps and lowlands. this gun hunt will be interesting but i expect with groups running the bush deer will be moving in southern ontario AG lands-- as most bushes will have the orange army out there.
rut will kick off regardless. mix of warm weather slowing down movement and rut kicking off, i expect mid november to be pretty crazy for deer movement. hoping to tag out by then and chasing ducks tho...

Others may correct me, but I read an article, can't remember which one, some time ago that clearly stated that weather had nothing to do when the rut will start. The guy that wrote the article had done extensive research on this topic and said that moon phases and a calendar in their head were the key factors not the weather.

Hey dont let it fool you, I wake up at 6am to go to work every day and ill tell you it's col out there. Near freezing. Now if you hunt anywhere in 72 or 81 areas you would know that the weather changes in a instant. Only takes 1 below 0 night to get the cold air chill going. I was hunting turkeys in spring 1 year on a sunny day and I poop you not it started hailing HARD for like 2 minutes and then just stopped. It was still sunny out while it was hailing too. Weirdest thing I've ever witnessed

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Their shut down here.

I'll be hunting the river bottom at my camp next week. Lots of scrapes last weekend so not too worried.

Last 3 days our group has seen more mature bucks and early in the afternoon then before it got warm,

Fifty acres is not a lot of land to “hold” deer. There’s a good chance that deer are elsewhere in their home range (350 - 650 acres). At this time of year, the does and fawns will be feeding heavily and the bucks will be cruising through those areas checking up on them. Study the land around your property. What crops and forage are growing nearby e.g. Soybeans, corn, grain, alfalfa, etc? How about fruit and mast trees? Maybe one of your neighbours dumped a big pile of bait? Understanding what’s going on and how deer use the larger area is important.

87 activity was slower than usual, it will pick up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jaeger

I was hunting in WMU 85 near Goderich yesterday and the day before, and despite being out there in the bush for two mornings and an evening tree stand hunt, I saw no sign of deer activity whatsoever. There are tracks, but few droppings and no rubs or scrapes . I thought that the first week of November in Southwestern Ontario is normally the early rut time, but I got no response at all to my rattling and grunt calling whatsoever. Is the beginning of the rut delayed thanks to the warm weather or am I simply in the wrong track of land. I am not the most experienced hunter but I have sole access to 50 acres of private land owned by a colleague which usually holds a decent amount of deer. The controlled hunt starts next Monday and I am in a bit of a loss on how to go about it to find some success. Any tips you might have would be greatly appreciated.

---

I hunt less than an hour from you and think we are definitely in the pre rut. My cameras have been showing way more buck activity the last week unfortunately mostly still after dark. But I did see a buck put the run on a doe a few nights ago. I've had no luck with the calling or rattling yet except for a fawn last night trying to act tough. He was on his own for nearly a half hour so maybe mom was off getting railed. I've also seen bucks sparring for 3 weeks already. The action is heating up, just stick with it

The rut is triggered by the amount of daylight hours. Not weather
But weather can sure keep them from being as active during the warm parts of the day

They'll still be moving, weather has nothing to do with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sam Menard

Fifty acres is not a lot of land to “hold” deer. There’s a good chance that deer are elsewhere in their home range (350 - 650 acres). At this time of year, the does and fawns will be feeding heavily and the bucks will be cruising through those areas checking up on them. Study the land around your property. What crops and forage are growing nearby e.g. Soybeans, corn, grain, alfalfa, etc? How about fruit and mast trees? Maybe one of your neighbours dumped a big pile of bait? Understanding what’s going on and how deer use the larger area is important.

---

Thank you so much for the advice, Sam! I think you are dead on! Last year there was an adjacent corn field to the woodlot I hunt, which explains all the deer activity back then, but now the (harvested) cornfields are further down the road. That's probably where all the deer are. Luckily, this is public land. I'll hunt the woods closer to those corn fields next week.

Thanks also to all the other encouraging posts. I think I'm ready to go out again and give it another try next week.

no different than going to a regular bar. if there's a female in heat she will get breed. typically the bulk of does go into estrus now so there will be some movement no matter the temperature

I had a doe on camera then a buck 7 minutes later sniffin'. 57.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DanE

no different than going to a regular bar. if there's a female in heat she will get breed. typically the bulk of does go into estrus now so there will be some movement no matter the temperature

---

LMAO..... good one

Quiet in 76, some doe movement on the cameras. A lot of corn is still up where I'm hunting.

The rut will kick off either tomorrow or Monday. The low morning temps will kick it off and you’ll start getting daylight activity. It’s like clock work, warm weather nothing budges get into low single temps and below and game on! It’s coming, just be ready for this week coming.

Starting to see bucks following does in 82A on cam. I agree with the above comment. I think we will see the rut activity kick up this week with the lower morning temps. I was always under the impression the cooler weather just gets them moving during daylight hours more and that the rut is more a timing issue. I bet we will get the cams just lighting up this week. Plus your fellow neighbors will kick up deer all kinds on Monday. How many times have you heard of that fella shooting a big ole 12 point he never knew was in the area? Rut and pressure can be your best friend. Best of luck to you all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CorporalK

They'll still be moving, weather has nothing to do with it.

---

Agreed. I see no difference. First week of November, things change. I think it was 22° here yesterday. Saw 2 mature bucks on their feet at 10am. 1 gave me a shot [emoji6]
Attachment 44212

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LowbanksArcher

Agreed. I see no difference. First week of November, things change. I think it was 22° here yesterday. Saw 2 mature bucks on their feet at 10am. 1 gave me a shot [emoji6]
Attachment 44212

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

---

Holy f look at those tines

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

I wont say that weather has NOTHING to do with it, but again as other have mentioned, I think the rut is triggered by the photo-period. I think movement is more based on temperature swings and shifts. Just think about the whitetails in the southern US, where its warm(er) than here for much of the season. So "cold" weather is not the be all, end all.

Its largely about swings in temps coming from fronts that seems to spur daylight activity.

shot a buck 10 mins south of goderich yesterday. our group got a couple more today. its on baby!