Deer Movement Forecast: The Best Days to Hunt This Week

“within the reproductive season, movements and space use were greatest during the rut, followed by pre-rut and post-rut, and least during the non-breeding season.”

Simoneaux 2015 Bucks cover the most ground during the rut, then the pre rut and post rut, and the least outside the breeding season.

“Hunters should remember that breeding periods vary annually and peak breeding times are not necessarily peak buck movement times. Bucks may be more active before or after peak breeding periods, but research has shown that peak buck movement is one to two weeks before peak breeding.”

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Buck movement peaks one to two weeks before peak breeding, which is why the chasing week scores highest.

“Once the peak of the rut arrives a week or two later, hunters will typically see fewer bucks because they are courting and breeding receptive does, rather than searching for receptive does.”

Mississippi State Deer Lab At peak breeding, bucks stay with a doe, so the lockdown week scores lower than the weeks before it.

“During the rut, males will expand their home range 2-4 times in size.”

Farther and Faster, 2023 Rutting bucks roam two to four times their usual range.

“within each region the duration is relatively consistent; about 30-45 days with most of breeding taking place within a 21-day period centered on the peak breeding date. There may be a second, much smaller peak of breeding 3-4 weeks later”

Mississippi State Deer Lab Most breeding falls in the three weeks around the peak, with a smaller second peak three to four weeks later.

“Activity was greater at night than during the day and was highest within 2 hours of sunrise or sunset.”

Wandering in the Moonlight, 2017 Deer move most in the two hours around sunrise and sunset, which is where the best window sits every day.

“Female and male movements were primarily crepuscular.”

Webb et al. 2010 Both bucks and does move mostly at dawn and dusk.

“If we look at the average hourly speed of Buck 12776 from November 3rd through November 12th – the two weeks leading up to when half the does are bred – there are no morning and evening bursts of activity.”

Chasing the Ladies, 2017 In the chasing days before the peak, a collared buck moved all day, so the window opens up to midday.

“activity of both sexes decreased with increasing daytime ambient temperatures, and generally increased with increasing nighttime temperatures during the breeding and post- breeding seasons.”

Goethlich 2019 In the breeding season, deer moved less by day as the daytime temperature rose.

“Changing weather can stimulate deer movement, but a drop in temperature does not influence when the breeding season occurs.”

Mississippi State Deer Lab A change in weather can get deer moving, while the rut keeps its own dates.

“Deer may respond to cold fronts but we likely would need a lot more data to tease out any effect.”

Cold Wet Winds of Change, The Verdict, 2023 The cold front effect is real enough to count and small enough to keep modest.

“First off, I could find no effect of temperature on deer movements.”

Deer and Rain, 2015 Penn State found no temperature effect, which is why the cold front lift is capped at 14 points.

“temperatures above 25˚C caused increased energy expenditure due to heat stress”

Goethlich 2019, citing Holter et al. 1975 Above 77 degrees, deer spend energy just staying cool, so a hot day loses points.

“activity of both sexes decreased with increasing daytime ambient temperatures, and generally increased with increasing nighttime temperatures during the breeding and post- breeding seasons.”

Goethlich 2019 In the breeding season, deer moved less by day as the daytime temperature rose.

“when it rains they travel about 4-tenths of a mile less per day.”

Deer and Rain, 2015 Bucks travel about four tenths of a mile less on a rainy day.

“Rain alone causes a decrease in buck movement.”

Blown Away, 2018 Rain on its own cuts buck movement.

“For females I found NO EFFECT of rain on their movements.”

Deer and Rain, 2015 Does kept moving in the rain, so a wet day loses 8 points, not more.

“less likely to be active when rain was falling at night, and more likely to be active when rain was falling during the day.”

Goethlich 2019 In South Carolina, daytime rain did not stop deer, which is another reason the rain penalty stays small.

“Tomberlin (2006) observed that white-tailed deer were most active when barometric pressure was stable and were less active as barometric pressure increased or decreased.”

Goethlich 2019, citing Tomberlin 2006 Deer were most active with a steady barometer, so a steady day earns 3 points and a big swing costs 3.

“change in barometric pressure was a better predictor of activity than barometric pressure at the time of each activity event, although patterns of activity relative to barometric pressure change were not consistent across sexes, seasons, or diel period in our study.”

Goethlich 2019 The change in pressure matters more than the reading, and even that is inconsistent, so the barometer is worth 3 points at most.

“It seems that for both males and females, deer move MORE during a windy day, but they’ll move LESS during a windy night!”

Wind’s Surprising Effects, 2015 Collared deer moved more on windy days, so wind does not lower the rating.

“A strong wind caused buck activity to increase significantly whether or not it was raining but had no effect on does.”

Blown Away, 2018 Strong wind raised buck activity and left does unchanged.

“Additionally, female activity decreased with increasing wind speed.”

Goethlich 2019 In South Carolina, does were less active at night as wind rose, the opposite pull, so wind scores zero either way.

“We found moon phase had no effect on daily, nocturnal, and diurnal deer movements and fine-scale temporal weather conditions had an inconsistent influence on deer movement patterns within season.”

Webb et al. 2010 Moon phase had no effect on how far deer moved, day or night.

“Moon phase has an insignificant effect on deer movement”

Wandering in the Moonlight, 2017 Penn State found the same: the moon barely registers.

“There is no relationship between the rut and the moon.”

How to Predict the Rut, 2014 The moon does not set the rut dates either.