December Doldrums for Deer

by: Steve Layton & Gary Finch, Finch Enterprises
Don't forget to watch Gary Finch Outdoors each Sunday morning at 6:30 AM on WTVY - Channel 4 or visit www.garyfinchoutdoors.com

As long as I’ve been deer hunting, that’s what it has always been called in our part of the state, the “December Doldrums”. The exciting action that occurred earlier in the deer season, from the October bow season and through the month of November, now has suddenly hit a wall in December. Everything has entered a quiet period and the deer that were seen just weeks earlier seem to have disappeared.

Maybe it’s the holidays that cause these deer to suddenly vanish. The added pressure of more traffic and more hunters in the woods would certainly create a situation to have deer moving back into thick cover and becoming more nocturnal. Only a month earlier the deer action was plentiful as oaks were first dropping their acorns and food plots were young and tender. Could it be that the bucks have gotten their fill of feeding and are anticipating the peak of the rut? For three months now, they have been gorging themselves on the mast and field crops that have come into season. Hunters have witnessed some friendly jousting among equally ranked bucks that pushed and shoved each other while they were seen in fields and food plots.

Now, it seems these deer no longer want to tolerate each other. Mature bucks that once traveled together during the summer and early fall, are about to enter a phase that will have them seriously fighting each other for dominance. Their internal clock is telling them that something important is about to happen and they need to pace themselves for this annual event. Big bucks seem content to bed-up alone in thick cover during the day and remain solitary even when making their nocturnal feeding trips. 

It has been ascertained that the length of day is the determining factor for triggering annual deer rut activity. It just so happens that the Winter Solstice for 2009 will occur December 21st. This will be the day which has the shortest amount of daylight in the year. The deer herds have been gradually feeling the effects of  shortened daylight, and following this period, the rut will become even more pronounced. Each deer herd seems to have its own magic date of when the actual peak will occur. Deer herds in neighboring states may experience the rut earlier or later than ours. The fact that Alabama’s deer population stretches from the Gulf, to the foothills of Tennessee, also creates a wide variety of temperatures and geographic changes within the state. But, ultimately, length of day will set the calendar for each herd.     

Both hunters and fishermen have been using some reference form of a solar-lunar table since the beginning of time. They have come to understand that certain seasons, days, and times seem to produce more game activity and better fishing success. The Vector table in Alabama Living is a popular feature that is sought by sportsmen who want to make the best of their outdoor time. Keeping a hunting journal is another way of documenting repeating patterns of game activity.

Hunters who are experiencing the “doldrums” may want to consider short-stopping their bucks by hunting the edges of known bedding areas. This can be done on both morning and afternoon hunts. If bucks are absent from under the oaks and are out of plots during shooting hours, it stands to reason they are moving at night. Success might be found by catching them as they check their scrapes or travel back to the bedding areas at daylight. Afternoon hunts might provide a shot, as bucks emerge from their bedding areas just before dark. Otherwise, it would be well into the night before the same buck actually arrived at a food plot.

Both of these tactics have worked for me in past seasons during the month of December. While other hunters elected to “camp out” on plots with little or no success, I followed the paths of those solitary bucks. When it comes to the “December Doldrums”, hunters need to understand that while food may be an important factor in deer behavior, it’s not the only one that drives their actions.