The Heat Is On and the Deer Are Off … But You Shouldn’t Be

Overall Activity Status: It’s hot across the region. Daytime high temperatures are in the low 90s to 100 degrees. Deer activity is mostly after dark when temperatures cool down. Driving through good deer habitat at this time of year, you would barely know a deer exists. The first and last half hours of daylight are when odds are best to see deer here now.

Fighting: No fighting this time of year. Bucks are still in full velvet and often grouped in summer bachelor herds. The boys are best buds now. That mood will change in October and November when the rut gets closer and girls become more important than friends. Past history tells me mid-September is when the bucks will start stripping velvet.

Rub Making: No rubs reported. Give the calendar two more weeks and rubs on mesquites will start showing up.

Scrape Making: None reported.

Chasing: Bucks in velvet show no interest in does. Chasing typically does not start until mid-October to mid-November, depending on what part of the region you hunt. Chasing is usually later, and the rut is later, in the southern extreme of Texas.

Daytime Movement: My trail cameras show a little daylight activity during the first 30 minutes of light in the morning and the last ten minutes in the evenings. Until temperatures cool, that pattern will continue.

Estrous Signs: None reported.

X Factor: The Texas archery-only season opens September 27, and Oklahoma’s starts October 1. Now is the time to set stands, monitor trail cameras, and practice with broadheads instead of field points.