1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your guide to 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: the whitetail woods, presented by First Light, creating proven versatile 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. This week on 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 2: the show, we are reviewing what science and in the 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 2: field research studies can tell us about the whitetail rut 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 2: and how to hunt it. All right, welcome back to 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 2: the Wired Hunt podcast, brought to you by First Light 10 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 2: and their Camera for Conservation Initiative, and today we are 11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 2: getting ready for the super bowl of the white tail season, 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 2: the rut. We are just about their, folks. If you're 13 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 2: listening to this right when this episode drops, we are 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 2: in that la third of October. The pre rut is 15 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 2: ramping up across most parts of the country and the 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 2: rut is just ahead of us. We're all very excited 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 2: about it. We are all amped up about it. Our 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 2: rut cations are about to start, and over the next 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 2: two weeks we are going out more than that. Really, 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 2: the next three four weeks probably we're going to be 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 2: discussing all things rut. But today I want to start 22 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 2: with a scientific perspective. Next week a little teaser here, 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 2: I'm going to be reviewing and doing a November kind 24 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: of decoding November breakdown, similar to what I did a 25 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 2: few weeks ago for October. So we're going to hear 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 2: from a number of different experts on how they approach 27 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 2: hunting during the rut. Today, I want to take a 28 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 2: step back and not just talk tactics and actually talk science. 29 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: So what do the studies show. What does the research 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 2: show about the breeding phase of the year for whitetail deer, 31 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 2: About behavior during this phase of the year, About how 32 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 2: deer utilize their territories, how do they move, how do 33 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 2: they interact? What does all of this mean for us 34 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 2: as hunters? How do you time the rut? How do 35 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 2: you predict the rut? Can you predict the rut? All 36 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 2: of this and much much more will be discussed today. 37 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 2: I have two different guests joining me. The first guest 38 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 2: is Dwayne Diefenbach. He is a affiliate professor of Wildlife 39 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 2: Ecology at Penn State University and the lead on a 40 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 2: more than ten year study now through Penn State University 41 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 2: called the Deer Forest Study, in which they have been 42 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 2: radio coloring GPS, coloring bucks and does in several different 43 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 2: sites across Pennsylvania and studying their movements and impacts on 44 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 2: the landscape and much much more. But for the purposes 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 2: of our discussion today, Dwayne and his team have analyzed, 46 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 2: looked at, and parsed out a ton of data related 47 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 2: to how deer moved during the rut, how they behave 48 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 2: during the rut, how their movements change, you know, day 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: by day, week by week. They have a really interesting 50 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 2: rut tracker on their website which you can go back 51 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 2: and look at more than ten years of data and 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 2: the averages of that data to see you know, cumulative 53 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,959 Speaker 2: distance traveled and you know when those you know, movements 54 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 2: start changing and ramping up and all that kind of stuff. 55 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 2: So today, the first portion of this podcast is my 56 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 2: conversation with Dwayne about what he's learned about the Whitetail rut, 57 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 2: what their studies have shown, you know, comparing and contrasting 58 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 2: some conventional wisdom about the rut with what his studies 59 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 2: have shown as well. Very interesting stuff. That's part one 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 2: of this episode. Part two of this episode is actually 61 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 2: a little bit of a time machine. We're going to 62 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 2: go back more than ten years ago to a previous 63 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 2: episode that I recorded on this very same topic. We 64 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 2: did a similar take a science of the whitetail rut 65 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: type of episode, but this was way back in twenty fourteen, 66 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 2: back before most of you were probably listening, and it 67 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: was a pretty darn great episode. I really enjoyed it. 68 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: My guest for that one was my pal Matt Ross, 69 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 2: who is now the Senior Director of Conservation for the 70 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 2: National Deer Association. Back then, it was the QTMA he 71 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 2: worked for, and I don't know what his title was 72 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 2: back then, but he's smarter, older, and more senior in 73 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 2: the organization now, so we'll give him the title of 74 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 2: senior director today in twenty twenty five. But what he 75 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 2: shared then is still really interesting today. So I went 76 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 2: back and listened to that episode, and I pulled out 77 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 2: several excerpts from that conversation that I thought would be 78 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 2: relevant to our conversation up today. So part one Dwayne, 79 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 2: Part two, Matt Ross. Both conversations are about the science 80 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 2: of the white tail rut, what the research shows, and 81 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 2: how we as hunters can kind of take what that 82 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 2: research tells us and overlay it on top of our 83 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 2: own personal lived hunting experience, and you're gonna hear a 84 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 2: lot about this, a lot of this discussion around well, 85 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 2: the research says this, but as a hunter, I see that. 86 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 2: How do you make sense of that? How do you 87 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 2: take those two data sets, you know, your anecdotal experience 88 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 2: and what the research says, and how do you bring 89 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 2: those two things together to put together a plan that 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 2: makes sense. Especially in part two of this where we 91 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 2: are talking with Matt, you're gonna hear us kind of 92 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 2: wrestling with that challenge. I think it is a valuable 93 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 2: wrestling match of sorts to think through all of this 94 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 2: to say, how do I use this data but then 95 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 2: also my intuitions as a hunter to make sure I 96 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 2: make the best of the white tail rut. That's what 97 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 2: I'm hoping we can do here today with this conversation. 98 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 2: That's why I'm excited to bring it to you today. 99 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 2: So one more heads up for the second portion of 100 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 2: this conversation with Matt, we don't have video, so I 101 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 2: apologize to those of you watching this on YouTube. Back 102 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 2: in twenty fourteen, we were not recording video. Also, back 103 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 2: in twenty fourteen, I was a lot younger, maybe less articulate, 104 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 2: So forgive me if my questions aren't so good, if 105 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 2: the quality of the interviewing isn't quite so good. But 106 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 2: I will say we got a little humor in this 107 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 2: excerpt because my buddy Dan Johnson was co hosting with 108 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 2: me back then, so you will see a little Dan 109 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 2: Johnson cameo in the Matt Ross excerpt as well. So, 110 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 2: without any further ado, I've been rambling too long as 111 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 2: I do, Let's get to my chat with Dwayne Diefenbach 112 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 2: from Penn State University, and then an excerpt from my 113 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 2: chat with Matt Ross from way back in twenty fourteen, 114 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 2: all about the science of the whitetail rut. All right 115 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 2: with me now on the line is Dwayne Diefenbach. Dwayne, 116 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining me. 117 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 3: Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. 118 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 2: We chatted. I don't know if you remember this, but 119 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 2: we chatted on this podcast. It did not seem this 120 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 2: long ago, but I went back and checked. It was 121 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 2: twenty seventeen, so about eight years ago we last had 122 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 2: a conversation about your work and the Deer Force study, 123 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 2: and I know you guys have been hard at it 124 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 2: ever since. Uncovering many other secrets and mysteries and discoveries 125 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 2: when it comes to the world of interactions between deer 126 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 2: and the ecosystem around them. But I wonder this, I'm 127 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 2: just gonna rip off the band aid. There's gonna be 128 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 2: no niceties here. There's gonna be no beating around the bush. 129 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 2: If you were to look back over the course of 130 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,239 Speaker 2: this study. If I'm right, I think you guys started 131 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 2: the deer for study in twenty thirteen, right, yeah, okay, 132 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 2: And then you just mentioned to me that you've been 133 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 2: studying whitetail deer for even longer than that, for twenty 134 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 2: five or so years. What would you say, since beginning 135 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 2: this set of studies, what would you say is the 136 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 2: single most fascinating discovery or insight that you've uncovered about 137 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 2: the whitetail rut since beginning this inquiry. 138 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 3: Well, I guess it would be the work that we 139 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 3: did in the early two thousands where Pennsylvania implemented Antler 140 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 3: point restrictions. So we greatly increase the number of males 141 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 3: in the population, and we also, because of high deer densities, 142 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 3: reduce the population overall by about twenty three percent. So 143 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 3: we had fewer deer, fewer females, more older males, and 144 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 3: nothing changed in recruitment in the population. 145 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 2: What do you make of that? 146 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 3: Well, I make it. What do I make of it? 147 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 3: It's I think what it is is white tail deer 148 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 3: are so productive, especially in Pennsylvania, we're kind of at 149 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 3: the sweet spot. We don't have severe winners. We've got 150 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 3: fairly product high productivity in our forests and food resources, 151 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 3: so fairly high recruitment that that you can that white 152 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 3: tail deer populations can sustain real changes to their sex 153 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 3: and age structure and it has little effect on recruitment. 154 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 2: So one of the pieces of conventional knowledge that I 155 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 2: that I've picked up over the years, and that's been 156 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 2: discussed much throughout the world of deer management, is this 157 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 2: idea that a unbalanced, aid structured deer herd with a 158 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 2: disproportionate number of young bucks and many more bucks than 159 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 2: dough So maybe this is what Pennsylvania used to be 160 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 2: like that in that type of scenario, the belief was 161 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 2: that you might have a more spread out rut and 162 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 2: a rut that's less frenzied and less uh, you know, 163 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 2: there's not as much competition for breeding rights, And so 164 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: the idea was, if you have a deer herd like that, 165 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: the rut is going to be less concentrated, less exciting 166 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 2: for a hunter. The alternative was, if you had a 167 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 2: better managed deer herd with a more balanced a structure, 168 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 2: a more balanced sex structure, that you would have a 169 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 2: more intense run. Did you look at anything like that? 170 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 2: Is has there been any change when it? Is it 171 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,839 Speaker 2: a little bit more concentrated? Is it a little bit 172 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 2: more intense from a visible perspective? Or or truly is 173 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 2: there zero difference? 174 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,319 Speaker 3: We failed to detect a different So, and I'll let 175 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 3: me explain a little bit. 176 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 4: Uh. 177 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 3: Pennsylvania before and after implementing Antler point restrictions would check 178 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 3: roadkilled females to look at the number of embryos. So 179 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 3: when you do that, you can measure the size of 180 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 3: the embryo and you can then calculate when that female 181 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 3: became pregnant, and you can look at that by the 182 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 3: age structure of the of the females. You know, we 183 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:05,200 Speaker 3: would expect older females to probably breed earlier because they're 184 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 3: in better physical condition. We would also expect them to 185 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 3: have more offspring, you know, year and a half old, 186 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 3: or excuse me, females that got pregnant as a fawn 187 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 3: and we're giving birth as a one year old. You 188 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 3: would expect that to be a fairly low percentage, and 189 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,199 Speaker 3: it varies widely in Pennsylvania because in our northern tier 190 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 3: we have lower quality habitat and very few of those 191 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 3: fawns get pregnant, whereas in the southern tier it can 192 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 3: be up to fifty percent of them. So you would yeah, 193 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 3: so this is kind of complicated, but hopefully I can 194 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 3: make a story that makes sense here. So, so we've 195 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 3: we tracked deer before and after we reduce the population, 196 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,839 Speaker 3: so and there were more older bucks, so you could 197 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 3: make we could make some predictions. 198 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 2: Right. 199 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 3: First of all, we could predict that if what you 200 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 3: were saying is true, the conventional wisdom that we would 201 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 3: see less variants in the in when females got pregnant, 202 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 3: so you would expect that to read to decline over 203 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 3: time as we reduce the population, had more older bucks 204 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 3: in the population. 205 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 2: A smushed in bell curve, right, yes, exactly. 206 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 3: And then and then the other thing you might predict, well, 207 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 3: maybe it's a little bit earlier because they're getting bread, right, away, right, 208 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 3: And and also you might expect more young animals eventually 209 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 3: if you reduce the population and there's more food out there. 210 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 3: So what limits you know fawns is they have to 211 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 3: hit a certain weight before they will go into estros. 212 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 3: And so if there's more food out there because you 213 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 3: have fewer deer, you might expect the percentage of funds 214 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 3: to increase that get pregnant. And so we were able 215 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 3: to test that and it nothing, right, The variability didn't change, 216 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 3: The timing didn't change. Nothing. It's November thirteenth every year. 217 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 3: You can just set your calendar to it. 218 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 2: Okay, So let's cover our bases, kind of working backwards 219 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 2: from what you just stated, which is that the peak 220 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 2: of breeding that you found in Pennsylvania is November thirteenth, 221 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 2: year after year. Despite that, everyone loves to theorize about 222 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,479 Speaker 2: all the different other things that might impact the rut. 223 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 2: So you have been studying and tracking collar deer specifically 224 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,559 Speaker 2: in the Deer study for I guess twelve years now, 225 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 2: thirteen years now, let's just walk through a few of 226 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 2: the things that folks typically like to say might impact 227 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,079 Speaker 2: the rut. I know what your answer will be, but 228 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 2: let's just dive into it and see if there's any 229 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 2: maybe small discrepancies. The moon is popularly pointed to as 230 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 2: an influence on the rut. I believe you've done pretty 231 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 2: extensive work comparing and contrasting all of your data to 232 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 2: possible moon phases. Can you tell me what you saw there? 233 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, that it doesn't affect it at all. I mean, 234 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 3: there's no relationship. It's a flat line. It doesn't matter 235 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 3: what the day is of the peak. The half the 236 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 3: females are bred by November thirteenth every year. So but 237 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 3: let me back up a little bit because I know 238 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 3: you're going to ask what the next question is going 239 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 3: to be, probably, but we have. 240 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 4: To do it. 241 00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 3: I think we have to talk a little bit about 242 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 3: the ecology of wait tail deer, so please so and 243 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 3: actually an evolutionary ecology standpoint. So why why do deer 244 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 3: get pregnant in the fall? 245 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 2: You know? 246 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 5: Why? 247 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 3: Is that date? Well, female gets pregnant and that that 248 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 3: fawn is going to be in gestation for about two 249 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 3: hundred and ten days. So that means that if you 250 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 3: add two hundred and ten days to November thirteen, that's 251 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 3: basically Memorial Day. So what's the advantage of being born 252 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 3: in Memorial Day versus April first or July second. Well, 253 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 3: the advantage is from a long term perspective, is that 254 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 3: fawns that are born on that date are born as 255 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 3: early as they possibly can to be as big as 256 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 3: they can going into winter, and they're born as late 257 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 3: as they possibly can while minimizing the risk of being 258 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 3: dying from exposure to harsh weather conditions. And so really, 259 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 3: fawns funds or wait tail deer have evolved to give 260 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 3: that peak birth in the spring to maximize the survival 261 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 3: of fawns in surviving the next winter. Well, what's the 262 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 3: best thing that's going to tell you? What can you 263 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 3: rely on in November every year to tell you that 264 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 3: you should get pregnant now in order to give birth 265 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 3: at the optimal time in the spring. 266 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 2: And I believe the answer is the answer the the 267 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 2: number of pumpkin pies sold at Costco and how that 268 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 2: rises out. 269 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 3: It would be if that's if that's related to day 270 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 3: length and that people buy more pumpkin pies. So so 271 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 3: there's day length is the trigger and people have proven 272 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 3: it so as days get shorter, that triggers hormonal changes 273 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 3: in wait till deer. And and because that's the best 274 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 3: predictor of when the best time is to get pregnant, 275 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 3: to give birth at the best time of year. So yeah, 276 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 3: because otherwise I don't know of any other predictor that's 277 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 3: going to tell you when's the best time to give 278 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 3: put that phone on on the ground. 279 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 2: So so follow up question to this because yes, yes, 280 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 2: so so photo period as you described has been well 281 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 2: proven to be that consistent factor. That lead is too consistent. Uh, 282 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 2: you know, bonder up. Some people would say, and I 283 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 2: just simply don't understand the physiology enough myself to dispute it. 284 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 2: But some people would say that why couldn't the moon, 285 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 2: the light from the moon somehow influence deer, just as 286 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 2: light from the sun influences deer. Why why is that 287 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 2: not the case? And I simply just don't understand the 288 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 2: biology enough to answer that myself. 289 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 3: Well, a couple of things. I mean, you know, it's 290 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,959 Speaker 3: a reasonable hypothesis because there's lots of things that are 291 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,159 Speaker 3: affected by the moon, especially if you relate live in 292 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 3: the ocean. But but I'd say two things that complicate that. 293 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 3: One is moonlight. Despite the fact that you can read 294 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 3: a newspaper in the in the middle on a bright, 295 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 3: you know, full moon. I do not believe that that 296 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 3: is enough light energy to trigger hormonal changes in deer. 297 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 3: You really need that day length is what's going to 298 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 3: cause it. Second of all, weather could screw that all up, right. 299 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 3: You can have a week of rainy weather and it 300 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 3: might be the full moon. 301 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 2: And so. 302 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 3: Why would you rely on something that or actually they're 303 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 3: not relyingt you're saying it could change it, but it 304 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 3: could you know, be messed up by just random weather. 305 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 2: Well, and it must be deeply programmed in a deer 306 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 2: because because the same thing could hypothetically happen with weather, 307 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 2: I mean, sorry, with with photo period. Right, So what 308 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 2: you just described, we might have ten days of cloudiness 309 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 2: where it feels very dark and they are not actually 310 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 2: feeling the typical effects of changing sunlight, right, But it 311 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 2: must be this circadium rhythm, this internal clock that is 312 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 2: built into them over years and years and years in 313 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:08,360 Speaker 2: which their body has adapted to what the typical daylight 314 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 2: changes would be, so that even if they do have 315 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 2: a ten day stretch where it's not what it should 316 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 2: be in late October or early November, the body is 317 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 2: programmed to still have that is that is that? 318 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,360 Speaker 3: And I think you know that day length is acting 319 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 3: over months, it's not for weeks, so yeah, it's acting 320 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 3: at a different timescale, so there's less variability that can 321 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 3: be introduced into it. 322 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 5: You know. 323 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,479 Speaker 3: It's kind of a subtle point and in when you 324 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 3: think about deer, and it's easy to talk about decisions 325 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 3: that they make, but it's really you know, we it's 326 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 3: a tough concept. I don't know if we want to 327 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,479 Speaker 3: get into it here, but we talk about approximate and 328 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 3: ultimate reasons for doing things. And the ultimate reason and 329 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 3: that the deer get pregnant in November is because of 330 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 3: that fawn survival. But there are the approximate queue is 331 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 3: that day length, right, that's what's causing it. But the 332 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 3: evolutionary advantage of giving birth in May is the ultimate 333 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 3: reason why that behavior or physiological response shifts. And I 334 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 3: would say that, you know, to point out I'm sure 335 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 3: you're going to talk about predators or I don't know 336 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 3: when you want to get into that, but it could 337 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 3: be another thing. The reason why they all give birth 338 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 3: at the same time that's been hypothesized is that if 339 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 3: you dump all these fawns out at the same time, 340 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 3: there's too much food out there and some of them 341 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 3: the predators can't eat them all before before the deer 342 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 3: get big enough, the fawns get big enough to evade predators, 343 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 3: And so that's another hypothesis, but that really and I've 344 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: published research with colleagues where you can show that, yes, 345 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 3: there is some evidence that fawns that are born out 346 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 3: at the tails, the ones that are born really early 347 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 3: and really late, are more likely to die. But if 348 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:28,719 Speaker 3: that was truly driving that behavior, the peak and birth 349 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 3: would exist in other parts of the white tailed deer's range. 350 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 3: And when you go down to South America, when you 351 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 3: get close to the equator and the day is almost 352 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 3: twelve hours every day of the year, deer give birth. 353 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 3: Other things drive when deer give birth, like rainfall. Even 354 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 3: in Texas, rainfall drives the timing of birth more than predators. 355 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 3: So you know, that's another hypothesis that yes, it has 356 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 3: some effect, but we can look at other parts of 357 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 3: the deer's range and see that no, that can't explain 358 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 3: that pattern and not reproduction. 359 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 2: So, as you mentioned, it's it's well established that the 360 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 2: timing of breeding is consistent, relatively consistent, but on a 361 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 2: bell curve. So there's a peak where most give you know, 362 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 2: most most conceived, and then of course there's tails on 363 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 2: either side. But as you mentioned and as every hunter knows, 364 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 2: every single year, we as individuals experience a different kind 365 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 2: of activity during the run, right, And so you have 366 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 2: two different things we have here. We're measuring the date 367 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 2: of conception, the date of peak breeding versus running activity, 368 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 2: which would be you know, as hunters, we're thinking deer chasing, 369 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,639 Speaker 2: running around, looking for does fighting, doing all that kind 370 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 2: of stuff that's typically what many of us hope to 371 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 2: see during the rut. I'm curious in your tracking, whether 372 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 2: it be through the things you guys have documented through 373 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 2: the RUT tracker, where you're tracking you know, average distance 374 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 2: or absolute distance traveled or any other metric. What about 375 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 2: what some people have talked about with maybe the moon 376 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 2: doesn't impact breeding, but might the moon, or might a 377 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 2: cold front, or might some other factor uncover running activity 378 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 2: or enhance running activity. So some theorize if you have 379 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 2: a certain moon, you will see more of this daylight activity, 380 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 2: while if you have a certain other moon, more of 381 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 2: the running activity just happens after dark because they're moving 382 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 2: less in daylight or let's insert cold front in there. 383 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 2: Some folks say, well, if you you know, all things 384 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 2: being equal and November first, sure there's going to be 385 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,680 Speaker 2: a lot of running activity. But if it's eighty degrees, 386 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 2: a lot of that running activity is probably happening after dark. 387 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 2: But if it's forty degrees, a lot of that running 388 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 2: activity is happening in the daylight. And that makes a 389 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 2: big difference on a hunter's experience. Has your data or 390 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 2: observations validated any of that? 391 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 3: Maybe sort of? I don't know. How's that. 392 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 2: Love it? 393 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 3: So it's it's kind of tough, right, I agree. So 394 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 3: a lot of my data is big picture, like the 395 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 3: study that I said where we monitored you know, timing 396 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 3: of births or pregnancy was over six years data statewide. 397 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 3: You know, we found no changes, no variation across the 398 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 3: state or anything. And so so I'm looking at the 399 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 3: big picture in the average, and the average is oftentimes 400 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 3: or it's misleading, right, So there's it doesn't capture the 401 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 3: variability it's out there, and I really think that it's 402 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 3: it's low, like there could be lots of variation locally. 403 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 3: So for example, one of the things you talked about 404 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 3: that bell curve. Well, yeah, it's a bell curve with 405 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 3: a tail out to the right. So the breeding picks 406 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 3: up really quick in early October, but it dribbles on 407 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 3: into December. But what you find in December is that 408 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 3: many of those deer there to getting bred in December 409 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 3: are fawns that are just getting big enough to come 410 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 3: into estrus. And and so you part of the reason 411 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 3: people so much, very see much, so much variability and 412 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 3: might claim that there's a second runt right there's that 413 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 3: all these females got missed and now thirty days later 414 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 3: they're coming back into right into estra's again that that 415 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 3: isn't really happening. I think you know, some of that 416 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 3: variability is like, yeah, all the adult females are bred, 417 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 3: and then suddenly you've got a few fawns that hit 418 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,880 Speaker 3: that body mass and they're in estra. So there's lots 419 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 3: of local variability that you know, hunting on your same 420 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 3: property year after year, you're going to see different levels 421 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 3: of rut activity in the bucks. And the reason I 422 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 3: say I sort of don't have data is that if 423 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 3: you really could track, what you would need to know 424 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 3: is if you could put a collar on a buck 425 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 3: and know, okay, this buck is now tending a dough 426 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 3: and this buck is not tending a dough. And what 427 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 3: we found is that you can't tell you have to 428 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 3: have the female. So we've had situations where we had 429 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 3: both a buck and a dough rate collared and we 430 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,400 Speaker 3: could see that twenty four hour twelve to twenty four 431 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 3: hour tending period because they would just be lockstep together 432 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 3: that whole time. And but if all you have is 433 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 3: tracking the buck, you cannot detect those types of movements. 434 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 3: So so what I'm saying is that I don't really 435 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 3: have the data to look at what causes the variability 436 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 3: in a buck's behavior. All I can do is look 437 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 3: at this buck and say, all right, here's he's going 438 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 3: one mile per day in early October and it and 439 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 3: by you know, the first week in November, he's doing 440 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 3: three to five miles a day. So that's my caveat. 441 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 2: A quick aside here, you just intrigued me. In these 442 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 2: cases where you have been able to document a buck 443 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 2: and doll pair together and actually have both of them collared. 444 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 2: What have you seen a lot of us hypothesize. A 445 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 2: lot of people tell you what a buck and to 446 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 2: do a buck and a doe do when they are 447 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 2: tending and together. But were you guys able to pull 448 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 2: out any specific insights as far as you know, how 449 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 2: far they traveled on average, how much time they spent 450 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 2: together on average, anything anything else that might be of interest, 451 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 2: because I think there's there's a lot of theories. I'm 452 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 2: not sure how much is it. 453 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 3: So nothing nothing jumps out in terms of movement, because, 454 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 3: like I said, we followed this buck and the movements 455 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 3: while he's tending a dough aren't any different than when 456 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 3: he's just walking around, or we couldn't distinguish We couldn't 457 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 3: distinguish that, Oh, it's very particular what happens while he's 458 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 3: tending the dough. So nothing there that you know that 459 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 3: I could point to to say it's what's unique about it. 460 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 2: So so what about that variability you mentioned? How like 461 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 2: there is some variability? And for example, I went back 462 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 2: and looked through some of the data you guys have 463 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 2: collected and shared, and something I noticed is that you 464 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 2: guys have been tracking average cumulative distance traveled by bucks 465 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,479 Speaker 2: during the rut for a number of years, and there 466 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 2: have been some years where it's dramatically different. For example, 467 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 2: in twenty fifteen and correct me if I got these wrong, 468 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 2: but I believe these are the correct numbers pulled from 469 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 2: your website. In twenty fifteen, the average cumulative distance traveled 470 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 2: by Bucks in November was eighty eight miles. In twenty 471 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 2: twenty three, same month, average cumulative distance traveled it was 472 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty miles, so nearly double the amount 473 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 2: of travel during the November of twenty three versus the 474 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:57,239 Speaker 2: November of twenty fifteen. Can you speak to anything that 475 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 2: might help us understand why twenty fifteen and it's so 476 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 2: little travel, twenty twenty three had so much. And I 477 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 2: gotta believe there's other years that have been you know, 478 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 2: bouncing here and there and everywhere. As you have collared 479 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 2: and studied all these deer, that makes me think there's 480 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 2: something happening. 481 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 5: Yeah. 482 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 3: Part of it is you know the sample, right, they're 483 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 3: different deer every year, and so we know that there's 484 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 3: huge variability among deer. Like some guys, some of these 485 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 3: Bucks will have home ranges of five square miles and 486 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 3: some might only have two and a half square miles. 487 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 3: And we don't have huge sample sizes, right. We try 488 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:50,760 Speaker 3: to collar across our four study areas about oh ten 489 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 3: bucks or so, so it's not a huge sample size. 490 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 3: So part of that variability from year to year is 491 00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 3: just the sample of deer that we have to capture. 492 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 3: I do think there must be uh. I would think 493 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 3: that there are some other factors that could influence that movement, 494 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 3: like food availability. In fact, this year is gonna is 495 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 3: already looking to be an extreme year for white tail 496 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 3: dough doughs in that they're for the first two weeks 497 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 3: in October they are averaging movements of about half a 498 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 3: mile a day, and and and the long term average 499 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 3: is about a mile and even like all of the 500 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 3: deer are below average. Yeah, and now the perfect thing 501 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 3: is like, this is what's so difficult about studying deers. 502 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 3: We have no control on a lot of things. So 503 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 3: you've had a drought, and we also have a bumper 504 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 3: acorn crop. So is the fact that there's lots of 505 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 3: acorns or is it because it's a drought? Right, I 506 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 3: have no idea. If I had to put money on it, 507 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 3: I would say acorns because you know, some of the 508 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 3: reports and I'm sure people reading our blog will write 509 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 3: in you know, people have already commented that you know, 510 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 3: it's like walking on marbles out there in places. And 511 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 3: if that's the case, then your does aren't going to move, 512 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 3: They're going to move very little. So the question is 513 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 3: does a buck have to move more to find more 514 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 3: dough or does he not have to go as far 515 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,719 Speaker 3: to find dough because they're easier to find because they 516 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 3: don't move as much. You know, because I've always you 517 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 3: can you can see either no change in dough movements 518 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 3: during the rut or actually a slight reduction. And you know, 519 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 3: that could be like I say, if you're lost in 520 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 3: the woods, would you're supposed to do You're supposed to 521 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 3: not move because you're more likely to be rescued, and 522 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 3: so that could be the behavior of white tailed deer. 523 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 3: So anyway, there's the short The short answer is I 524 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 3: don't really know, but I know there are things that 525 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 3: are influencing their movements, and I can't really parse out 526 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,720 Speaker 3: the difference between my different samples because I have different 527 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 3: bucks every year, or you know, or what factor is 528 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 3: actually driving because because I don't even well, there are 529 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 3: some measures of acorns, but acorns can also be very 530 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 3: spotty and you know, spatially distribute on the landscape. So yeah, 531 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 3: it's it's the challenge of studying creatures in the wild 532 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 3: is is we have You know, radio callers give us 533 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 3: great insights that we wouldn't others see. But until we 534 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 3: have cameras on those collars and see what they see, 535 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 3: there's a lot that we're missing. 536 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 2: What do you think would surprise people? You guys have 537 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 2: shared these videos on occasion on your blog where you 538 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 2: show the actual path, the travel path that some of 539 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 2: these deer taking. If the general public were to sit 540 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 2: down and watch the travel of every one of these 541 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 2: bucks that you have collared over the years during the rut, 542 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,400 Speaker 2: is there anything that you think would surprise people? 543 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,320 Speaker 3: Well, I think the interesting thing is when you watch 544 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:40,800 Speaker 3: our movies, it looks like they suddenly speed up because 545 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 3: and in a sense they do, but it's they're not. 546 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 3: It's just that they're probably walking in more of a 547 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 3: straight line distance between locations. Because so our radio callers 548 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,640 Speaker 3: for the readers, if you don't know, the way they 549 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 3: work is we program them and tell them, Okay, get 550 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,880 Speaker 3: me a location once an hour, or get me a 551 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 3: location once every thirty minutes. Whatever you want, you can do. 552 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,759 Speaker 3: It just depends on how good your battery life is, 553 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:16,240 Speaker 3: and so it looks like these deer are just cuttsing 554 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 3: around and then suddenly they go boom boom boom, like 555 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 3: a you know, a paddle ball, you know, a ball 556 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 3: on us on a rubber band. But those bucks really 557 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,239 Speaker 3: most of the time they are walking under half a 558 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:37,839 Speaker 3: mile an hour, So they aren't walking faster, They're just 559 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:44,120 Speaker 3: they're just walking twenty four to seven. And and so 560 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 3: that to me was I mean, I guess from my perspective, 561 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:51,359 Speaker 3: that's what I found the most interesting was, you know, 562 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,759 Speaker 3: slow and steady wins the race, and those guys are 563 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 3: just plodding along. But they're just going twenty four to 564 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 3: seven if you look at their activity patterns. Yeah, maybe 565 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 3: it dips down in the you know, four o'clock in 566 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,760 Speaker 3: the morning or something, but basically they are just going 567 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 3: twenty four to seven. 568 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 2: So so are you are you saying that your data 569 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 2: validates the idea that many popularized that at least during 570 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 2: the rut you should be hunting even during the middle 571 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:24,520 Speaker 2: of the day, because those bucks will still be on 572 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:25,879 Speaker 2: their feet and moving quite a bit. 573 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,680 Speaker 3: I think so, although they still show up on my 574 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 3: game cameras only at night, So I have no idea. 575 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,680 Speaker 3: I have no idea why I don't see them. But 576 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 3: but again, you know where I live, it's a mixture 577 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 3: of forests and field, right, so they could be sticking 578 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,239 Speaker 3: to the woods. And my game cameras are always on 579 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 3: the edges of a field, you know, on a scrape 580 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 3: or you know that sort of thing. But you know, 581 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,240 Speaker 3: we we study, you know, the deer for studies in 582 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 3: what we call the Big Woods of Pennsylvania. So these 583 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:05,960 Speaker 3: are just contiguous tracks. They're ninety five percent forested over 584 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 3: twenty twenty five square miles. So in that context, we 585 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 3: just basically see these bucks walking around twenty four to 586 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 3: seven And you know, so you know, one time, I think, 587 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 3: I you know, tried to figure the calculations and this 588 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,680 Speaker 3: one buck he started and ended up in the same 589 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 3: place within twelve hours. And over those twelve hours he 590 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,080 Speaker 3: went up and over three ridges, like almost a mile 591 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,160 Speaker 3: in elevation change and did I don't know how many 592 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 3: two or three miles in that loop. And that was 593 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 3: just you know, just walking. I mean, you know, so 594 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,319 Speaker 3: in a month time they're ended up walking most most 595 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 3: of them are doing over one hundred miles. Some are 596 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:58,919 Speaker 3: over one hundred and fifty miles. So yeah, it's it's 597 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 3: amazing that we have the technology now to document that, 598 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:06,759 Speaker 3: and it explains so many things like why does this 599 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:11,239 Speaker 3: buck show up that I've never seen all summer long? Yeah, 600 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,520 Speaker 3: because their home ranges are, you know, tripling. 601 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,319 Speaker 2: You guys have a really interesting page of Elbow on 602 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:26,280 Speaker 2: your website, your rut tracker that shows both this year's 603 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 2: average movement I believe it's cumulative distance or average distance, 604 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 2: and then you show what this year's data is compared 605 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,719 Speaker 2: to the average from the previous ten years. Could you 606 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:43,880 Speaker 2: walk folks through what generally that timeline of movement looks 607 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 2: like when you see it really picking up, when it 608 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 2: kind of exponentially hockey curves up, and then what that 609 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,359 Speaker 2: bell curve looks like just from a date I think 610 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 2: I think a lot of folks have a general idea 611 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,719 Speaker 2: of when these time periods are, but I think it'll 612 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,680 Speaker 2: be interesting just to hear from you on exactly what 613 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 2: that date range that you've document it is. 614 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 5: Yeah. 615 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 6: Yeah, So what I've been doing is just calculating the 616 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 6: distance that each deer travels every day, and then we 617 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 6: can average that to show the average distance that a 618 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 6: deer moved and I think our locations are hourly at 619 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 6: this point, and. 620 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:30,279 Speaker 3: So the bucks and doze in the first half of 621 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 3: October and moving about a mile per day, and it's 622 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 3: not until the third week in October that that actually 623 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,400 Speaker 3: starts to increase. It gets going in the fourth week, 624 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:47,840 Speaker 3: and by the first week in November, it's that hockey 625 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:52,880 Speaker 3: curve has almost got you up to the peak. And yeah, 626 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 3: and so that goes through into the middle of November, 627 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:02,279 Speaker 3: and then you know the rut our hunting seasons in 628 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:09,440 Speaker 3: Pennsylvania are start the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the rifle 629 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 3: season where most of the deer harvested, so we still 630 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 3: have a lot of or actually not a lot, but 631 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:21,319 Speaker 3: so most of the deer. Half the deer bred by 632 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:25,879 Speaker 3: November thirteenth, but a week later, you know it's going 633 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:29,719 Speaker 3: to be eighty percent of the deer are bred. And 634 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 3: by the time that rifle season opens, you know, there's 635 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:38,160 Speaker 3: one out of five dough that could get pregnant. Is 636 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 3: you know in estris so and the rifle season, because 637 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:47,560 Speaker 3: there's so many hunters out there, just changes deer behavior 638 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 3: and so if you're just looking at those averages, it 639 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,200 Speaker 3: just kind of all falls apart. And even the females 640 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,880 Speaker 3: start moving a lot because of all the hunter activity 641 00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:01,640 Speaker 3: in the woods. But yeah, from you know, starting this 642 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:07,359 Speaker 3: coming week and by the end of October, things those 643 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:10,960 Speaker 3: bucks are really moving. And then for the next two 644 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:14,960 Speaker 3: weeks in November, lots of movement, and then it quickly 645 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:15,600 Speaker 3: falls off. 646 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:33,399 Speaker 2: So there is a commonly discussed phase of the rut 647 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,279 Speaker 2: that a lot of folks refer to as lockdown, which 648 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,040 Speaker 2: would be when we hit peak breeding. The idea being 649 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:44,719 Speaker 2: that when the most does are available to breed, you're 650 00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:47,239 Speaker 2: gonna have a reduction in deer movement because there's gonna 651 00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:49,320 Speaker 2: be a lot of bucks locked down, a lot of dos, 652 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,719 Speaker 2: and those pairings will not move as much, and then 653 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:55,680 Speaker 2: there won't be as many solo bucks cruising around searching. 654 00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,399 Speaker 2: And so the idea being that, man, when lockdown hits, 655 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,000 Speaker 2: which for a lot of people is the middle of November, 656 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,879 Speaker 2: you're gonna have some slower hunts. When I look at 657 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:07,080 Speaker 2: your data, when I look at this rut tracker, it 658 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 2: kind of does show that because it peaks, you know, 659 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:13,600 Speaker 2: as you just described, you see movement on average peaking 660 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:16,439 Speaker 2: around that first couple weeks of November, but then right 661 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:22,000 Speaker 2: around you know, November seventeenth, sixteenth, right around that ballpark, 662 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:25,880 Speaker 2: it does start to kind of precipitously decline and then 663 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,680 Speaker 2: a plateaus again for that like third week of November, 664 00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:31,040 Speaker 2: and then as you mentioned, continues to trickle down from there. 665 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:34,440 Speaker 2: Does that, in your view, validate the theory that I 666 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 2: just described or how would you interpret that? 667 00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:47,480 Speaker 3: I I don't think so, because from from that first 668 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:53,520 Speaker 3: week in November, that's when the bulk of females are 669 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:59,239 Speaker 3: being bred. So if it's because there's so many females 670 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,880 Speaker 3: available to be bred, is reducing movements, why don't you 671 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:09,879 Speaker 3: see that during the first two weeks in November. And 672 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:12,359 Speaker 3: the other thing is, like I said, when we've had 673 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:17,880 Speaker 3: males and females where we've had both of them and 674 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:23,320 Speaker 3: can see that that male is tending that female, there's 675 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:28,759 Speaker 3: no evidence that they don't move. He's just following her around. 676 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,799 Speaker 3: And you know, they're not like elk where they have 677 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 3: a harem that they're trying to keep in one place 678 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:41,280 Speaker 3: and all together. He's just trying to follow that female 679 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:45,480 Speaker 3: and breed with her, you know, at the best opportunity 680 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 3: and fend off other competitors. So when we know that 681 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:56,200 Speaker 3: a buck is with a female. We have no evidence 682 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:57,960 Speaker 3: that they don't move as much. 683 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:04,799 Speaker 2: Okay, so here here's another one, another theory. I guess 684 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,680 Speaker 2: I'm throwing a lot of theories. That you were throwing 685 00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:08,319 Speaker 2: a lot of spaghetti at the wall, not a lot 686 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:11,000 Speaker 2: sticking on the wall. Dwayne, I'll tell you that, but 687 00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:15,359 Speaker 2: you can't deny the science. Here's another one, and I'll 688 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:17,680 Speaker 2: see what you have to say. And then, actually, this 689 00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:20,520 Speaker 2: one's not necessarily a theory. This is actually a study. 690 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,360 Speaker 2: There used to be an idea that you could not 691 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,640 Speaker 2: pattern bucks during the rut, that they are completely random 692 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:32,480 Speaker 2: and completely unpredictable. A study relatively recently came out that 693 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:38,680 Speaker 2: described bucks using certain focal areas a disproportionate amount of 694 00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:41,440 Speaker 2: time during the rut. That there were, for many bucks, 695 00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,919 Speaker 2: certain places that they spent more time than others during 696 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:49,440 Speaker 2: their rut. Have you seen anything like that in your data. 697 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:53,440 Speaker 7: No. 698 00:45:53,719 --> 00:46:02,880 Speaker 3: In fact, we tried to replicate that. So you would 699 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:07,560 Speaker 3: expect that those focal areas might occur because they're coming 700 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,680 Speaker 3: back to check on a female to see if she's 701 00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:16,680 Speaker 3: in heat or not. And when we had known females 702 00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:23,520 Speaker 3: and males, we could find no relationship between focal areas 703 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:28,120 Speaker 3: by just looking at where the buck went and whether 704 00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:35,439 Speaker 3: they actually had a mating event. So I mean, they 705 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,279 Speaker 3: may have focal areas, but I think those could be 706 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:42,560 Speaker 3: explained by environmental factors too. I mean, is there something 707 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:46,240 Speaker 3: about that site that they go back to for food 708 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:51,920 Speaker 3: or shade or who knows what. So I would say 709 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,600 Speaker 3: that the there's a lot to be learned. I'm not 710 00:46:55,640 --> 00:47:02,280 Speaker 3: going to discount it, but we tried to to, you know, say, okay, 711 00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,439 Speaker 3: if this is what's going on, does that match up 712 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 3: in situations where we know this buck is following this 713 00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:14,839 Speaker 3: female and we couldn't We couldn't get that to match up. 714 00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:19,640 Speaker 3: But you know, with better technology we might be able 715 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,440 Speaker 3: to answer those questions. Because I was just at the 716 00:47:23,239 --> 00:47:26,000 Speaker 3: at a meeting and talking to some of the reps 717 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,040 Speaker 3: for some of these companies, and they're coming out with 718 00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:34,800 Speaker 3: radio callers now that they can get a GPS location 719 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,839 Speaker 3: like every thirty minutes, but then the onboard caller has 720 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:45,440 Speaker 3: an accelerometer and a and a magnetometer, so they can 721 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,200 Speaker 3: they can actually predict the movements that a deer spends 722 00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,359 Speaker 3: in between those two locations that you get, and that 723 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:55,400 Speaker 3: could be a game changer because now we kind of 724 00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:59,760 Speaker 3: have to interpolate what that deer is doing between location 725 00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:03,680 Speaker 3: and location x plus one, and this time they could 726 00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:07,840 Speaker 3: potentially draw an exact path where that deer goes. So 727 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:11,800 Speaker 3: I'm not gonna discount it, but I'm gonna say right now, 728 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 3: I don't have any evidence that would support that. 729 00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:23,200 Speaker 2: So one other kind of local variable, then one idea 730 00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:28,040 Speaker 2: be here. There might be actual environmental you know, focus areas. 731 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:30,480 Speaker 2: I think you kind of alluded to this earlier, but 732 00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:36,279 Speaker 2: I want to ask more specifically, what about localized variations 733 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:39,680 Speaker 2: and timing a little bit. So I know, in general, 734 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:45,960 Speaker 2: we have this you know, pretty hard evolutionary biological queue 735 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,960 Speaker 2: for when the peak of breeding should happen, but we 736 00:48:49,040 --> 00:48:53,600 Speaker 2: frequently hear about how there might be localized situations where 737 00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:55,000 Speaker 2: it might be a little bit over here, a little 738 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,600 Speaker 2: bit over there, Like for example, you hear the hear 739 00:48:57,640 --> 00:48:59,480 Speaker 2: the story like, well, there's a Doe family group that 740 00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:02,120 Speaker 2: always to come in early in my neck of the woods. 741 00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:07,040 Speaker 2: And honestly, I can say that anecdotally, I do have 742 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,440 Speaker 2: a place that I hunt that it sure seems like 743 00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:13,400 Speaker 2: every single year for fifteen years now, it sure seems 744 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,920 Speaker 2: like the last week of October is like when everything 745 00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:20,480 Speaker 2: breaks loose, But everywhere else I go, it's it's, you know, 746 00:49:20,520 --> 00:49:22,960 Speaker 2: the typical first two weeks of November, but it feels 747 00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:26,000 Speaker 2: like November seventh for me on October twenty fifth in 748 00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:30,799 Speaker 2: this little zone. Has your data shown that that might be? 749 00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:32,480 Speaker 2: Is that a possible thing. Do you have one of 750 00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:34,760 Speaker 2: your study sites where it's a couple of days earlier 751 00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:37,560 Speaker 2: on average some years or most years or anything like that. 752 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:43,360 Speaker 3: Well, I guess two things to say. One from my data, 753 00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:48,680 Speaker 3: so northern Pennsylvania spring green up is like might be 754 00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:54,279 Speaker 3: a week or so later than southern Pennsylvania. But we 755 00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:58,240 Speaker 3: really see no spatial variation in the timing of birth. 756 00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:02,360 Speaker 3: And in fact, you know, if you look at maps 757 00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:06,080 Speaker 3: of the timing of breeding across for the white tail 758 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:10,000 Speaker 3: deer across most of North Americas until you get like 759 00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:15,080 Speaker 3: south of the Carolinas, it's all November. And I'm sure 760 00:50:15,120 --> 00:50:18,200 Speaker 3: it varies a little bit, but it's basically it's November 761 00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:26,839 Speaker 3: sometime in November. But with your respect to like local variation, well, 762 00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:31,320 Speaker 3: you know, when a female goes into estrus is really 763 00:50:31,360 --> 00:50:37,759 Speaker 3: strongly related to her physical condition, and there's research to 764 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:42,200 Speaker 3: show that a female that's in good condition is going 765 00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:48,520 Speaker 3: to give birth to offspring in better condition, so you 766 00:50:48,719 --> 00:50:52,360 Speaker 3: could have some and they're also right, in better condition, 767 00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:56,800 Speaker 3: they're going to produce more offspring. And so I could 768 00:50:56,840 --> 00:51:00,560 Speaker 3: see in an area that you have, you know, some 769 00:51:00,760 --> 00:51:05,520 Speaker 3: females that have are in better condition come into heat 770 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:12,040 Speaker 3: and there's right, variation is a good thing when it 771 00:51:12,080 --> 00:51:15,760 Speaker 3: comes to evolution because you never know when the future 772 00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:18,640 Speaker 3: is going to change, and if it does change, certain 773 00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:22,200 Speaker 3: individuals are going to be you know, they didn't know 774 00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:25,960 Speaker 3: about know it, but they are preadapted. So I could 775 00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:29,920 Speaker 3: say that there could be physiological there could be genetic reasons. 776 00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,919 Speaker 3: There potentially could be local food resource reasons, but I mean, 777 00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:40,680 Speaker 3: I don't think I could ever collect enough data to 778 00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:44,120 Speaker 3: actually parse that out, and it would have to involve 779 00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:49,040 Speaker 3: some sort of experimentation. I mean, our genetic tools are 780 00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:55,360 Speaker 3: getting better these days. So and I think that deer 781 00:51:55,400 --> 00:52:01,360 Speaker 3: research should be focusing on stress level deer, which is 782 00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:05,520 Speaker 3: an indicator of physiological condition, because some of our research 783 00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,719 Speaker 3: has shown that that stress is a better predictor of 784 00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:13,360 Speaker 3: fond survival than how many predators are on the landscape. 785 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:19,480 Speaker 3: So yes, I could envision local variation in the related 786 00:52:19,520 --> 00:52:24,600 Speaker 3: to you know, either intrinsic characteristics of the white tailed 787 00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:30,040 Speaker 3: deer in that area or external factors that are influencing it. 788 00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:33,880 Speaker 3: But yeah, I haven't been able to collect enough data 789 00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:37,000 Speaker 3: yet to tackle that. Interesting. 790 00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:41,880 Speaker 2: Okay, so let's let's tie a bow on this, Dwayne. 791 00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:48,120 Speaker 2: Let's imagine that I were to set one relatively new hunter, 792 00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:50,880 Speaker 2: Let's say, someone who's been deer hunting for a handful 793 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:55,520 Speaker 2: of years, but they're not a salty old fifty years 794 00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:59,719 Speaker 2: in kind of guy. And this person is trying to 795 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:04,200 Speaker 2: have more hunting success during the rut. And they came 796 00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:07,760 Speaker 2: to you and said, Dwayne, what would be the three 797 00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:12,279 Speaker 2: most useful insights from your study of the white tail 798 00:53:12,360 --> 00:53:15,080 Speaker 2: rut that could help me as a hunter this year? 799 00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:18,920 Speaker 2: What would those three things be? So, the three most 800 00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:23,360 Speaker 2: useful observations or insights from your studies that could be 801 00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:26,520 Speaker 2: applied for hunters during the rut? 802 00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:28,880 Speaker 3: Well, first of all, you're supposed to ask me that 803 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:34,919 Speaker 3: question beforehand, so I have time to prepare. So ah, 804 00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:39,359 Speaker 3: so uh, what would you do? 805 00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:43,839 Speaker 2: I guess? 806 00:53:43,960 --> 00:53:47,520 Speaker 3: So one thing I would say is so, game cameras 807 00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:51,160 Speaker 3: are awesome, right, we know so much more about what's 808 00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:56,200 Speaker 3: in the woods out there. I would say, if you 809 00:53:56,520 --> 00:54:01,000 Speaker 3: see a buck in September and early October on your 810 00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:06,319 Speaker 3: game camera, odds are you're in the core area of 811 00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:11,319 Speaker 3: that buck. And what you could do is and I know, 812 00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,480 Speaker 3: you know people that have harvestered our bucks and talk 813 00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:18,520 Speaker 3: to them. They got lucky and they had a bunch 814 00:54:18,560 --> 00:54:22,880 Speaker 3: of cameras out that basically encompassed his core area, so 815 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:26,320 Speaker 3: they knew that that's where I need to focus my time. 816 00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:31,239 Speaker 3: That's probably the biggest thing that I know. Otherwise, I mean, 817 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:34,800 Speaker 3: I've stared at and made lots of movies of bucks, 818 00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:40,040 Speaker 3: and you know, I'm not as smart as Ai. I guess, 819 00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:43,920 Speaker 3: but I cannot find a pattern too, you know interview 820 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,440 Speaker 3: Does does he go up this draw? Does he go 821 00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:49,319 Speaker 3: up and down this draw instead of this one? No, 822 00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:54,000 Speaker 3: I've never been able to to pattern a buck when 823 00:54:54,040 --> 00:54:56,959 Speaker 3: I've had these bucks, you know, radio. 824 00:54:56,640 --> 00:54:58,800 Speaker 2: College, even with radio Calordetta. 825 00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:03,799 Speaker 3: So yeah, so I don't think I can come up 826 00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:06,400 Speaker 3: with three because you didn't give me enough advance warning. 827 00:55:06,520 --> 00:55:09,600 Speaker 3: But one, Yeah, go ahead. 828 00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:13,160 Speaker 2: I was just going to say, as I listened to you, 829 00:55:13,840 --> 00:55:16,600 Speaker 2: and as I have gone back and read through the 830 00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:20,600 Speaker 2: many different articles that you guys have published and the 831 00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:24,959 Speaker 2: data you've shared with the public in a certain way. 832 00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:29,040 Speaker 2: One of the main takeaways I'm getting from this is 833 00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:33,400 Speaker 2: keep it simple, stupid, you know, as a hunter, because 834 00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:36,400 Speaker 2: what you're telling me, and what this data seems to show, 835 00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:39,960 Speaker 2: is that deer are deer, and they're going to do 836 00:55:40,080 --> 00:55:43,719 Speaker 2: basically the same thing every single year, with a little 837 00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:46,960 Speaker 2: bit of regional variability, a little bit of localized variability, 838 00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:50,440 Speaker 2: but in general, the data seems to show that the 839 00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:54,800 Speaker 2: rut is consistent every year, that movement's going to generally 840 00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:58,040 Speaker 2: increase at the same time of year that it's generally 841 00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:02,000 Speaker 2: difficult to pattern them. That generally, all these weather factors 842 00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:04,640 Speaker 2: that vary from day to day today don't have a 843 00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:09,319 Speaker 2: net statistically significant impact on any of that. So rather 844 00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:11,520 Speaker 2: than all of us racking our brains every day all 845 00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:14,520 Speaker 2: day trying to discover some silver bullet that's going to 846 00:56:14,560 --> 00:56:16,200 Speaker 2: tell us that, oh, you should hunt this day and 847 00:56:16,239 --> 00:56:19,200 Speaker 2: not that day, maybe we just simply need to know 848 00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:23,680 Speaker 2: that during the rut, which there's a very simple calendar 849 00:56:23,719 --> 00:56:26,040 Speaker 2: which can show you when those periods of the rut 850 00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:28,680 Speaker 2: are as you describe late October into the first couple 851 00:56:28,719 --> 00:56:31,759 Speaker 2: weeks of November and slowly tailing down from there. During 852 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:34,239 Speaker 2: that time period, be in the woods as much as 853 00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:37,120 Speaker 2: you possibly can. Is it just that simple? Thank you? 854 00:56:37,239 --> 00:56:40,719 Speaker 3: Thank you for my number two reason. Yes, explaining my 855 00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:43,200 Speaker 3: number two reason. Yes, you just got to be out 856 00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:46,399 Speaker 3: there in the woods. And if you need to plan 857 00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:52,399 Speaker 3: your vacation a year ahead of time, easy, pasy right, 858 00:56:52,480 --> 00:56:55,040 Speaker 3: it's going to be the first two weeks in November. 859 00:56:55,239 --> 00:56:59,560 Speaker 3: Well in Pennsylvania, you know, the real excitement is the 860 00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:01,000 Speaker 3: first two weeks in November. 861 00:57:02,200 --> 00:57:07,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, Dwyane. Is there anything else that you wish folks 862 00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:10,200 Speaker 2: knew about your study that's been ongoing for so many 863 00:57:10,280 --> 00:57:12,000 Speaker 2: years now or where it's head. Is there any final 864 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:13,160 Speaker 2: thought you want to leave folks with. 865 00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:17,360 Speaker 3: Well, the project is actually wrapping up. It'll be done 866 00:57:17,680 --> 00:57:23,040 Speaker 3: June of twenty twenty six, and so this will be 867 00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:27,600 Speaker 3: the last year that we'll be collecting factor telemetry data 868 00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:32,640 Speaker 3: will be ending in February. So we have, you know, 869 00:57:32,720 --> 00:57:35,320 Speaker 3: the twenty twenty five RUT tracker, so you can go 870 00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:41,000 Speaker 3: and see the averages, will show you some of the variation. 871 00:57:41,720 --> 00:57:43,960 Speaker 3: And I think what we're going to do this year is, 872 00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:47,560 Speaker 3: I guess kind of like the Big Fat Bear week 873 00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,720 Speaker 3: I can't. I can't show you the actual movements of 874 00:57:50,840 --> 00:57:54,520 Speaker 3: deer this year just because you know the ethical issues 875 00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:57,600 Speaker 3: of you know, this deer is radio collared, it's available 876 00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:00,400 Speaker 3: to be harvested. I don't want to share you know, 877 00:58:00,640 --> 00:58:03,880 Speaker 3: current location information, but we're going to go back through 878 00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:09,040 Speaker 3: our archives and find deer that have really interesting movements 879 00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:13,000 Speaker 3: and share that on the blog for folks if they 880 00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:15,200 Speaker 3: want to come see that. So I think I think 881 00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:20,200 Speaker 3: that'll be fun and we'll, you know, update on how 882 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:24,760 Speaker 3: things go this year and then kind of share what 883 00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:27,720 Speaker 3: some of these bucks that we're not following them anymore 884 00:58:27,800 --> 00:58:29,560 Speaker 3: and I don't even know if they're alive or not, 885 00:58:29,800 --> 00:58:32,959 Speaker 3: but you can see what they actually did during the rut. 886 00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:37,440 Speaker 2: Very interesting. Well, I have been following the blog for 887 00:58:37,560 --> 00:58:41,360 Speaker 2: a long time now. I've found it to be really 888 00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:43,600 Speaker 2: fascinating over the years. I appreciate all the work that 889 00:58:43,640 --> 00:58:46,479 Speaker 2: you guys have been putting into it and certainly would 890 00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,840 Speaker 2: encourage anyone listening to go check it out. Am I 891 00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:51,880 Speaker 2: right that the URL that'll take you to the main 892 00:58:51,960 --> 00:58:55,280 Speaker 2: homepage at lease is that deer dot p SU dot edu. 893 00:58:55,680 --> 00:58:56,120 Speaker 3: Correct. 894 00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:59,840 Speaker 2: Perfect, All right, Well, Dwyane, thanks for all your work 895 00:58:59,880 --> 00:59:01,120 Speaker 2: and thanks for this chat. 896 00:59:01,560 --> 00:59:03,240 Speaker 3: Oh, you're welcome, it's fine. 897 00:59:05,360 --> 00:59:09,480 Speaker 2: And now are excerpts from my twenty fourteen conversation with 898 00:59:09,560 --> 00:59:12,439 Speaker 2: Matt Ross about the science of the white tail run. 899 00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:17,960 Speaker 4: Well hunters want to know about the rut is how 900 00:59:18,040 --> 00:59:18,840 Speaker 4: can it kill something? 901 00:59:18,920 --> 00:59:19,120 Speaker 6: Right? 902 00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:22,640 Speaker 4: When should I be out there? Yes, for the most part, 903 00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:26,760 Speaker 4: it's consistent year to year. You can pick the first 904 00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:29,560 Speaker 4: or second and in some cases third week in November 905 00:59:30,080 --> 00:59:31,960 Speaker 4: and take time off and go out there and hunt, 906 00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:35,200 Speaker 4: and you're going to see some activity. It's a bomber 907 00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:36,960 Speaker 4: when you're out there and you're not seeing much, and 908 00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:40,200 Speaker 4: that is impacted by other things. There are other influences 909 00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:43,440 Speaker 4: that can change that. And again this goes back to 910 00:59:43,480 --> 00:59:47,040 Speaker 4: the research where you know, I can tell you, you know, 911 00:59:47,040 --> 00:59:49,640 Speaker 4: in terms of weather and things, what the research says. 912 00:59:49,920 --> 00:59:51,760 Speaker 4: You know, my gut tells me some of that stuff 913 00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:53,959 Speaker 4: is not you know, there's something that we haven't found 914 00:59:53,960 --> 00:59:56,320 Speaker 4: out yet. And I'll just tell you for the most part, 915 00:59:56,360 --> 00:59:59,760 Speaker 4: there hasn't been any research that says weather and I'm 916 00:59:59,760 --> 01:00:03,560 Speaker 4: talking everything from barometric pressure to rain events, to temperature 917 01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:07,760 Speaker 4: drops to all this stuff. As we're talking about collar deer, 918 01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:11,080 Speaker 4: hundreds of collar deer in some cases in some of 919 01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:14,520 Speaker 4: these studies and have not seen a correlation to a 920 01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:17,880 Speaker 4: weather change almost every variable you can think of with 921 01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:21,800 Speaker 4: weather and see any difference in deer activity. Again, we 922 01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:24,360 Speaker 4: don't know. We don't have cameras on these deer. We 923 01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:26,280 Speaker 4: don't know if they're actually breeding, but we can actually 924 01:00:26,280 --> 01:00:29,320 Speaker 4: monitor activity, how much they're moving in a day or 925 01:00:29,360 --> 01:00:32,560 Speaker 4: a twenty four hour period, or how long those distances are, 926 01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:34,840 Speaker 4: and there hasn't been any. My gut tells me there's 927 01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:39,360 Speaker 4: something weather related out there, and I still want to 928 01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:42,640 Speaker 4: plan when I'm hunting based on some of that. But 929 01:00:42,680 --> 01:00:44,880 Speaker 4: the neat thing is I can go out there and 930 01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:47,400 Speaker 4: sit out there and see a frenzy of activity. I 931 01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:49,720 Speaker 4: get of a buddy two counties over that I'm texting 932 01:00:49,760 --> 01:00:54,439 Speaker 4: that's seeing completely something different, and that's property specific. It's 933 01:00:54,480 --> 01:00:57,240 Speaker 4: even the deer herd specific to that property. Based on 934 01:00:58,000 --> 01:01:01,120 Speaker 4: those deer. I mean, maybe the the doze on the 935 01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:04,560 Speaker 4: property I'm on are all synchronized and they're all coming 936 01:01:04,560 --> 01:01:07,240 Speaker 4: into estress around the same time or just before, or 937 01:01:07,600 --> 01:01:11,560 Speaker 4: maybe there's those handful of early breeding events that are 938 01:01:11,560 --> 01:01:14,160 Speaker 4: happening that are making all bucks so crazy. I mean, 939 01:01:14,240 --> 01:01:16,439 Speaker 4: it's so site specific and one of the cool things 940 01:01:16,440 --> 01:01:20,200 Speaker 4: that we've done at QTMA is partnered with some other 941 01:01:20,840 --> 01:01:26,440 Speaker 4: organizations Sitka, Cabelas and others with powder Hook and developed 942 01:01:26,440 --> 01:01:28,640 Speaker 4: an app to track some of that stuff, to create 943 01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:32,520 Speaker 4: a heat map of daytime activity where you can just 944 01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:36,000 Speaker 4: log in your observations of what you're seeing or the 945 01:01:36,040 --> 01:01:39,040 Speaker 4: deer you're killing, and they take all that into account 946 01:01:39,280 --> 01:01:41,720 Speaker 4: and create that. It's a really, really neat thing. So 947 01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:43,560 Speaker 4: when it comes down to the rut, I mean, why 948 01:01:43,560 --> 01:01:45,480 Speaker 4: do people want to talk about it. I want to 949 01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:47,320 Speaker 4: talk about it because they want to figure out how 950 01:01:47,400 --> 01:01:49,360 Speaker 4: they can best be successful to go out there and 951 01:01:49,400 --> 01:01:52,840 Speaker 4: show it a deer specifically a buck. One of the 952 01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:54,600 Speaker 4: best things that I can offer to you is take 953 01:01:54,640 --> 01:01:57,600 Speaker 4: this science and use it to the best of your ability. 954 01:01:57,640 --> 01:01:59,880 Speaker 4: I mean, but at the same time, a lot of 955 01:01:59,880 --> 01:02:02,840 Speaker 4: it has to be site specific, and some of the 956 01:02:02,880 --> 01:02:04,600 Speaker 4: stuff that you get to talk about on your show 957 01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:07,960 Speaker 4: is you as a hunter, you as a lease or 958 01:02:08,000 --> 01:02:11,919 Speaker 4: a landowner, just keeping tabs on that deer herd, either 959 01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:15,840 Speaker 4: through trail cameras or individual box and tracking them throughout 960 01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:17,520 Speaker 4: the year and getting a sense of when stuff is 961 01:02:17,520 --> 01:02:20,800 Speaker 4: happening and trying to be ready for when it happens 962 01:02:20,840 --> 01:02:23,720 Speaker 4: within the window of when the bigger science says, you 963 01:02:23,720 --> 01:02:25,040 Speaker 4: know what, there's about a two to two and a 964 01:02:25,080 --> 01:02:27,280 Speaker 4: half week window when I should be out there, and 965 01:02:27,320 --> 01:02:29,439 Speaker 4: then just try to target when you need to be out. 966 01:02:40,520 --> 01:02:42,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I think it's, 967 01:02:42,480 --> 01:02:45,720 Speaker 2: you know, right in line with what you said is 968 01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:48,560 Speaker 2: looking at this the high level scientific data, but then 969 01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:52,720 Speaker 2: to your point, understanding the site specific uniqueness of your 970 01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:56,200 Speaker 2: property and the situation at hand. And that brings me 971 01:02:56,280 --> 01:02:59,520 Speaker 2: to something that I that I am equally fascinated by 972 01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:02,720 Speaker 2: that I know you looked into, which is actual buck 973 01:03:02,840 --> 01:03:05,520 Speaker 2: behavior during the rut. I know there's been a number 974 01:03:05,560 --> 01:03:08,880 Speaker 2: of GPS studies that have looked into this. Two things 975 01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:11,760 Speaker 2: specifically that I have found interesting about behavior that these 976 01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:14,920 Speaker 2: studies have shown are the phenomena of how they relate 977 01:03:14,960 --> 01:03:18,240 Speaker 2: to focal points and then also this other phenomena of 978 01:03:18,760 --> 01:03:21,479 Speaker 2: taking these excursions. Could you share with us a little 979 01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:24,400 Speaker 2: bit about what these studies have found about buck behavior 980 01:03:24,600 --> 01:03:27,520 Speaker 2: during the rut related to those two things. 981 01:03:27,680 --> 01:03:30,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, no problem. Let me talk about the focal points first. 982 01:03:31,400 --> 01:03:33,920 Speaker 4: Aaron Foley, who's a research at Texas A and M, 983 01:03:33,960 --> 01:03:36,080 Speaker 4: and a lot of his co authors looked at this. 984 01:03:36,240 --> 01:03:39,320 Speaker 4: There's a multiple year study looking at a bunch of 985 01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:43,880 Speaker 4: different things related to bucks and their use of space, 986 01:03:43,920 --> 01:03:47,240 Speaker 4: and again out of Texas and for people that aren't 987 01:03:47,520 --> 01:03:50,920 Speaker 4: qtm A members. This was actually a feature article and 988 01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,280 Speaker 4: Quality White Tails that's our publication that comes out every 989 01:03:53,280 --> 01:03:58,280 Speaker 4: other month with the last issue. Really really interesting stuff 990 01:03:58,280 --> 01:04:02,439 Speaker 4: in terms of how bucks, you again, their home range 991 01:04:02,520 --> 01:04:06,400 Speaker 4: or their core areas over during the rut and how 992 01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:10,000 Speaker 4: that changes. And for the most part, we've always and 993 01:04:10,400 --> 01:04:13,760 Speaker 4: the research does point to bucks meeting individuals. You know, 994 01:04:13,840 --> 01:04:16,240 Speaker 4: some are up on their feet a lot and they 995 01:04:16,280 --> 01:04:18,680 Speaker 4: move a lot, you know, day or night. Some don't 996 01:04:18,720 --> 01:04:21,280 Speaker 4: move that very much. Some have large home ranges, some 997 01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:23,760 Speaker 4: have very small home ranges, and there's combinations of all 998 01:04:23,800 --> 01:04:27,480 Speaker 4: four of those, and it really varies based on the 999 01:04:27,560 --> 01:04:32,480 Speaker 4: individual buck. When it comes to the focal points. What 1000 01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:35,160 Speaker 4: Mark is asking about is this was one of the 1001 01:04:35,200 --> 01:04:41,000 Speaker 4: first studies that actually showed spatial memory, meaning a buck remembering, 1002 01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:45,840 Speaker 4: if you will, where dough groups are and returning to 1003 01:04:45,920 --> 01:04:51,520 Speaker 4: those places on a fairly consistent basis. What the researchers 1004 01:04:51,520 --> 01:04:54,640 Speaker 4: found there was about every twenty to twenty eight hours 1005 01:04:55,120 --> 01:04:59,440 Speaker 4: they had both Bucks and does collared and they were 1006 01:04:59,480 --> 01:05:05,560 Speaker 4: able to document multiple bocks visiting what the research is 1007 01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:09,400 Speaker 4: called focal areas. There would be somewhere between one to 1008 01:05:09,480 --> 01:05:12,480 Speaker 4: three focal areas within that BUX home range. So if 1009 01:05:12,520 --> 01:05:15,440 Speaker 4: a buck was traveling, you know, one thousand acres, that's 1010 01:05:15,480 --> 01:05:19,360 Speaker 4: what their home range is. I'm just that's a just 1011 01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:22,600 Speaker 4: a random number I'm coming up with. They might have 1012 01:05:22,680 --> 01:05:27,919 Speaker 4: a core area throughout most of the year of five 1013 01:05:27,960 --> 01:05:29,880 Speaker 4: to ten percent of that and that's basically what the 1014 01:05:29,960 --> 01:05:33,520 Speaker 4: research shows. You know, between five to ten percent of 1015 01:05:33,520 --> 01:05:35,240 Speaker 4: a bus home range will be its core area, and 1016 01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:37,080 Speaker 4: it might not be one spot, it might be one 1017 01:05:37,160 --> 01:05:42,760 Speaker 4: or two. During the run, their home range expands, sometimes 1018 01:05:42,800 --> 01:05:46,840 Speaker 4: excessively three four times of size, and they are using 1019 01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:52,000 Speaker 4: more of that space. So the home range I defined 1020 01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:54,560 Speaker 4: it earlier as the space a buck is ninety to 1021 01:05:54,640 --> 01:05:57,240 Speaker 4: ninety five percent of the time the core area has 1022 01:05:57,480 --> 01:05:59,560 Speaker 4: many hunters call them, it's like their bedroom. They're there 1023 01:05:59,600 --> 01:06:02,360 Speaker 4: fifty time. Half the time you'll find the buck there. 1024 01:06:03,400 --> 01:06:06,680 Speaker 4: During the rut bucks, he's less of their core area 1025 01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:11,200 Speaker 4: less often, they're not in that fifty percent space as much, 1026 01:06:11,520 --> 01:06:15,160 Speaker 4: and they're they're using way more of that ninety ninety 1027 01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:17,280 Speaker 4: five percent of their home range. They're out there a 1028 01:06:17,280 --> 01:06:19,480 Speaker 4: lot more than the user, so they're shifting where they 1029 01:06:19,520 --> 01:06:24,080 Speaker 4: are in their home range. The really interesting thing though, 1030 01:06:24,200 --> 01:06:28,720 Speaker 4: is these researchers found that these bucks are not doing 1031 01:06:28,720 --> 01:06:32,880 Speaker 4: it randomly. They are picking these focal areas. They're you know, 1032 01:06:32,880 --> 01:06:36,560 Speaker 4: a handful of them, usually three or four of them 1033 01:06:36,600 --> 01:06:40,240 Speaker 4: within the buck, within that buck's home range, where he's 1034 01:06:40,960 --> 01:06:44,360 Speaker 4: concentrating on it, spending some time there, leaving it, going 1035 01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:47,760 Speaker 4: to another one, leaving it, going to another one, leaving 1036 01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:50,280 Speaker 4: it going to another one, and returning to the original one. 1037 01:06:50,600 --> 01:06:54,040 Speaker 4: Every twenty twenty eight hours, that buck is returning to 1038 01:06:54,080 --> 01:06:58,720 Speaker 4: one of those spots. And with multiple bucks collared, they 1039 01:06:58,720 --> 01:07:01,720 Speaker 4: were able to see this on the landscape where there 1040 01:07:01,840 --> 01:07:05,440 Speaker 4: was and they also had those collared that there were 1041 01:07:06,560 --> 01:07:10,120 Speaker 4: spatial memory where bucks were returning to these spots, saying, 1042 01:07:10,560 --> 01:07:13,000 Speaker 4: you know, there's a dough group there and you'd have 1043 01:07:13,080 --> 01:07:15,520 Speaker 4: one or two or three bucks returning to that spot 1044 01:07:15,680 --> 01:07:18,080 Speaker 4: at different periods to find them. So that gives a 1045 01:07:18,120 --> 01:07:21,760 Speaker 4: lot of confirmation to you know, the whole adage. You know, 1046 01:07:21,800 --> 01:07:24,840 Speaker 4: if you hunt where the dos are, you'll see bucks 1047 01:07:25,280 --> 01:07:28,840 Speaker 4: or along those lines. Yeah, that is true. I mean 1048 01:07:28,880 --> 01:07:31,240 Speaker 4: during the rut, bucks are trying to find these does 1049 01:07:31,280 --> 01:07:34,880 Speaker 4: they're checking the receptiveness possibly and returning and that research 1050 01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:37,400 Speaker 4: is ongoing, but that that is something that's really interesting. 1051 01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:42,960 Speaker 4: The other thing that Mark asked about was about excursions, 1052 01:07:43,040 --> 01:07:46,000 Speaker 4: and that's something else I've been able to look in 1053 01:07:46,120 --> 01:07:49,280 Speaker 4: depth at. And one of the things that we found 1054 01:07:49,360 --> 01:07:53,479 Speaker 4: with excursions is that they happened year round. By far, 1055 01:07:53,520 --> 01:07:57,520 Speaker 4: they're more rut related fall time excursions in there are spring, 1056 01:07:58,160 --> 01:08:01,680 Speaker 4: but there has been documented cases from Pennsylvania all the 1057 01:08:01,720 --> 01:08:06,080 Speaker 4: way down to Louisiana and everywhere in between, from agricultural 1058 01:08:06,200 --> 01:08:12,000 Speaker 4: environments like Iowa and Maryland to heavily forested environments. But 1059 01:08:12,080 --> 01:08:16,040 Speaker 4: bucks are making these excursions, and what they are is 1060 01:08:16,280 --> 01:08:19,400 Speaker 4: within that home range where a buck is ninety to 1061 01:08:19,479 --> 01:08:24,679 Speaker 4: ninety five percent of time, they might spend take sometimes one, 1062 01:08:24,840 --> 01:08:30,240 Speaker 4: sometimes multiple events where they leave that space. They're gone 1063 01:08:30,280 --> 01:08:32,439 Speaker 4: for a very short period of time, usually a day 1064 01:08:32,680 --> 01:08:38,479 Speaker 4: for thirty six hours, and they return quickly. There's by 1065 01:08:38,600 --> 01:08:42,200 Speaker 4: far more rut related excursions that are happening, almost probably 1066 01:08:42,200 --> 01:08:46,640 Speaker 4: a three to one, and it's generally about half of 1067 01:08:46,760 --> 01:08:50,840 Speaker 4: bucks make them and all the ones that do go 1068 01:08:51,960 --> 01:08:55,559 Speaker 4: the majority do it multiple times. It's almost going back 1069 01:08:55,560 --> 01:08:58,800 Speaker 4: to that individuality where you know, if a buck's got 1070 01:08:58,800 --> 01:09:01,320 Speaker 4: the propensity to do that, he might do that. So 1071 01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:04,559 Speaker 4: it lends a lot of credibility to the hunter that 1072 01:09:04,680 --> 01:09:06,519 Speaker 4: he's a buck show up on his trail camera, or 1073 01:09:06,520 --> 01:09:08,760 Speaker 4: you're sitting there and his deer comes cruising through that 1074 01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:13,400 Speaker 4: you've never seen before, and you know you miss your 1075 01:09:13,479 --> 01:09:15,439 Speaker 4: chance at it and you never see that deer again. 1076 01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:18,160 Speaker 4: That could be a buck that was on an excursion. 1077 01:09:19,240 --> 01:09:22,120 Speaker 4: Or likewise, if you've been following a deer and you 1078 01:09:22,200 --> 01:09:25,800 Speaker 4: have great documentation of that buck even out of the 1079 01:09:25,840 --> 01:09:29,280 Speaker 4: summer getting into pre ra or even getting into you know, 1080 01:09:29,280 --> 01:09:30,880 Speaker 4: in the next couple of weeks, you're seeing this deer 1081 01:09:30,920 --> 01:09:33,880 Speaker 4: on camera and then all of a sudden, poof, that 1082 01:09:33,960 --> 01:09:37,280 Speaker 4: deer's gone. He may have actually made one of those 1083 01:09:37,280 --> 01:09:40,360 Speaker 4: excursions and the ones that this isn't confirmed, but the 1084 01:09:40,360 --> 01:09:44,400 Speaker 4: ones that are revelated or assumed obviously to be in 1085 01:09:44,439 --> 01:09:47,040 Speaker 4: search of does there might not be enough receptive dos 1086 01:09:47,080 --> 01:09:49,639 Speaker 4: in his home range, she's checked all his focal areas 1087 01:09:50,000 --> 01:09:53,200 Speaker 4: and he's going elsewhere, or you know, very likely the 1088 01:09:53,280 --> 01:09:56,400 Speaker 4: case he's on a dough that's not quite receptive and 1089 01:09:56,439 --> 01:09:59,639 Speaker 4: she takes him outside of his home range. There's actually 1090 01:09:59,640 --> 01:10:03,120 Speaker 4: been one documented case of a booty calling deer where 1091 01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:08,080 Speaker 4: there was a doll that was collared and she left 1092 01:10:08,120 --> 01:10:10,439 Speaker 4: her home range and he left his where they were 1093 01:10:10,479 --> 01:10:13,240 Speaker 4: both ninety nine, and they overlapped a little bit and 1094 01:10:13,240 --> 01:10:17,160 Speaker 4: they rendezvous and they were together for a day or so, 1095 01:10:17,320 --> 01:10:19,479 Speaker 4: and that was in Tennessee, and they went back to 1096 01:10:19,520 --> 01:10:20,799 Speaker 4: their respective home ranges. 1097 01:10:22,920 --> 01:10:24,519 Speaker 5: Yeah for a college bar. 1098 01:10:25,439 --> 01:10:30,200 Speaker 4: Yeah yeah. So there's all this interesting stuff going out there. 1099 01:10:30,880 --> 01:10:32,720 Speaker 4: And that's probably also you know, when one of those 1100 01:10:32,720 --> 01:10:36,840 Speaker 4: guys that you know, you see a social media post 1101 01:10:36,960 --> 01:10:39,160 Speaker 4: or somebody shoots a buck that looks a lot like 1102 01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:41,360 Speaker 4: the buck you've been following, and it's a couple of 1103 01:10:41,400 --> 01:10:43,200 Speaker 4: miles away, I mean, it could very well be the 1104 01:10:43,240 --> 01:10:46,360 Speaker 4: same deer and Bill travel anywhere between one to five miles. 1105 01:10:46,720 --> 01:10:50,080 Speaker 4: That's the average distance in these excursions. 1106 01:10:50,080 --> 01:10:55,960 Speaker 7: So the question, I'm sorry in regards to the annual patterning, then, 1107 01:10:57,240 --> 01:10:59,200 Speaker 7: me and Mark have been talking a lot about annual 1108 01:10:59,240 --> 01:11:02,439 Speaker 7: patterning patterning the past couple of weeks and trying to, 1109 01:11:02,600 --> 01:11:05,759 Speaker 7: you know, maybe hunt where we got a trail camera 1110 01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:07,559 Speaker 7: picture of a deer the previous year. 1111 01:11:08,120 --> 01:11:09,760 Speaker 5: Are these excursions or. 1112 01:11:09,720 --> 01:11:15,040 Speaker 7: Focal points like annual, like on the second week of October, 1113 01:11:15,080 --> 01:11:16,880 Speaker 7: you can expect the deer to do the same thing. 1114 01:11:18,439 --> 01:11:21,240 Speaker 4: Now, there's not a lot of there's not a lot 1115 01:11:21,240 --> 01:11:24,800 Speaker 4: of reasons to say that they are continuous in the 1116 01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:28,840 Speaker 4: same place or direction. Some of the research does show 1117 01:11:31,240 --> 01:11:34,000 Speaker 4: some weird stuff where they might have a lot of 1118 01:11:33,760 --> 01:11:36,200 Speaker 4: the collar deer going in the same way, and I 1119 01:11:36,200 --> 01:11:37,920 Speaker 4: think some of that has to do with the terrain 1120 01:11:37,960 --> 01:11:42,040 Speaker 4: and the landscape in those cases, I don't know of 1121 01:11:42,160 --> 01:11:44,160 Speaker 4: anything dan that has said that, you know, you can 1122 01:11:44,200 --> 01:11:46,360 Speaker 4: count that on that deer leaving and then coming back. 1123 01:11:46,720 --> 01:11:49,280 Speaker 4: I wouldn't be surprised if something like that was the case. 1124 01:11:49,400 --> 01:11:52,599 Speaker 4: But again, going down to the individuality of a deer, 1125 01:11:54,040 --> 01:11:56,920 Speaker 4: you know, you might have some that are likely to 1126 01:11:56,960 --> 01:11:58,759 Speaker 4: do that and other ones that are way more random. 1127 01:11:58,800 --> 01:12:00,920 Speaker 4: They just pick up and leave because their brain told 1128 01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:03,680 Speaker 4: them to. The reason I wouldn't be surprised if that 1129 01:12:03,800 --> 01:12:06,040 Speaker 4: happened was, you know, there's a lot of there's a 1130 01:12:06,080 --> 01:12:09,879 Speaker 4: lot of habitual behavior with deer. That's how they survive. Obviously, 1131 01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:13,080 Speaker 4: they know how to how to do something, and even 1132 01:12:13,120 --> 01:12:15,639 Speaker 4: coming down to like when they drop their antlers, you know, 1133 01:12:15,439 --> 01:12:18,360 Speaker 4: you've seen before in some of the research. You know, 1134 01:12:18,640 --> 01:12:21,400 Speaker 4: bucks can drop antlers within a day or two of 1135 01:12:21,439 --> 01:12:23,719 Speaker 4: when they did in the last year. So it wouldn't 1136 01:12:23,720 --> 01:12:27,920 Speaker 4: shock me if somebody had had a collar buck and 1137 01:12:27,960 --> 01:12:30,880 Speaker 4: they showed that these deer were doing the same thing 1138 01:12:31,520 --> 01:12:33,719 Speaker 4: year and then you you're out around the same time. 1139 01:12:34,400 --> 01:12:37,120 Speaker 4: I just don't remember or recall any of the research 1140 01:12:37,160 --> 01:12:40,400 Speaker 4: showing that, and that's probably because the bucks would have 1141 01:12:40,439 --> 01:12:42,880 Speaker 4: to be collared for multiple years, and a lot of 1142 01:12:42,880 --> 01:12:45,160 Speaker 4: these collars don't have the longevity of that. I mean, 1143 01:12:45,160 --> 01:12:49,400 Speaker 4: they're very expensive, but they usually only last year. Sometimes 1144 01:12:49,400 --> 01:12:51,120 Speaker 4: they only last a couple of months, believe or not. 1145 01:12:51,200 --> 01:12:56,000 Speaker 4: But so that hasn't been documented to my knowledge. But 1146 01:12:56,200 --> 01:12:59,040 Speaker 4: I'm I'm a huge fan of what you're asking. Yeah, 1147 01:12:59,200 --> 01:13:01,559 Speaker 4: I mean, I'm I'm kind of in a little bit 1148 01:13:01,560 --> 01:13:03,599 Speaker 4: different stage. I was talking to a friend the other 1149 01:13:03,680 --> 01:13:06,320 Speaker 4: day about the stages of hunting. You know, you're supposed 1150 01:13:06,320 --> 01:13:09,040 Speaker 4: to go through the shooter stage, and then the limiting 1151 01:13:09,080 --> 01:13:12,120 Speaker 4: out stage, and then the trophy stage, and then it 1152 01:13:12,160 --> 01:13:15,800 Speaker 4: goes on to I think the fourth one is the 1153 01:13:15,880 --> 01:13:18,719 Speaker 4: type of tactic you use, and then finally sportsman stage 1154 01:13:18,720 --> 01:13:21,720 Speaker 4: where you're just enjoying the experience. I'm somewhere in the 1155 01:13:21,760 --> 01:13:22,120 Speaker 4: middle of that. 1156 01:13:22,160 --> 01:13:22,519 Speaker 3: I don't think. 1157 01:13:22,520 --> 01:13:26,639 Speaker 4: I think there's something missing for the young father who's 1158 01:13:26,640 --> 01:13:29,479 Speaker 4: got a toddler and a preschooler and flies around the 1159 01:13:29,479 --> 01:13:31,559 Speaker 4: country a lot, and I don't know what I'm doing 1160 01:13:31,560 --> 01:13:36,840 Speaker 4: this year, but I'm a big fan of patterning based 1161 01:13:36,880 --> 01:13:40,519 Speaker 4: on everything from finding sheds to trail camera images in 1162 01:13:40,560 --> 01:13:43,120 Speaker 4: the same part of the property year and you're out 1163 01:13:43,760 --> 01:13:47,320 Speaker 4: and learning a deer and actually going deeper than that, 1164 01:13:47,920 --> 01:13:54,120 Speaker 4: finding a buck early in his life that's patternable that 1165 01:13:54,760 --> 01:13:58,920 Speaker 4: has daylight behaviors, that seems to be up and out 1166 01:13:59,000 --> 01:14:02,519 Speaker 4: at daytime, a lot, that's got above average anler growth, 1167 01:14:02,880 --> 01:14:05,400 Speaker 4: and trying to protect that buck and see him through 1168 01:14:05,400 --> 01:14:09,160 Speaker 4: an older age. That's kind of the niche that I 1169 01:14:09,280 --> 01:14:11,639 Speaker 4: like is just finding a deer that's one or two 1170 01:14:11,720 --> 01:14:15,400 Speaker 4: or even three that's just showing extreme potential, that is 1171 01:14:15,600 --> 01:14:17,320 Speaker 4: up and at him a lot at daytime, and just 1172 01:14:17,760 --> 01:14:20,120 Speaker 4: trying to keep him safe to the point where you 1173 01:14:20,200 --> 01:14:20,960 Speaker 4: might get a shot. 1174 01:14:21,920 --> 01:14:24,080 Speaker 2: And that's pretty fascinating when you can learn a single 1175 01:14:24,120 --> 01:14:26,920 Speaker 2: deer like that over course of several years, and then 1176 01:14:27,240 --> 01:14:29,040 Speaker 2: you know, if you're fortunate enough to put all the 1177 01:14:29,040 --> 01:14:31,280 Speaker 2: pieces together by the time he is fully mature and 1178 01:14:31,320 --> 01:14:34,000 Speaker 2: then actually you know, harvests that deer that's abouzz cools 1179 01:14:34,000 --> 01:14:38,200 Speaker 2: it gets. Yeah, so here here's kind of related to 1180 01:14:38,240 --> 01:14:40,439 Speaker 2: this point. All the ideas here about when you're trying 1181 01:14:40,479 --> 01:14:43,120 Speaker 2: to pattern a deer and understand a deer. And I 1182 01:14:43,160 --> 01:14:45,439 Speaker 2: have two takeaways from the study that you just mentioned 1183 01:14:45,439 --> 01:14:48,680 Speaker 2: that tracked mature buck movement during the rut, and the 1184 01:14:48,720 --> 01:14:51,360 Speaker 2: two big takeaways obviously mentions that yes, deer are taking 1185 01:14:51,360 --> 01:14:54,240 Speaker 2: these excursions, which I think is something that popular common 1186 01:14:54,280 --> 01:14:57,400 Speaker 2: knowledge when it comes to deer behavior during the rut 1187 01:14:58,080 --> 01:15:01,120 Speaker 2: has always been, you know, during the rut, bucks are 1188 01:15:01,120 --> 01:15:04,320 Speaker 2: going everywhere, They're going different places that they're changing the 1189 01:15:04,840 --> 01:15:07,400 Speaker 2: changing the usual routine, and you can't pattern a buck. 1190 01:15:07,479 --> 01:15:09,639 Speaker 2: So part of this I'm seeing in the data here 1191 01:15:09,680 --> 01:15:11,960 Speaker 2: shows that yes, there is some of that excursion behavior. 1192 01:15:12,280 --> 01:15:14,160 Speaker 2: But you know, from what you said and from the 1193 01:15:14,160 --> 01:15:15,960 Speaker 2: stuff I've read, it sounds like that's a little bit 1194 01:15:16,040 --> 01:15:18,160 Speaker 2: less than maybe some have made it out to be. 1195 01:15:18,240 --> 01:15:19,960 Speaker 2: I think a lot of people think it's happening every 1196 01:15:19,960 --> 01:15:22,160 Speaker 2: single day all the time. These bucks are NonStop moving 1197 01:15:22,200 --> 01:15:26,160 Speaker 2: all over to new places, But it sounds like they're 1198 01:15:26,240 --> 01:15:28,479 Speaker 2: actually the majority of time, Yes, they might take a 1199 01:15:28,520 --> 01:15:30,519 Speaker 2: couple of these excursions, but the majority of the time 1200 01:15:30,560 --> 01:15:32,960 Speaker 2: they're focusing still in their home range on a couple 1201 01:15:33,200 --> 01:15:36,320 Speaker 2: consistent places. So my big takeaway from this, and you 1202 01:15:36,360 --> 01:15:38,200 Speaker 2: tell me, Matt, if this is correct for me to 1203 01:15:38,479 --> 01:15:41,519 Speaker 2: take this, but my big takeaway is that during the rut, 1204 01:15:41,560 --> 01:15:44,920 Speaker 2: while there is going to be some randomness, there actually 1205 01:15:45,040 --> 01:15:48,200 Speaker 2: is still some type of consistency that we can dial 1206 01:15:48,280 --> 01:15:51,760 Speaker 2: in on and potentially pattern to a degree to take 1207 01:15:51,760 --> 01:15:54,640 Speaker 2: advantage of during the rut and while you're hunting. Is 1208 01:15:54,640 --> 01:15:55,160 Speaker 2: that accurate? 1209 01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:59,840 Speaker 4: Absolutely, because you're talking about the law of averages there. 1210 01:16:00,360 --> 01:16:03,240 Speaker 4: And although I'm telling you about every other buck will 1211 01:16:03,280 --> 01:16:07,519 Speaker 4: go on an excursion and when they leave, they're gone 1212 01:16:07,800 --> 01:16:10,559 Speaker 4: for a short period of time. I mean it's a 1213 01:16:10,600 --> 01:16:13,320 Speaker 4: day or two, you're talking about multiple weeks. That the 1214 01:16:13,439 --> 01:16:16,800 Speaker 4: rot can last two weeks. Even in terms of all 1215 01:16:16,840 --> 01:16:22,840 Speaker 4: the craziness of all that randomness, it is small percentages 1216 01:16:22,880 --> 01:16:25,200 Speaker 4: of when those things are occurring. It helps explain some 1217 01:16:25,320 --> 01:16:30,519 Speaker 4: of the head scratchers. But for the most part, if 1218 01:16:30,560 --> 01:16:34,640 Speaker 4: you can be in tune with your property and you 1219 01:16:34,720 --> 01:16:38,799 Speaker 4: can locate where deer are, they like to be during 1220 01:16:38,840 --> 01:16:42,639 Speaker 4: that frenzy, because certainly, and you can build your property 1221 01:16:42,680 --> 01:16:44,479 Speaker 4: that way too. You can manage it so that your 1222 01:16:44,520 --> 01:16:48,360 Speaker 4: property has specific locations where you know deer will hold 1223 01:16:48,439 --> 01:16:51,040 Speaker 4: up where they like to be, you know, it's got 1224 01:16:51,080 --> 01:16:53,439 Speaker 4: better cover in it, or things like that. That adds 1225 01:16:53,439 --> 01:16:56,320 Speaker 4: a lot of predictability to it. I mean, being within 1226 01:16:56,640 --> 01:17:00,120 Speaker 4: bull range or gun range and actually making the shot count. Well, 1227 01:17:00,479 --> 01:17:04,560 Speaker 4: that comes down to skill and practice and being proficient 1228 01:17:04,680 --> 01:17:08,559 Speaker 4: and being able to perform under pressure. But you can 1229 01:17:08,600 --> 01:17:14,439 Speaker 4: absolutely change the trajectory of your success by practicing QTM and 1230 01:17:14,840 --> 01:17:19,000 Speaker 4: managing the property and letting dear go and watching all 1231 01:17:19,040 --> 01:17:22,320 Speaker 4: those things unfold, and practicing the low patients. I mean, 1232 01:17:22,360 --> 01:17:26,120 Speaker 4: there's tens of thousands of QTM A members and other 1233 01:17:26,200 --> 01:17:30,240 Speaker 4: QTUM practitioners across the country that have extremely high success 1234 01:17:30,320 --> 01:17:34,240 Speaker 4: rates above the average hunter. And all and all due respects, 1235 01:17:34,240 --> 01:17:35,960 Speaker 4: we're all for the millions of hunters out there, but 1236 01:17:36,320 --> 01:17:39,800 Speaker 4: guys that are like you two and the listeners that 1237 01:17:39,840 --> 01:17:42,280 Speaker 4: are on this, that are listening to this, you can 1238 01:17:42,360 --> 01:17:46,120 Speaker 4: change your fate by that predictability. So I absolutely agree 1239 01:17:46,120 --> 01:17:46,439 Speaker 4: with that. 1240 01:17:46,960 --> 01:17:49,200 Speaker 2: So then here's the next question. Then, because if we're 1241 01:17:49,600 --> 01:17:52,000 Speaker 2: if we're learning trying to learn, these bucks and if 1242 01:17:52,040 --> 01:17:55,200 Speaker 2: we know that, hey, there is some ability to still 1243 01:17:55,280 --> 01:17:58,120 Speaker 2: learn and to some degree pattern and hunt these bucks 1244 01:17:58,160 --> 01:18:02,240 Speaker 2: during the rut, even as we understand the does do 1245 01:18:02,400 --> 01:18:04,800 Speaker 2: control the rut though, right, because everything a buck is 1246 01:18:04,840 --> 01:18:07,000 Speaker 2: doing during the rut during these next couple of weeks 1247 01:18:07,040 --> 01:18:09,400 Speaker 2: is revolved around trying to find that dough that's ready 1248 01:18:09,400 --> 01:18:12,240 Speaker 2: to breed. So when it comes to hunting the rut, 1249 01:18:12,240 --> 01:18:14,559 Speaker 2: then I think a big portion of, you know, what 1250 01:18:14,560 --> 01:18:17,320 Speaker 2: we're trying to do here is understanding where those dos 1251 01:18:17,360 --> 01:18:19,320 Speaker 2: are what they're doing, because that's where the buck wants 1252 01:18:19,320 --> 01:18:21,880 Speaker 2: to be. So is there anything out there that you've 1253 01:18:21,960 --> 01:18:24,720 Speaker 2: learned or that you know? I guess what is a 1254 01:18:24,760 --> 01:18:27,080 Speaker 2: dough doing during the rut? Because we talk a lot 1255 01:18:27,120 --> 01:18:29,160 Speaker 2: about what bucks are doing, but I guess the first 1256 01:18:29,160 --> 01:18:30,680 Speaker 2: thing we need to understand is what are the does doing? 1257 01:18:30,720 --> 01:18:33,520 Speaker 2: So how does dough behavior change during the rut? 1258 01:18:33,800 --> 01:18:37,080 Speaker 4: That's a great question. So a lot of it's similar, 1259 01:18:37,120 --> 01:18:39,599 Speaker 4: but there's some key differences. Obviously, It's just like you know, 1260 01:18:39,640 --> 01:18:43,080 Speaker 4: men are from Mars and all that dose do not 1261 01:18:43,200 --> 01:18:48,439 Speaker 4: have obviously influence of the immensity of what bucks do 1262 01:18:48,640 --> 01:18:52,160 Speaker 4: during the rut. There actually is some evidence like that 1263 01:18:52,200 --> 01:18:54,240 Speaker 4: Booty call example I gave you a few minutes ago, 1264 01:18:54,920 --> 01:18:59,040 Speaker 4: and some other research that actually show dose going out 1265 01:18:59,040 --> 01:19:01,760 Speaker 4: and speaking bucks. I mean that has been documented. It's 1266 01:19:01,800 --> 01:19:04,360 Speaker 4: again it's a proportion and it's a small proportion of 1267 01:19:04,680 --> 01:19:07,360 Speaker 4: the research that I've seen, but it's not like one 1268 01:19:07,400 --> 01:19:10,840 Speaker 4: hundred percent of time the buck is the pursuer. I mean, 1269 01:19:10,840 --> 01:19:13,519 Speaker 4: there is some of that happening, but for the most part, 1270 01:19:13,560 --> 01:19:16,400 Speaker 4: what those are doing is going through that same diet change, 1271 01:19:16,439 --> 01:19:19,120 Speaker 4: the physiological change. The bucks are that we talked to 1272 01:19:18,840 --> 01:19:21,679 Speaker 4: the beginning of the show. They're getting ready for winter, 1273 01:19:22,960 --> 01:19:25,160 Speaker 4: that they're they're bulking up. They need to be ready 1274 01:19:25,200 --> 01:19:27,640 Speaker 4: to survive. They need to make sure that their offspring 1275 01:19:27,960 --> 01:19:30,680 Speaker 4: are in the best condition because they're good mothers and 1276 01:19:30,720 --> 01:19:34,720 Speaker 4: they're trying to get to that point. They're also at 1277 01:19:34,720 --> 01:19:37,639 Speaker 4: the beginning, like right now, really, I mean there's still 1278 01:19:38,040 --> 01:19:41,679 Speaker 4: the majority of those are not quite ready to breed, 1279 01:19:41,760 --> 01:19:45,920 Speaker 4: so that's not going on in their you know, what 1280 01:19:45,960 --> 01:19:48,840 Speaker 4: they're focusing on. They're still trying to bulk up and 1281 01:19:48,920 --> 01:19:52,800 Speaker 4: eat and stay safe. And probably the number one thing 1282 01:19:52,880 --> 01:19:57,720 Speaker 4: that you can do in terms of tracking does is 1283 01:19:57,840 --> 01:20:01,040 Speaker 4: managing your hunting pressure, because they will key in on 1284 01:20:01,560 --> 01:20:04,240 Speaker 4: hunting pressure at a much finer level than bucks will 1285 01:20:04,280 --> 01:20:08,120 Speaker 4: because bucks are rut crazy, testosterone filled and they're not 1286 01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:10,559 Speaker 4: paying attention to what they're doing. Every hunter knows that, 1287 01:20:10,600 --> 01:20:12,880 Speaker 4: and that's why guys like to hunt, and guys like 1288 01:20:12,880 --> 01:20:15,800 Speaker 4: to hunt the rut because it's a time when you 1289 01:20:15,880 --> 01:20:19,320 Speaker 4: had the best chance at a buck, because he's going 1290 01:20:19,400 --> 01:20:22,479 Speaker 4: to make a mistake, he'll be out in daylight, he's 1291 01:20:22,520 --> 01:20:24,120 Speaker 4: going to come by you and not be looking up. 1292 01:20:24,200 --> 01:20:26,720 Speaker 4: All of those things are happening, those aren't under the 1293 01:20:26,760 --> 01:20:29,759 Speaker 4: same influence of testosterone. I mean, clearly, it's a pretty 1294 01:20:29,760 --> 01:20:32,360 Speaker 4: obvious thing. So the thing you need to really be 1295 01:20:32,439 --> 01:20:38,519 Speaker 4: cautious of is hunting pressure where you don't too heavily 1296 01:20:38,600 --> 01:20:41,920 Speaker 4: hunt the property. The really fine balance, but where you 1297 01:20:41,920 --> 01:20:46,000 Speaker 4: don't too heavily hunt the property, where you're alerting those 1298 01:20:46,040 --> 01:20:49,519 Speaker 4: to hunting pressure, elevating, you know, being on the property, 1299 01:20:49,560 --> 01:20:53,120 Speaker 4: all of those things that might make a dough change 1300 01:20:53,120 --> 01:20:55,640 Speaker 4: her behavior. But at the same time be able to 1301 01:20:55,680 --> 01:20:58,719 Speaker 4: manage all the things that we talk about in QDM, 1302 01:20:59,680 --> 01:21:02,240 Speaker 4: taking the right number dos and balancing the deer herd 1303 01:21:02,240 --> 01:21:04,840 Speaker 4: and the sex ratio and all those things. And there's 1304 01:21:04,880 --> 01:21:07,240 Speaker 4: some research out there behind it. I mean, for the 1305 01:21:07,280 --> 01:21:09,880 Speaker 4: most part, I can give you some basic numbers, but 1306 01:21:10,400 --> 01:21:13,519 Speaker 4: a lot of the concurrent research out there that and 1307 01:21:13,560 --> 01:21:17,120 Speaker 4: they agree with each other. Things out of Oklahoma and 1308 01:21:17,280 --> 01:21:20,599 Speaker 4: South Carolina and some other places show that it really 1309 01:21:20,640 --> 01:21:23,639 Speaker 4: only takes a few days of heavy pressure to alert 1310 01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:25,840 Speaker 4: a deer herd and they start changing the way they behave. 1311 01:21:25,920 --> 01:21:30,000 Speaker 4: And this includes dozen bucks, but they'll change when they're 1312 01:21:30,040 --> 01:21:33,920 Speaker 4: out during day versus night. How they get across the property. 1313 01:21:34,080 --> 01:21:36,600 Speaker 4: They still might do that bed to feed movement, but 1314 01:21:36,760 --> 01:21:39,599 Speaker 4: instead of going in a direct line, their path becomes 1315 01:21:39,680 --> 01:21:45,120 Speaker 4: much more complex. The observations of those animals go down. 1316 01:21:45,160 --> 01:21:48,320 Speaker 4: All of this stuff happened after about really three or 1317 01:21:48,479 --> 01:21:53,400 Speaker 4: plus days of pressure. So that's where kind of strategy 1318 01:21:53,479 --> 01:21:56,320 Speaker 4: changes how you do that. So I guess what I 1319 01:21:56,320 --> 01:21:58,720 Speaker 4: would recommend to somebody that wants to focus on that 1320 01:21:58,840 --> 01:22:03,479 Speaker 4: side of it is, first figure out how many dos 1321 01:22:03,520 --> 01:22:06,120 Speaker 4: you need to take, because that's the lowest hole in 1322 01:22:06,160 --> 01:22:08,320 Speaker 4: the bucket. If you have too many deer on the 1323 01:22:08,360 --> 01:22:12,160 Speaker 4: property and not enough food, or some combination of those 1324 01:22:12,160 --> 01:22:14,880 Speaker 4: two things depending on Again, if you're Dan and you 1325 01:22:14,960 --> 01:22:19,040 Speaker 4: live in Iowa, you know, if you have abundant food, 1326 01:22:19,080 --> 01:22:20,960 Speaker 4: you can hold a lot more deer. But if you're 1327 01:22:21,000 --> 01:22:24,479 Speaker 4: if you're limited by food, bacon does is the thing 1328 01:22:24,479 --> 01:22:26,760 Speaker 4: you need to worry about beyond tracking a big deer, 1329 01:22:26,800 --> 01:22:29,080 Speaker 4: because that buck's only going to be as big as 1330 01:22:29,120 --> 01:22:31,160 Speaker 4: he possibly can be if he's fed as well as 1331 01:22:31,160 --> 01:22:34,519 Speaker 4: he possibly can be. It's all antlers take a big 1332 01:22:34,600 --> 01:22:35,599 Speaker 4: gang from nutrition. 1333 01:22:36,320 --> 01:22:40,000 Speaker 2: Can you dive into the science of signposting? So rubs 1334 01:22:40,000 --> 01:22:42,840 Speaker 2: and scrapes are something that you know, we hunters associate 1335 01:22:42,920 --> 01:22:45,640 Speaker 2: with the rut, but can you go into both of 1336 01:22:45,640 --> 01:22:48,600 Speaker 2: those and you know, why are bucks making those? What 1337 01:22:48,680 --> 01:22:50,760 Speaker 2: are they doing with them? And when are they doing them? 1338 01:22:50,920 --> 01:22:52,760 Speaker 2: I guess this is what I'm first curious about from you. 1339 01:22:53,600 --> 01:22:58,439 Speaker 4: Okay, Yeah, there's actually very predictable times when both of 1340 01:22:58,479 --> 01:23:03,920 Speaker 4: those behaviors peak in the woods. Scraping, let's talk about 1341 01:23:03,960 --> 01:23:07,599 Speaker 4: that one. First, bucks we'll start making scrapes really after 1342 01:23:07,720 --> 01:23:10,519 Speaker 4: velvet appeal. They'll start doing a little bit, but by 1343 01:23:10,560 --> 01:23:15,400 Speaker 4: far it ramps up going through early fall. You know, 1344 01:23:15,479 --> 01:23:18,360 Speaker 4: let's just called the rot. The second week in November, 1345 01:23:19,080 --> 01:23:22,320 Speaker 4: you'll see scraping activity peak about a week and a 1346 01:23:22,400 --> 01:23:27,160 Speaker 4: half to fourteen days prior to that. That's when it peaks, 1347 01:23:27,200 --> 01:23:31,519 Speaker 4: and it will maintain that peak up until when breeding 1348 01:23:31,560 --> 01:23:37,160 Speaker 4: starts occurring. So right now, late October is the time 1349 01:23:37,240 --> 01:23:40,320 Speaker 4: when you see scrape more scrapes than any other time 1350 01:23:40,360 --> 01:23:43,120 Speaker 4: of the year. It'll continue for a couple of weeks 1351 01:23:43,120 --> 01:23:46,400 Speaker 4: and actually in the probably second week in November, when 1352 01:23:46,720 --> 01:23:49,320 Speaker 4: most breeding is occurring, it starts to drop off. There's 1353 01:23:49,360 --> 01:23:51,600 Speaker 4: usually a little bit of peak after that when you 1354 01:23:51,640 --> 01:23:55,400 Speaker 4: see second rod occurring or things like that, but there 1355 01:23:55,400 --> 01:23:58,280 Speaker 4: should be the most scrapes on your properties right now. 1356 01:23:59,600 --> 01:24:03,719 Speaker 4: Rubbing actually increases and peaks with the peak of breeding, 1357 01:24:04,240 --> 01:24:08,000 Speaker 4: so that usually will peak a little bit later in 1358 01:24:08,040 --> 01:24:11,280 Speaker 4: the fall. About when bucks are and dose are actually 1359 01:24:11,320 --> 01:24:12,840 Speaker 4: starting to breathe. 1360 01:24:13,680 --> 01:24:16,360 Speaker 2: And why, what's the science say about why they're doing 1361 01:24:16,360 --> 01:24:17,240 Speaker 2: those two things. 1362 01:24:18,840 --> 01:24:20,960 Speaker 4: Well, the science behind it is what they're doing is 1363 01:24:20,960 --> 01:24:24,400 Speaker 4: they're leaving sign for other deer. I mean, deer are 1364 01:24:24,720 --> 01:24:30,680 Speaker 4: very social animals. They speak to each other through vocalizations. 1365 01:24:30,680 --> 01:24:34,040 Speaker 4: That's while we buy grunt calls and dough bleats and 1366 01:24:34,160 --> 01:24:36,600 Speaker 4: cans and all those things because we know that, you know, 1367 01:24:36,680 --> 01:24:41,360 Speaker 4: deer are very vocal with each other. They have a 1368 01:24:41,400 --> 01:24:45,679 Speaker 4: lot of scent production. They will leave sent through seven 1369 01:24:45,800 --> 01:24:50,160 Speaker 4: different glands on their body with bucks seven those six 1370 01:24:51,400 --> 01:24:56,160 Speaker 4: they leave scent on scrapes they leave by urinating and 1371 01:24:56,360 --> 01:24:59,240 Speaker 4: or and or rub urinating in that spot. They will 1372 01:24:59,280 --> 01:25:02,479 Speaker 4: leave scent on a rub by once they make the 1373 01:25:02,560 --> 01:25:07,360 Speaker 4: rub their forehead gland, that's that dark spot between the antlers. 1374 01:25:07,400 --> 01:25:10,040 Speaker 4: All that hair gets really dark because there's a very 1375 01:25:10,080 --> 01:25:14,719 Speaker 4: oily substance. Basically like you know, if you don't shower 1376 01:25:14,760 --> 01:25:17,240 Speaker 4: for a couple of days, your hair gets really greasy. 1377 01:25:17,600 --> 01:25:20,840 Speaker 4: Every single hair follicle on our body has a spacious plant. 1378 01:25:20,840 --> 01:25:24,800 Speaker 4: It produces a little bit of oil to it. Deer 1379 01:25:24,880 --> 01:25:27,320 Speaker 4: mammals they have the same thing, but these areas of 1380 01:25:27,920 --> 01:25:32,520 Speaker 4: high glandular activity, like the forehead or the tarsal gland. 1381 01:25:33,240 --> 01:25:35,880 Speaker 4: You know, these areas will actually produce an abundance of 1382 01:25:35,920 --> 01:25:39,960 Speaker 4: those oils, and they're depositing scent through that. So what 1383 01:25:40,000 --> 01:25:42,599 Speaker 4: they're doing is they're basically leaving their calling card. So 1384 01:25:42,680 --> 01:25:46,719 Speaker 4: any deer bond dell back can go to those places, 1385 01:25:46,760 --> 01:25:52,720 Speaker 4: those signpost locations and smell it and pick up the 1386 01:25:52,800 --> 01:25:56,280 Speaker 4: pheromones of other individuals, and it's basically like going to 1387 01:25:56,360 --> 01:25:58,840 Speaker 4: the deli and leaven your business card to you know, 1388 01:25:58,920 --> 01:26:01,599 Speaker 4: win a free sandwich or free hogi. They're leaving their 1389 01:26:01,640 --> 01:26:04,920 Speaker 4: their business card. They're saying I was here again. It 1390 01:26:05,000 --> 01:26:08,920 Speaker 4: kind of blends into that territoriality of your territorial They're 1391 01:26:08,920 --> 01:26:12,280 Speaker 4: not they're just they're just leaving their sign out there. 1392 01:26:12,320 --> 01:26:15,680 Speaker 4: And it also alerts and also cues a little bit 1393 01:26:15,760 --> 01:26:18,680 Speaker 4: to the rut, you know, when those are priming and 1394 01:26:18,720 --> 01:26:22,160 Speaker 4: getting ready to come into estress. There's some suggestions out 1395 01:26:22,160 --> 01:26:29,040 Speaker 4: there through well known researchers. I haven't seen research that 1396 01:26:29,240 --> 01:26:32,599 Speaker 4: says it it's unfounded, but there's a lot of good 1397 01:26:32,640 --> 01:26:35,679 Speaker 4: research out there that talks about the number of chemical 1398 01:26:35,720 --> 01:26:40,599 Speaker 4: receptors and pheromones in box and immature box versus mature 1399 01:26:40,600 --> 01:26:44,960 Speaker 4: box that that that's irresputable that mature bucks do leave 1400 01:26:45,040 --> 01:26:48,120 Speaker 4: different sense, different types of sense, different types of compounds 1401 01:26:48,160 --> 01:26:50,840 Speaker 4: and young bucks do you know. So the theory there, 1402 01:26:50,880 --> 01:26:53,639 Speaker 4: and that's the theory, is that they're leaving their sign 1403 01:26:53,840 --> 01:26:57,040 Speaker 4: or they're sent for others to smell as a marking 1404 01:26:57,200 --> 01:27:01,479 Speaker 4: of we're here or I'm ready and uh. There's also 1405 01:27:01,560 --> 01:27:06,000 Speaker 4: some suggested evidence that those can be queued quicker into 1406 01:27:06,920 --> 01:27:09,640 Speaker 4: reading or being ready to breed with some of that 1407 01:27:09,840 --> 01:27:13,000 Speaker 4: out there, with more mature bucks and those those right compounds. 1408 01:27:13,040 --> 01:27:16,040 Speaker 4: So it's very interconnected. There's a lot we don't know 1409 01:27:16,080 --> 01:27:20,240 Speaker 4: about deer, but there's a lot of very interesting things 1410 01:27:20,280 --> 01:27:24,280 Speaker 4: going on, and they certainly are are tied together to 1411 01:27:24,360 --> 01:27:25,960 Speaker 4: each other through communication like that. 1412 01:27:37,280 --> 01:27:43,880 Speaker 2: So is there any takeaway for hunters in regards to signposts, 1413 01:27:43,960 --> 01:27:46,360 Speaker 2: because there's lots of different ideas and theories and it's 1414 01:27:46,400 --> 01:27:49,360 Speaker 2: it's changed over the years about hunting over or near 1415 01:27:49,479 --> 01:27:52,800 Speaker 2: rubs or scrapes, But is there any definitive takeaway that 1416 01:27:52,840 --> 01:27:55,720 Speaker 2: we that we have now regards to if it's worth 1417 01:27:55,760 --> 01:27:59,160 Speaker 2: hunting over those two different types of sign well. 1418 01:27:59,080 --> 01:28:02,360 Speaker 4: Scrapes three search shows and I didn't actually say this 1419 01:28:02,400 --> 01:28:05,559 Speaker 4: and then ago these scrapes have been shown the majority 1420 01:28:05,560 --> 01:28:09,800 Speaker 4: of them do happen at night, and rubs I don't 1421 01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:13,439 Speaker 4: actually remember what the research says windows occur, but I 1422 01:28:13,479 --> 01:28:16,280 Speaker 4: do know that that'll increase, you know, the more you 1423 01:28:16,400 --> 01:28:20,760 Speaker 4: have of well balanced bear heard. But just like any 1424 01:28:20,840 --> 01:28:24,160 Speaker 4: hunter that's listening, you know, I go into a woodlaw 1425 01:28:24,200 --> 01:28:26,240 Speaker 4: and I see a bunch of rubs scraps, I get excited. 1426 01:28:26,400 --> 01:28:30,599 Speaker 4: It looks like there's a buck using that property. That's 1427 01:28:30,880 --> 01:28:33,639 Speaker 4: part of the property. Now you can set up over 1428 01:28:33,720 --> 01:28:37,120 Speaker 4: that scrape and hope that you see that deer, but 1429 01:28:37,320 --> 01:28:40,880 Speaker 4: know that he's probably checking those at night. It's about 1430 01:28:40,920 --> 01:28:43,920 Speaker 4: eighty five percent of the research says that scrapes are 1431 01:28:43,920 --> 01:28:46,839 Speaker 4: made and checked at night. You could be a fifteen percenter. 1432 01:28:47,280 --> 01:28:50,320 Speaker 4: I have great daytime pictures of bucks using scrapes, you know, 1433 01:28:50,360 --> 01:28:52,599 Speaker 4: and I could have been sitting there in that stand 1434 01:28:52,680 --> 01:28:54,920 Speaker 4: during that time. Again, if you want to play the 1435 01:28:54,960 --> 01:28:58,960 Speaker 4: law of averages and listen to the research, you can say, well, 1436 01:28:59,040 --> 01:29:01,960 Speaker 4: I'll okay, there's a scrape line going through this part 1437 01:29:02,000 --> 01:29:04,760 Speaker 4: of the property, and there's really no true scrape line. 1438 01:29:04,760 --> 01:29:08,280 Speaker 4: A lot of the research has shown and disputed. You 1439 01:29:08,360 --> 01:29:11,320 Speaker 4: might find us several scrapes on a ridge, you could 1440 01:29:11,320 --> 01:29:14,720 Speaker 4: have a completely different set of bucks using. It's not 1441 01:29:14,800 --> 01:29:17,320 Speaker 4: made by one deer walking in a line. This is 1442 01:29:17,479 --> 01:29:21,360 Speaker 4: just a concentration of activity where bucks are leaving their 1443 01:29:21,400 --> 01:29:24,360 Speaker 4: sign and it's probably because there's doze near there, so 1444 01:29:24,400 --> 01:29:28,880 Speaker 4: they're leaving their sign for dose. You know. So I 1445 01:29:28,880 --> 01:29:30,840 Speaker 4: can go in there with my climber and say, wow, 1446 01:29:30,880 --> 01:29:32,519 Speaker 4: there's a bunch of scrapes right here. I'm going to 1447 01:29:32,560 --> 01:29:34,760 Speaker 4: set up right here and have the expectation of seeing 1448 01:29:34,800 --> 01:29:37,800 Speaker 4: a buck. I know, as a researcher, you know, and 1449 01:29:37,840 --> 01:29:40,320 Speaker 4: a deer biologist that you know what, these are probably 1450 01:29:40,400 --> 01:29:44,160 Speaker 4: being made at night. Eighty five percent of these are 1451 01:29:44,200 --> 01:29:45,920 Speaker 4: being made at night, and there's probably a chance I'm 1452 01:29:45,960 --> 01:29:47,679 Speaker 4: not going to see the buck, but I might still 1453 01:29:47,720 --> 01:29:49,400 Speaker 4: set up there saying, you know what, it could be 1454 01:29:49,400 --> 01:29:52,040 Speaker 4: one of those fifteen percent times at a buck coming through. 1455 01:29:52,320 --> 01:29:54,280 Speaker 4: I've gotten. I've seen a lot of different, you know, 1456 01:29:55,080 --> 01:29:58,320 Speaker 4: responses on our website and social media posts and other 1457 01:29:58,360 --> 01:30:01,879 Speaker 4: things when this research gets put out there in articles 1458 01:30:02,000 --> 01:30:04,240 Speaker 4: or posts or things like that. Is somebody that put 1459 01:30:04,280 --> 01:30:06,760 Speaker 4: a picture of a buck making a scrape, Well, of course, yes, 1460 01:30:06,840 --> 01:30:09,080 Speaker 4: that does. I mean, you can't say absolutely anything. And 1461 01:30:09,080 --> 01:30:12,920 Speaker 4: that's one of the things I mentioned about science is 1462 01:30:13,560 --> 01:30:17,280 Speaker 4: what peer reviewed research gives us is a moment in 1463 01:30:17,360 --> 01:30:21,800 Speaker 4: time the researchers collared bucks or they did this or 1464 01:30:21,880 --> 01:30:25,320 Speaker 4: did that on a property in Iowa to Maryland, to 1465 01:30:25,439 --> 01:30:28,360 Speaker 4: Texas to New York, and you can say, well, that's 1466 01:30:28,400 --> 01:30:31,320 Speaker 4: the case in New York. That the true test of 1467 01:30:31,360 --> 01:30:35,800 Speaker 4: science is repeatability, being able to try it again. And 1468 01:30:35,880 --> 01:30:38,320 Speaker 4: some of his research has been repeated in different parts 1469 01:30:38,320 --> 01:30:41,360 Speaker 4: of the country and they've done the same test and 1470 01:30:41,400 --> 01:30:45,200 Speaker 4: they've shown the same results. That's the real true, part 1471 01:30:45,240 --> 01:30:47,800 Speaker 4: of science is learning what the majority of the time 1472 01:30:47,880 --> 01:30:50,639 Speaker 4: things happen. But as a hunter you need to take 1473 01:30:50,680 --> 01:30:53,479 Speaker 4: that and synthesize and say, how do I apply that 1474 01:30:53,520 --> 01:30:56,559 Speaker 4: to my situation? Shoot, Mark and Dan, I'm still going 1475 01:30:56,640 --> 01:30:58,120 Speaker 4: to go out and set up a stand and be 1476 01:30:58,200 --> 01:31:00,960 Speaker 4: near scrapes because that means there's bucks area. Yeah, I'm 1477 01:31:00,960 --> 01:31:03,080 Speaker 4: not going to think, as you know, as a hunter, 1478 01:31:03,200 --> 01:31:06,040 Speaker 4: that's what I'm going to do. I know my expectations 1479 01:31:06,120 --> 01:31:10,439 Speaker 4: might be that Bock might not be here during daylight, 1480 01:31:11,479 --> 01:31:13,879 Speaker 4: but I also know that there's a lot of activity 1481 01:31:13,920 --> 01:31:15,720 Speaker 4: in that area, so it might be a shot. So 1482 01:31:15,760 --> 01:31:17,439 Speaker 4: you have to just kind of balance all that. 1483 01:31:18,360 --> 01:31:21,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. So true, it's the it's six to one way 1484 01:31:21,840 --> 01:31:23,960 Speaker 2: half does in the other, but finding, you know, taking 1485 01:31:23,960 --> 01:31:26,519 Speaker 2: what you can learn from that, and then you say, okay, 1486 01:31:26,520 --> 01:31:28,800 Speaker 2: well exactly like what you said. The way I think 1487 01:31:28,800 --> 01:31:31,320 Speaker 2: about it is, Okay, I understand that you know eighty 1488 01:31:31,360 --> 01:31:35,080 Speaker 2: percent of this might be happening during dark. But the 1489 01:31:35,080 --> 01:31:36,880 Speaker 2: same time, if you look at that point where there's 1490 01:31:36,920 --> 01:31:38,519 Speaker 2: a scrape, where I could say, okay, I know that 1491 01:31:38,560 --> 01:31:40,760 Speaker 2: there's a twenty percent chance he's touching that he's coming 1492 01:31:40,760 --> 01:31:43,040 Speaker 2: to this place potentially or I could go to some 1493 01:31:43,120 --> 01:31:45,200 Speaker 2: other random place one hundred yards away where there's no 1494 01:31:45,200 --> 01:31:47,200 Speaker 2: scrapes at all, and you know, okay, do I have 1495 01:31:47,240 --> 01:31:49,000 Speaker 2: a twenty percent chance of a buck coming here? Maybe 1496 01:31:49,000 --> 01:31:52,000 Speaker 2: it's even less there because there's you know, no particular reasons. 1497 01:31:52,040 --> 01:31:54,000 Speaker 2: So it's one more little piece of the puzzle you 1498 01:31:54,040 --> 01:31:56,800 Speaker 2: can put potentially in your favor if you apply it. 1499 01:31:57,439 --> 01:31:59,800 Speaker 2: But maybe maybe it's not something to rest your entire 1500 01:31:59,800 --> 01:32:04,840 Speaker 2: strategy on. So yeah, Dan, are you? Are you okay? 1501 01:32:04,880 --> 01:32:05,519 Speaker 2: Over there? You live? 1502 01:32:06,040 --> 01:32:08,720 Speaker 5: We're sucking it in. I'm sponging it up. 1503 01:32:08,760 --> 01:32:13,320 Speaker 7: I want to know one thing based off of yeah, 1504 01:32:13,479 --> 01:32:17,000 Speaker 7: just well, I mean there's literally another episode worth of 1505 01:32:17,080 --> 01:32:20,600 Speaker 7: questions that we could ask you, yeah, and go detail to, 1506 01:32:21,040 --> 01:32:22,000 Speaker 7: you know, to all get out. 1507 01:32:22,120 --> 01:32:24,440 Speaker 5: But you know a lot of people. 1508 01:32:25,680 --> 01:32:31,439 Speaker 7: Use I guess, hunting information that's not scientific to learn 1509 01:32:31,520 --> 01:32:36,559 Speaker 7: how to hunt, Like, oh man, when when the rooster crows, 1510 01:32:36,600 --> 01:32:38,800 Speaker 7: you better be in the timber, or you know, when 1511 01:32:38,840 --> 01:32:42,160 Speaker 7: the cows are standing with their whin their back to 1512 01:32:42,200 --> 01:32:44,040 Speaker 7: the east, you better be in the timber. You know, 1513 01:32:44,320 --> 01:32:48,840 Speaker 7: those kind of things or even myths that are even 1514 01:32:48,920 --> 01:32:52,240 Speaker 7: things that are on like the outdoor channel or on 1515 01:32:52,439 --> 01:32:55,439 Speaker 7: the you know, these celebrities are telling you how to 1516 01:32:56,200 --> 01:32:58,920 Speaker 7: do these things. Are there any myths that science has 1517 01:32:59,040 --> 01:33:04,080 Speaker 7: disproven that's basically just like, hey, that's that's you. 1518 01:33:04,240 --> 01:33:04,840 Speaker 5: You're wrong. 1519 01:33:07,040 --> 01:33:10,040 Speaker 4: That's a great question. There's probably a pile of them, uh, 1520 01:33:10,520 --> 01:33:13,720 Speaker 4: you know, one of the things. And again getting back 1521 01:33:13,760 --> 01:33:17,360 Speaker 4: to the you know what, peer reviewed research says the 1522 01:33:17,400 --> 01:33:20,240 Speaker 4: biggest is probably the moon phase. I mean that that 1523 01:33:20,360 --> 01:33:22,920 Speaker 4: is the one smack dab in the elephant in the 1524 01:33:22,960 --> 01:33:25,760 Speaker 4: room when it comes to the rot as far as 1525 01:33:25,800 --> 01:33:27,760 Speaker 4: I know, you know, I've looked at a lot of 1526 01:33:27,760 --> 01:33:34,280 Speaker 4: different projects where they've looked at moon phase in comparison 1527 01:33:34,360 --> 01:33:38,840 Speaker 4: to bock activity. Again, you don't necessarily know when deer 1528 01:33:38,960 --> 01:33:41,120 Speaker 4: are breeding when they have a collar on, but you 1529 01:33:41,160 --> 01:33:43,559 Speaker 4: can just see when they're on their feet, and that 1530 01:33:43,760 --> 01:33:48,280 Speaker 4: hasn't shown any evidence of, you know, being correlated. When 1531 01:33:48,400 --> 01:33:53,080 Speaker 4: moon phase changes that it's going to impact dear's behavior. 1532 01:33:53,760 --> 01:33:56,519 Speaker 4: It has to do with everything else. I do think 1533 01:33:56,920 --> 01:34:00,559 Speaker 4: the one thing that along those lines is the weather 1534 01:34:00,640 --> 01:34:02,920 Speaker 4: I mentioned earlier. You know, something tells me that weather 1535 01:34:03,040 --> 01:34:05,680 Speaker 4: must impact when deer are moving, but that also has 1536 01:34:05,720 --> 01:34:08,599 Speaker 4: been shown to not be correlated, which that's a head 1537 01:34:08,600 --> 01:34:11,200 Speaker 4: scratcher for me. So you know, I wouldn't be surprised 1538 01:34:11,800 --> 01:34:16,559 Speaker 4: if either of those cases, some some researcher finds evidence that, 1539 01:34:17,000 --> 01:34:20,360 Speaker 4: you know, moon phase in a certain situation. Now I'm 1540 01:34:20,360 --> 01:34:23,479 Speaker 4: talking about five six different projects that have looked at that, 1541 01:34:23,880 --> 01:34:26,320 Speaker 4: and in some cases, you know, half a million data 1542 01:34:26,320 --> 01:34:29,479 Speaker 4: points off of hundreds of bucks that are collared haven't 1543 01:34:29,520 --> 01:34:32,760 Speaker 4: found it. You got to feel like, okay, well, you 1544 01:34:32,800 --> 01:34:34,720 Speaker 4: know there's got to be some truth to that. It 1545 01:34:34,720 --> 01:34:38,599 Speaker 4: wouldn't be some surprise if somebody found one project that said, yeah, 1546 01:34:38,600 --> 01:34:42,680 Speaker 4: it does on the flip side. So somebody could do 1547 01:34:42,680 --> 01:34:44,760 Speaker 4: the same with weather and be as a hunter and 1548 01:34:44,760 --> 01:34:47,040 Speaker 4: wants to say I knew it, But I also know 1549 01:34:47,080 --> 01:34:49,559 Speaker 4: there's half a dozen projects out there that have tied 1550 01:34:49,600 --> 01:34:53,480 Speaker 4: all those data points the weather events, you know, barometric 1551 01:34:53,520 --> 01:34:57,400 Speaker 4: pressure and cold fronts and rain and all those things 1552 01:34:57,479 --> 01:34:59,880 Speaker 4: and haven't found or anything. So you know, I gotta 1553 01:35:00,560 --> 01:35:02,360 Speaker 4: be a hunter in some cases, and I got to 1554 01:35:02,400 --> 01:35:04,000 Speaker 4: be a researcher in others. 1555 01:35:04,400 --> 01:35:07,759 Speaker 7: So as someone like myself who likes to follow the science, 1556 01:35:07,760 --> 01:35:10,200 Speaker 7: I'm going to say something. I'm going to say this 1557 01:35:10,280 --> 01:35:15,280 Speaker 7: out loud just so people hear it. Based Yeah, based 1558 01:35:15,439 --> 01:35:20,240 Speaker 7: on the research that has been done, moon the moon 1559 01:35:20,320 --> 01:35:25,080 Speaker 7: phase does not influence deer movement, has been shown not 1560 01:35:25,160 --> 01:35:26,479 Speaker 7: to influence deer movement. 1561 01:35:27,240 --> 01:35:28,320 Speaker 3: Is that an accurate statement? 1562 01:35:28,840 --> 01:35:30,320 Speaker 4: Okay, very accurate. 1563 01:35:30,520 --> 01:35:31,800 Speaker 5: Based on research. 1564 01:35:33,960 --> 01:35:40,320 Speaker 7: Weather patterns do have been shown to not change deer 1565 01:35:40,800 --> 01:35:45,639 Speaker 7: movement or like influence deer movement. That's another accurate statement. 1566 01:35:45,800 --> 01:35:47,799 Speaker 4: Correct, That is also another accurate statement. 1567 01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:54,439 Speaker 7: So everything that we have as hunters have you know, 1568 01:35:54,960 --> 01:36:00,600 Speaker 7: thought over the years, science is showing that, ye guess what, 1569 01:36:01,240 --> 01:36:05,920 Speaker 7: it's really not so so then that just brings up 1570 01:36:05,960 --> 01:36:09,160 Speaker 7: these questions again, what is influencing deer movement? 1571 01:36:09,640 --> 01:36:09,760 Speaker 4: Here? 1572 01:36:09,880 --> 01:36:11,960 Speaker 2: Here's something I'd like to add on to that, Dan, 1573 01:36:12,920 --> 01:36:16,840 Speaker 2: because I like mash my brain together trying to figure 1574 01:36:16,840 --> 01:36:18,639 Speaker 2: this out too, because just like what you said, Matt, 1575 01:36:18,680 --> 01:36:23,320 Speaker 2: you said the research that these certain research scenarios have 1576 01:36:23,439 --> 01:36:26,920 Speaker 2: said this, But as a hunter, so many of us 1577 01:36:26,960 --> 01:36:30,720 Speaker 2: have anecdotally seen evidence that maybe there's something different. I 1578 01:36:31,320 --> 01:36:34,640 Speaker 2: wonder as I try to think through this, could we 1579 01:36:34,800 --> 01:36:38,120 Speaker 2: be comparing apples to oranges here, and that the study 1580 01:36:38,720 --> 01:36:40,920 Speaker 2: is looking at a certain criteria you're saying, you know, 1581 01:36:41,640 --> 01:36:44,320 Speaker 2: you know, deer movement or dear activity as they are 1582 01:36:44,360 --> 01:36:48,280 Speaker 2: measuring it might be very different from quote unquote dear 1583 01:36:48,320 --> 01:36:50,519 Speaker 2: movement or dear activity that we hunters are looking for. 1584 01:36:50,560 --> 01:36:54,960 Speaker 2: So hypothetically, could this be a scenario where the researcher 1585 01:36:55,080 --> 01:37:00,280 Speaker 2: is studying actual you know, number of feet traveled throughout 1586 01:37:00,320 --> 01:37:02,519 Speaker 2: a twenty four hour period something like that, you know, 1587 01:37:02,680 --> 01:37:05,519 Speaker 2: the actual movement of this year in twenty four hours, 1588 01:37:05,520 --> 01:37:09,679 Speaker 2: and they're saying, regardless of temperature or moon phase, the 1589 01:37:09,720 --> 01:37:13,120 Speaker 2: amount of actual distance traveled is not any different. While 1590 01:37:13,160 --> 01:37:15,920 Speaker 2: from a hunters standpoint, I might be curious in how 1591 01:37:16,000 --> 01:37:19,479 Speaker 2: much movement in the open is happening during daylight, that 1592 01:37:19,640 --> 01:37:21,880 Speaker 2: kind of thing, you know, that's the activity that I'm 1593 01:37:21,880 --> 01:37:24,719 Speaker 2: interested in. So could a cold front increase the amount 1594 01:37:24,720 --> 01:37:27,400 Speaker 2: of movement out of their bedding area during daylight? 1595 01:37:28,040 --> 01:37:28,240 Speaker 4: Is that? 1596 01:37:28,320 --> 01:37:30,560 Speaker 2: You know? Maybe that's what I'm interested in from a 1597 01:37:30,640 --> 01:37:33,240 Speaker 2: hunter standpoint, and maybe the cold front does trigger increased 1598 01:37:33,280 --> 01:37:36,920 Speaker 2: activity there, but it doesn't necessarily change the absolute distance 1599 01:37:36,960 --> 01:37:39,920 Speaker 2: of total travel in twenty four hours. That's my hypothesis. 1600 01:37:40,080 --> 01:37:44,040 Speaker 2: There might be some difference in the actual measurement criteria, Matt, 1601 01:37:44,160 --> 01:37:46,479 Speaker 2: Is there any possible Does that make any sense at all? 1602 01:37:47,040 --> 01:37:50,120 Speaker 4: It does? And not every one of those projects has 1603 01:37:50,120 --> 01:37:52,360 Speaker 4: looked in that, but some of them have. They've looked 1604 01:37:52,360 --> 01:37:57,880 Speaker 4: at vulnerability to harvest from daylight to night versus and 1605 01:37:58,000 --> 01:38:01,920 Speaker 4: also things like distance from tree stands, having like tree 1606 01:38:01,960 --> 01:38:05,400 Speaker 4: stands GPS on some of these properties and looking at 1607 01:38:05,400 --> 01:38:07,840 Speaker 4: how vulnerable they were within one hundred meters or one 1608 01:38:07,880 --> 01:38:11,120 Speaker 4: hundred yard distance if it was gun season or you know, 1609 01:38:11,280 --> 01:38:15,960 Speaker 4: thirty yard distance from those stands during bow. And again 1610 01:38:16,000 --> 01:38:19,080 Speaker 4: none of that stuff has shown any correlation. Is a 1611 01:38:19,200 --> 01:38:21,559 Speaker 4: lot of stuff, Yeah, a lot of stuff with the 1612 01:38:21,600 --> 01:38:26,120 Speaker 4: moon phase that was initially done looked at conceptions and 1613 01:38:26,160 --> 01:38:28,439 Speaker 4: that was a little based on fetal measurements. They looked 1614 01:38:28,439 --> 01:38:31,120 Speaker 4: at when the bulk of the deer those were being 1615 01:38:31,160 --> 01:38:35,640 Speaker 4: bred and correlated that to moon. No, no correlation. But 1616 01:38:35,680 --> 01:38:38,880 Speaker 4: a lot of this GPS research is also looking at 1617 01:38:39,160 --> 01:38:44,240 Speaker 4: breeding dates, but they're also looking at movements over a 1618 01:38:44,280 --> 01:38:47,559 Speaker 4: twenty four period and some of them would disagree that 1619 01:38:48,520 --> 01:38:52,000 Speaker 4: Mark is saying, you know, daytime versus night and other things. 1620 01:38:52,000 --> 01:38:56,760 Speaker 4: So and again, you know, I said this before it 1621 01:38:56,840 --> 01:38:59,479 Speaker 4: comes down to the property. I mean it really does. 1622 01:38:59,560 --> 01:39:01,920 Speaker 4: I mean, you can talk about this big umbrella of 1623 01:39:01,960 --> 01:39:05,080 Speaker 4: what research is saying if you want to believe, I 1624 01:39:05,120 --> 01:39:07,880 Speaker 4: mean I will. I'm glad Dan said that that is 1625 01:39:07,880 --> 01:39:10,400 Speaker 4: the take on message. There's no research to support any 1626 01:39:10,439 --> 01:39:14,120 Speaker 4: of those theories. It doesn't it doesn't come out. However, 1627 01:39:14,800 --> 01:39:18,200 Speaker 4: you know, when it comes down to it, don't don't 1628 01:39:18,240 --> 01:39:20,719 Speaker 4: throw that away. Don't throw it in the trash paper 1629 01:39:20,760 --> 01:39:23,360 Speaker 4: basket when you get off listen to this and say 1630 01:39:23,800 --> 01:39:26,120 Speaker 4: that guy doesn't know what he's talking about, or well, 1631 01:39:26,160 --> 01:39:29,679 Speaker 4: I know because I saw this. That's not good enough 1632 01:39:29,720 --> 01:39:33,520 Speaker 4: because you're not talking about hundreds of deers with collars, 1633 01:39:33,640 --> 01:39:36,799 Speaker 4: or you know, thousands or ten thousands of data points 1634 01:39:36,800 --> 01:39:40,719 Speaker 4: that are collared. That's very different. But I would still 1635 01:39:40,760 --> 01:39:44,280 Speaker 4: suggest to the hunter that wants to micro manage the 1636 01:39:44,320 --> 01:39:48,479 Speaker 4: property and understand this. Research might say all this. It 1637 01:39:48,560 --> 01:39:52,760 Speaker 4: might show that these things aren't correlated. But I can 1638 01:39:52,800 --> 01:39:56,400 Speaker 4: tell you might be the day that you go out 1639 01:39:56,400 --> 01:39:59,080 Speaker 4: there and say, you know what the moon phase is 1640 01:39:59,120 --> 01:40:01,920 Speaker 4: telling me this, or there's a cold front. And again 1641 01:40:02,000 --> 01:40:03,759 Speaker 4: I'm telling you, as a hunter, I feel like weather 1642 01:40:03,880 --> 01:40:06,800 Speaker 4: must do more than what the researchers said. But it 1643 01:40:06,840 --> 01:40:10,160 Speaker 4: hasn't shown up. It just has to be something related 1644 01:40:10,200 --> 01:40:15,080 Speaker 4: to it. But again, I'm a deer hunter too. You 1645 01:40:15,160 --> 01:40:17,800 Speaker 4: could be in a stand and have a buck make 1646 01:40:17,840 --> 01:40:20,400 Speaker 4: a decision that changes his fate and you kill him, 1647 01:40:20,840 --> 01:40:24,080 Speaker 4: and you might tie that to one of those multiple 1648 01:40:24,080 --> 01:40:28,320 Speaker 4: things we're talking about, but that's still anecdotal. But who 1649 01:40:28,360 --> 01:40:32,080 Speaker 4: cares You still kill that deer he changes behavior, or 1650 01:40:32,120 --> 01:40:34,800 Speaker 4: even at a property level, you might be on a 1651 01:40:34,840 --> 01:40:37,320 Speaker 4: property where things are in a frenzy. It has nothing 1652 01:40:37,360 --> 01:40:41,360 Speaker 4: to do with moon or weather. It's just because deer 1653 01:40:41,400 --> 01:40:45,200 Speaker 4: is so social. You know, something impacted them. You know 1654 01:40:45,280 --> 01:40:47,880 Speaker 4: a couple of those that went into estras early or 1655 01:40:47,920 --> 01:40:50,840 Speaker 4: a buck just that felt so you know, Randy, he 1656 01:40:50,920 --> 01:40:52,960 Speaker 4: was getting those up and moving them around, and that 1657 01:40:53,120 --> 01:40:55,439 Speaker 4: just triggered other deer to get up and move. I mean, 1658 01:40:55,479 --> 01:40:57,000 Speaker 4: I know you guys have seen this where you're in 1659 01:40:57,080 --> 01:41:00,559 Speaker 4: a in a stand and you see deer almost playing 1660 01:41:00,800 --> 01:41:04,000 Speaker 4: another deer react to it by playing, or deer running 1661 01:41:04,040 --> 01:41:06,920 Speaker 4: away from beer from a kyle or a hunter or 1662 01:41:06,960 --> 01:41:10,559 Speaker 4: a buck chasing, and other deer do that. I mean, 1663 01:41:10,680 --> 01:41:14,240 Speaker 4: there's no way to measure that randomness. All you can 1664 01:41:14,280 --> 01:41:18,439 Speaker 4: do as a hunter is know when your best chance 1665 01:41:18,760 --> 01:41:21,160 Speaker 4: of shooting a buck is or your best chance of 1666 01:41:21,160 --> 01:41:24,719 Speaker 4: getting that deer within range, and spend as much time 1667 01:41:24,760 --> 01:41:27,320 Speaker 4: as you possibly can in the stand because it's going 1668 01:41:27,400 --> 01:41:29,800 Speaker 4: to increase that percentage of Yes, you're going to get 1669 01:41:29,800 --> 01:41:32,600 Speaker 4: a shot. And I talked about earlier, your proficiency and 1670 01:41:32,680 --> 01:41:35,240 Speaker 4: your ability to pick a good stand location is going 1671 01:41:35,280 --> 01:41:37,080 Speaker 4: to be a big part of that success. So your 1672 01:41:37,120 --> 01:41:39,840 Speaker 4: skill level as a hunter certainly will play a part 1673 01:41:39,880 --> 01:41:42,880 Speaker 4: of it, and luck, of course obviously comes into it too. 1674 01:41:42,960 --> 01:41:46,240 Speaker 4: But if I was a betting man, I would you know, 1675 01:41:46,600 --> 01:41:48,640 Speaker 4: we know that deer are most active at dawn in 1676 01:41:48,720 --> 01:41:51,720 Speaker 4: dusk or around those hours. Deer killed all the time 1677 01:41:51,760 --> 01:41:55,040 Speaker 4: in the middle of the day, but you know, the 1678 01:41:55,040 --> 01:41:57,559 Speaker 4: bulk of the research says their most active at dawn 1679 01:41:57,640 --> 01:42:02,040 Speaker 4: and dusk. There going to be most vulnerable during the rot. 1680 01:42:02,080 --> 01:42:04,479 Speaker 4: You know, those first couple of weeks in November, they're 1681 01:42:04,560 --> 01:42:10,080 Speaker 4: going to be most vulnerable. Uh. What I feel like 1682 01:42:10,280 --> 01:42:12,839 Speaker 4: is when a weather event is happening. Although the research 1683 01:42:12,880 --> 01:42:15,200 Speaker 4: doesn't say that, I'm going to spend time in a 1684 01:42:15,240 --> 01:42:17,880 Speaker 4: stand when that stuff is happening, and just the fact 1685 01:42:17,920 --> 01:42:20,200 Speaker 4: that I'm spending time out there is going to increase 1686 01:42:20,200 --> 01:42:23,719 Speaker 4: my chances. Now, I might believe a magic rock will 1687 01:42:23,720 --> 01:42:25,600 Speaker 4: increase my chances, and I might keep it in my 1688 01:42:25,680 --> 01:42:27,880 Speaker 4: pocket and I might kill a buck and I'm gonna say, 1689 01:42:27,880 --> 01:42:30,479 Speaker 4: you know what, that rock made, that that happen. That 1690 01:42:30,520 --> 01:42:33,280 Speaker 4: doesn't necessarily it's not a cause and effect thing, but 1691 01:42:33,360 --> 01:42:37,360 Speaker 4: it doesn't matter because you know, through science, when it's 1692 01:42:37,400 --> 01:42:39,519 Speaker 4: telling you to spend the most time and just be 1693 01:42:39,640 --> 01:42:43,879 Speaker 4: out there, be present and be one, you know, mentally 1694 01:42:43,960 --> 01:42:46,840 Speaker 4: recording all of this stuff or just physically recording it 1695 01:42:46,880 --> 01:42:49,920 Speaker 4: like through that bear tracker app I mentioned earlier, to 1696 01:42:50,200 --> 01:42:55,000 Speaker 4: you know, allow for a better uh documentation of what's 1697 01:42:55,040 --> 01:42:58,800 Speaker 4: happening on the property across the country, as well as 1698 01:42:58,840 --> 01:43:00,519 Speaker 4: just being there to be able to make some of 1699 01:43:00,520 --> 01:43:03,559 Speaker 4: those choices and react to them. If you see there's 1700 01:43:03,560 --> 01:43:05,559 Speaker 4: a lot of activity in one corner of the property, 1701 01:43:06,080 --> 01:43:09,439 Speaker 4: be adapted to move your stand that day, get down, 1702 01:43:09,520 --> 01:43:13,360 Speaker 4: move it, and uh you might be more successful because 1703 01:43:13,360 --> 01:43:13,599 Speaker 4: of it. 1704 01:43:14,880 --> 01:43:18,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, I uh, this is one of those topics that 1705 01:43:18,920 --> 01:43:21,000 Speaker 2: is it's. 1706 01:43:21,000 --> 01:43:23,120 Speaker 5: Bullet Yeah, it's just for me. 1707 01:43:23,160 --> 01:43:26,040 Speaker 7: It's one of those things where it's like, man, you 1708 01:43:26,160 --> 01:43:29,120 Speaker 7: talk to so many people and they and they say, man, 1709 01:43:29,160 --> 01:43:31,240 Speaker 7: I'm telling you what you get in the stand when 1710 01:43:31,280 --> 01:43:33,720 Speaker 7: the moon is right here and there's high pressure, or 1711 01:43:33,720 --> 01:43:36,040 Speaker 7: when there's a coal front coming through and you're gonna 1712 01:43:36,120 --> 01:43:41,880 Speaker 7: kill a buck. And then here's research, actual factual research 1713 01:43:42,439 --> 01:43:46,960 Speaker 7: that shows that they're not one hundred percent correct. 1714 01:43:48,120 --> 01:43:51,799 Speaker 2: But then to Matt's point two, nothing is nothing is solid, 1715 01:43:51,920 --> 01:43:55,120 Speaker 2: nothing solid to his point about to your point Matt 1716 01:43:55,120 --> 01:43:57,960 Speaker 2: about weather, I mean, you talk to any serious deer 1717 01:43:58,000 --> 01:44:00,000 Speaker 2: hunter and they're gonna say, yes, we are seeing different 1718 01:44:00,080 --> 01:44:02,960 Speaker 2: and dear behavior when a weather front comes through, but 1719 01:44:03,000 --> 01:44:05,640 Speaker 2: the research doesn't support it. So that I mean that 1720 01:44:05,800 --> 01:44:08,080 Speaker 2: that raises similar questions about some other things too. There 1721 01:44:08,160 --> 01:44:11,599 Speaker 2: might be you know, I'm not I find this very interesting. 1722 01:44:11,880 --> 01:44:13,600 Speaker 2: I take it into account, I put it in the 1723 01:44:13,640 --> 01:44:16,200 Speaker 2: tool chest, but I'm not necessarily throwing out some of 1724 01:44:16,240 --> 01:44:18,920 Speaker 2: these other theories too that are intriguing because I you know, 1725 01:44:18,960 --> 01:44:21,479 Speaker 2: because I think here's one interesting thing that kind of 1726 01:44:21,479 --> 01:44:25,720 Speaker 2: my final thought on this is that you take a guy, hypothetically, 1727 01:44:25,800 --> 01:44:27,439 Speaker 2: let's say one of these one of these hunters that 1728 01:44:27,680 --> 01:44:32,080 Speaker 2: really strongly believes in the position of the moon and 1729 01:44:32,120 --> 01:44:34,479 Speaker 2: that influencing you know, a little bit of increased to 1730 01:44:34,479 --> 01:44:36,400 Speaker 2: your activity. And that's something that both you and me, Dan, 1731 01:44:36,400 --> 01:44:37,880 Speaker 2: We've been listening to a lot of guys talk about 1732 01:44:37,880 --> 01:44:40,080 Speaker 2: and it's really interesting and intriguing, and I've been trying 1733 01:44:40,080 --> 01:44:42,200 Speaker 2: to pay more attention to it too. But let's take 1734 01:44:42,200 --> 01:44:45,839 Speaker 2: a guy who's a diehard believer in it. When that person, 1735 01:44:46,000 --> 01:44:49,240 Speaker 2: let's hypothetically call him Ben, When Ben goes into the 1736 01:44:49,280 --> 01:44:52,640 Speaker 2: woods with this very strong belief in this theory that 1737 01:44:52,640 --> 01:44:54,960 Speaker 2: when the moon's overhead or whatever, that he's gonna have 1738 01:44:55,000 --> 01:44:57,360 Speaker 2: a great chance. When you go into a tree stand 1739 01:44:57,400 --> 01:44:59,280 Speaker 2: with a piece of data like that or a belief 1740 01:44:59,360 --> 01:45:02,559 Speaker 2: like that, you're believe in it so strongly. I believe 1741 01:45:02,600 --> 01:45:06,439 Speaker 2: your confidence level can be an influencer of the success 1742 01:45:06,479 --> 01:45:09,320 Speaker 2: you have merely because when you are very confident in 1743 01:45:09,320 --> 01:45:11,960 Speaker 2: your standsite and in the conditions on that day and 1744 01:45:12,040 --> 01:45:14,960 Speaker 2: on why you're hunting there. When your confidence is that high, 1745 01:45:15,040 --> 01:45:17,320 Speaker 2: I believe that you operate at a different level of 1746 01:45:17,360 --> 01:45:21,000 Speaker 2: efficiency and effectiveness as a hunter. So when you're super confident, 1747 01:45:21,160 --> 01:45:23,880 Speaker 2: you're paying attention to everything around you, you notice every 1748 01:45:23,880 --> 01:45:27,200 Speaker 2: flicker of movement, You're super quiet, you're super detailed, You're 1749 01:45:27,200 --> 01:45:29,040 Speaker 2: crossing all your t's and dotting all of your eyes. 1750 01:45:29,080 --> 01:45:32,160 Speaker 2: And I think maybe there's almost a self fulfilling prophecy 1751 01:45:32,200 --> 01:45:34,679 Speaker 2: happening here, or when you have such a strong belief 1752 01:45:34,680 --> 01:45:38,040 Speaker 2: in something happening, you just hunt better, and because of that, 1753 01:45:38,160 --> 01:45:41,519 Speaker 2: you have more success. I'm curious if maybe there's something 1754 01:45:41,560 --> 01:45:42,080 Speaker 2: to that. 1755 01:45:44,040 --> 01:45:46,120 Speaker 4: I'll comment, and I think there is and I think 1756 01:45:46,280 --> 01:45:50,920 Speaker 4: not only that mark is that not only they might 1757 01:45:50,960 --> 01:45:54,920 Speaker 4: be more confident, more efficient, but that type of hunter, 1758 01:45:55,360 --> 01:45:58,839 Speaker 4: that type of deer hunter that cares to look deeper 1759 01:45:59,479 --> 01:46:03,479 Speaker 4: and ask questions and try to improve their own ability, 1760 01:46:04,040 --> 01:46:06,960 Speaker 4: is the type of hunter that's going to improve anyway, 1761 01:46:07,439 --> 01:46:10,800 Speaker 4: you know what I mean, instead of just haphazardly going 1762 01:46:10,840 --> 01:46:16,759 Speaker 4: in the woods or hunting as a as a means 1763 01:46:16,840 --> 01:46:20,680 Speaker 4: of tradition, you know, going to the stand that Grandpapy 1764 01:46:20,760 --> 01:46:22,800 Speaker 4: talked me to, you know, opening day and that's the 1765 01:46:22,840 --> 01:46:24,880 Speaker 4: only day that he goes out or she goes out. 1766 01:46:25,360 --> 01:46:29,479 Speaker 4: The person that's saying how can I be better? Some 1767 01:46:29,680 --> 01:46:32,080 Speaker 4: of that is going to be self fulfilling. It has 1768 01:46:32,120 --> 01:46:36,160 Speaker 4: to be because they're trying to up their bed. I 1769 01:46:36,200 --> 01:46:38,679 Speaker 4: also think that there's probably as many, if not more 1770 01:46:38,720 --> 01:46:41,519 Speaker 4: people out there that are the hardcore you know, in 1771 01:46:41,600 --> 01:46:45,680 Speaker 4: his example, moon theory believers that are not killing a 1772 01:46:45,720 --> 01:46:49,559 Speaker 4: buck that day and the moon is the cause of it. 1773 01:46:50,560 --> 01:46:55,880 Speaker 4: You know, something happened that was wrong, And again, when 1774 01:46:55,920 --> 01:46:58,200 Speaker 4: it comes down to science is really hard to argue 1775 01:46:58,240 --> 01:47:01,320 Speaker 4: with and there's always going to be a you know, 1776 01:47:01,400 --> 01:47:03,479 Speaker 4: well that didn't work for me because our project was 1777 01:47:03,479 --> 01:47:06,360 Speaker 4: from Texas or you know, I live in New York 1778 01:47:06,520 --> 01:47:09,920 Speaker 4: and that research was from Florida. But yeah, of course, 1779 01:47:10,000 --> 01:47:11,760 Speaker 4: I mean, there's no way you can test at all, 1780 01:47:12,200 --> 01:47:15,200 Speaker 4: but if you can repeat results, you get a better 1781 01:47:15,240 --> 01:47:17,080 Speaker 4: sense of what's going on. But we're never going to 1782 01:47:17,160 --> 01:47:20,400 Speaker 4: have all the answers, and that's the case. So yeah, 1783 01:47:20,439 --> 01:47:23,360 Speaker 4: I do think, yeah, there's some truth to that, But 1784 01:47:23,400 --> 01:47:25,479 Speaker 4: I think it's also the type of hunter that you're 1785 01:47:25,479 --> 01:47:29,400 Speaker 4: talking about. You're categorizing. Out of the eleven to thirteen 1786 01:47:29,439 --> 01:47:32,160 Speaker 4: million deer hunters out there, I guarantee you not all 1787 01:47:32,160 --> 01:47:35,639 Speaker 4: of them are paying attention to moon phase. The ones 1788 01:47:35,680 --> 01:47:38,920 Speaker 4: that are are trying to make their situation better. 1789 01:47:41,400 --> 01:47:44,000 Speaker 2: All right, And that's a wrap. I hope you've enjoyed 1790 01:47:44,000 --> 01:47:48,799 Speaker 2: this two part conversation on all things research in science 1791 01:47:49,400 --> 01:47:52,120 Speaker 2: around the white tail rut. It's a beautiful time of year, 1792 01:47:52,640 --> 01:47:55,400 Speaker 2: the best stuff is ahead. It's going to be a 1793 01:47:55,439 --> 01:47:57,439 Speaker 2: great couple of weeks. I wish you all the luck 1794 01:47:57,479 --> 01:48:00,000 Speaker 2: in the world. I hope this helps, and until next time, 1795 01:48:00,560 --> 01:48:02,760 Speaker 2: stay Wired to Hunt.