How weather influences early archery season deer movement and the science of velvet shedding

Fall deer and turkey archery season has begun since the 15th of September. Many hunters have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get back out into the woods and harvest a deer. September can be rewarding, but also a harder time to locate deer during the daylight hours.

Jason Isabelle is the supervisor of the Cervid program for the Missouri Department of Conservation and explains that September is a secondary stress period for White-Tail deer due to the changing of plants maturity during the growing season. Deer throughout the summer and spring rely on plants as a food source such as soybeans. As we get deeper into September and eventually October, these plants start to lose their nutritional values due to their browning.

Drought can also add to the lack of nutrition as plants are not able to grow and maintain their health as affectively.

The latest drought monitor shows drought surrounding Mid-Missouri to both the east and west. Conditions throughout the last week have remained even drier meaning that tomorrow's newest drought monitor release will be expected to worsen.

The best idea to finding success in deer aspirations, is to look for these agriculture fields in which there is success crops still showing good sign of health by their green colors. This could also mean a higher density of deer in these areas increasing a hunters chances to successfully harvest a deer.

The chance of seeing a buck still in velvet during the start of archery season looks to decrease rapidly the further down in September you get. Deer remain in velvet most of the time until their testosterone levels increase. This is caused by the amount of sunlight seen each day. This acts a clock for the deer to trigger an increase in the creation of testosterone which eventually leads their bodies to shedding their antler velvet. This most commonly occurs during the end of August and early September. As the 2024 season kicks of on the 15th, the chance of harvesting your target buck in velvet decreases dramatically.

It is also important to check in with this years new archery season regulations as their have been significant updates this year for counties listed in the CWD plans. You can find out more by going to https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-has-regulation-changes-fall-deer-turkey-seasons.