at least during legal hunting hours, to two trails through a thick strip of heavy undergrowth on a creek bottom. If you're a stand hunter and the deer seem to vanish from your favorite spot, one of the best remedies is to find alternate locations that provide the security and nourishment a wary buck might need without requiring it to travel long distances. Look for areas like dense thickets or early successional growth that provide both food and cover in close proximity to each other. Taking a stand and peering into this habitat may be just the ticket for intercepting a buck as it feeds or passes by. Keep in mind, however, that hunting close confines definitely is not for everyone - it takes a different mindset to hunt with a firearm in areas where visibility might only be 30 to 40 yards in most directions. And knowing what lies behind your target always is essential. Although peak daylight movement for deer typically occurs in the 90 minutes leading up to dark and the hours just after sunrise, there are a number of factors that can and do affect whitetail movement at other times of the day. These include cold temperatures, approaching weather fronts and the need for deer to get up, stretch and feed after bedding for a few hours. Studies have shown that deer will and do move late morning and midday, but they might be unlikely to travel as far as in the early morning - when they're making their way back to their bedding areas - or the late afternoon as they head out in search of food. A decade of watching the whitetails When deer seem to vanish, they might be hanging in overlooked places such as hedgerows and strip woods. A small drive with a few friends often can lead to success. DECEMBER 2020 29