Yesterday morning about 9:00 a herd of 20 or more deer came by me, all of them were running and strung out over maybe 75-100 yards.I did not see any horns but i was looking through an old cutover so it was kind of thick.This was on national forest in rockbridge county in a place that gets hunted pretty hard.This is the third year in a row i have seen a dozen or more deer moving like this, always in late December and early January, not in the same place though.Has anyone else noticed anything like this or maybe have a idea why they would herd up like this?

Yes, I've definately noticed this among anterless deer. I think this herding is why late season hunting is always so hit or miss. And finding a good food source is crucial. I don't think this behavior is the same as yarding that occurs in the north. It just seems that after the does breed they begin to group up. Several years ago on Thanksgiving day I herd a strange noice while on stand. It got closer and then 15-20 does poured through right under my stand at full speed. I'm sure they'd been agitated by hunting pressure and that may influence herding. I've seen as many as forty deer together approaching ag fields in the winter. The down side, I don't have a good food source to hunt this year.

Deer herding up in the winter months is mainly due to concentrated food sources and the protection that comes from having so many sets of eyes, ears and noses together. I don't know that I've seen as many as 20 deer together while hunting in last muzzleloader season, but I have experienced herds of 10 or 12 where I would have only seen 5-6 earlier in the year. Rarely do I only encounter a single deer in the late season.