How far do bucks travel?

[foggy]

OK....so after posting about seeing a few good bucks on some trail cam pics (see trailcam thread) I got to wondering where those bucks have been spending the summer. I only have a few pics of these bigger boys....and I gotta wonder how far they might travel to visit my place.

My question: How far would bucks typically travel between food and bedding sources in the summer?? - when not in the rut?

Wondering if they may be a half mile away?......over a mile away?....two miles?.....or over on my neighbors land.....or possibly a corner of my land. :D

What say you??

 

[Brush Creek]

I can't speak for MN but down in Kansas our land is 50/50 woods to fields, we have 300 acres and cameras spread out on that 300 acres and we do not get pictures of every buck on every camera. The woods down there mostly follow the creeks. I would think they go a long way in those creek bottoms, but why no pictures on the camera 400 yards and one creek over?

Those Georgia studies show one buck will home range on 600 acres and the next one will range on 120 acres. Then when the rut hits one buck will stay on his 120 while the other one will run a 6 mile loop in 2 days.

 

[Freeborn]

I think it would depend on the competing area around you. A deer will stay in a small area if all of its needs are taken care of (safety, food, water etc.). I would think those deer have better bedding nearby but came to your place for the groceries. During hunting season when the pressure is on cover will beat food every time so your plan to bow hunt is a good one as those bucks should be hanging around. Depending on when the rut hits you should have a chance at them in late October as you have plenty of food and does. Once rifle seasons starts their movement will change with the hunting pressure and they will be less predictable.

I would determine where the best bedding is in the area, determine best wind/stand locations to your frequented plots and plan accordingly.

 

[foggy]

I think it would depend on the competing area around you. A deer will stay in a small area if all of its needs are taken care of (safety, food, water etc.). I would think those deer have better bedding nearby but came to your place for the groceries. During hunting season when the pressure is on cover will beat food every time so your plan to bow hunt is a good one as those bucks should be hanging around. Depending on when the rut hits you should have a chance at them in late October as you have plenty of food and does. Once rifle seasons starts their movement will change with the hunting pressure and they will be less predictable.

I would determine where the best bedding is in the area, determine best wind/stand locations to your frequented plots and plan accordingly.

Yep.....I think I know where these boys hang out.....for the most part. And I got a plan on how to x-bow hunt for them. As gun season approaches......the daytime pics I get are few and far between. I gotta wonder if the rut mode triggers nocturnal behavior in deer these days.....as the daytime movements sure decrease in early November - especially for mature deer.

I'm going to move a few cameras to see if I can pattern these guys. :D

 

[sandbur]

It all depends on the individual deer and it's habitat.

I also feel that grouse hunting, bear hunting, and the increase in activity in the wood s with cooler weather makes the bucks nocturnal.

Foggy- With the deer you have on camera, I would be very careful of moving cameras or having much activity in your area.

I would pick a very windy day with rain being imminent and check out those corners that you and I have looked at. Quickly check those pinch points that are near swamp edges for old rubs or new ones. Look for rubs on bigger trees and the faint trail with them Pick a spot, set a stand, and get out. Or think about a ground blind/blowdown for a stool hunting spot. Two spots stand out in my mind. Hunt those spots from Halloween until the rifle opener.

If you jump any of those deer, please make sure they run NORTH! My oldest daughter needs a nice buck in the Nov. rifle season.

 

[Native Hunter]

As others have stated, it all changes during and approaching the rut. Right now my cameras indicate very little deer activity. They eat what they want, drink, ramble around a few acres, and go back to their beds when they are done. I think the heat has a lot to do with it. I would bet your deer are less than 1/2 mile away - but its not as hot up there - so maybe not.

When the fall transition starts, all bets are off. I have cameras at places deer enter and leave my property most of the time. Right now the batteries in those cams would last 2 years, but it won't be long until they get a workout.

I also believe (but some disagree) that we have two or three special days during the rut when movement is amazing. Last year on the same day I harvested my deer was one of those days. I had two mature deer on cameras that day I had never seen before and never showed up again. One of them could have been killed from the same stand I got my deer from just a few hours earlier in the day. I say expect anything when the rut is on big time.

People tell me about deer they get on cameras three or four miles apart. I know that is true. Also as stated, personalities are different. But I would bet if a study was done on that, most of those would have a small core area they spent most of their time in - I don't know, I'm just guessing based on observations.

Last year I got a heck of a lot of daylight and night pics of the two mature bucks that were living on my place in the fall. There was another mature buck that they forced off the place and he lived across a field on the neighbor. He came every night but wouldn't bed there during the day. He gave himself 20 minutes just before daylight to cross an open field from my place to where he bedded. I cut a place in the fence where I had a camera to encourage that route in order to get pics of him.:)

Another nice buck has come in the last two years ONLY for about 3 weeks late in the season - then he leaves. There were 4 days difference from 2012 to 2013 in which he showed up those two years. If it happens again this year - I will have to believe its not a coincidence, and think he just gets restless in the second rut.

Also last year I had a nice 8 that lived here all summer just to pack up and leave when the others moved in, and he has never been on camera since.

It's discouraging not to be seeing something you want on cameras, but if the time is right, you might just take a dandy from 8 miles away. I say, "hunt hard."

 

[dipper]

Food, cover, water.....besides that everything is subjective. No matter what the experts say. Deer do things we just don't, and are incapable of understanding.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

This is a topic I've really been fascinated with for the past 10ish years. I'm now either actively working (2) or have had multiple years of management experience on (3) 5 different stupid big properties in the north or Midwest. Running a glut of scout cams on them has been soooooooooooo eye opening for me and absolutely fascinating.

First, couple disclaimers:
1) I've come to the firm conclusion that this is an area that radio telemetry studies fail us. There are all sorts of reasons I believe one buck spends all fall without ever leaving a 300 acre area, while another covers over 2000 on a somewhat regular basis. In general, dominance, the density (or lack of) other mature bucks, habitat, a string of hot does leading him astray, individual buck personality and hunting pressure can and I believe all do play roles in this, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there were more factors than that. Studies fail to take any of that into account. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that a dominant buck in an area of high mature buck numbers have a strong tendency to have smaller home ranges than a lot of the subordinate 3.5 & 4.5s in that same setting. Those younger bucks that are driven to be dominant tend to cover a lot of ground, I believe trying to find an area of their own to dominate. I'm also thoroughly convinced that a mature, dominant buck in an area with low to no other mature bucks craving dominance has the strong tendency to have a much larger home range. Research doesn't factor any of that type of stuff in, and they can have such huge impacts.

2) I believe the best one can do is talk tendencies in these types of situations. There are going to be exceptions.

All of that said, in areas with really good habitat, most bucks haven't been moving that much and won't for another month and a half or so. The one glaring exception are those truly mature bucks that are dominant to the core. A decent number of them start running their circuit about now. No, it's nothing like what it is in late Oct, but a decent share of them will start visiting the various food sources within the area they intend to dominate on a sporadic basis. For example, he's feeding on this clover and bean plot/field for a few days, only to shift to another clover and bean plot 500 yds away as the crow flies the next day and some corn the day after, only to be pictured on all 3 the next night and then back to the first clover and bean plot for a few days. At the same time, I'm tending to get pics of the same does and other bucks mostly just on one of those 3 food sources. Because of history with the dominant buck and knowing what other bucks the area has to offer, far more often than not, that buck that starts sporadically keeping tabs on those food sources (most often breaking from the bachelor group he's been hanging with to do so) is the man in that area unless/until someone knocks him off.

That said, "personality" plays a role, too. I have those odd ball bucks that just don't fit and do things I don't anticipate, like cover larger areas for no apparent reason. I mainly attribute that to just having a strong personality trait, such as being a roamer (when all the other bucks in his age and dominance class are doing _____ and one odd ball consistently is doing ______, I really think it's most often a personality trait that is causing it).

That's an overly long way of saying that it's impossible to answer your ? without knowing a lot more about your habitat and getting a feel for the bucks you are referring too. Even then, one can only talk tendency, but it's a blast trying to figure that stuff out.

 

[foggy]

^ Yep.....just like some alpha males like to "cruise chicks". Go figure. ;)

 

[Jordan Selsor]

My dads farm is dead nuts one mile from mine as the crow fly's and we have yet to get a pic of the same buck.. I have only had my place for just over 1 yr so Im sure it will happen at some point. The farm in between us is 700+ acres with zero hunting. It is one giant sanctuary. I called the guy when I was a young man to ask permission to bow hunt his place and he said "Son even my preacher wants to hunt my land and Im gonna tell you the same thing I told him NO" haha. He is quite the character. Walks around during rifle in a brown carhart with no orange patrolling his lines! Crazy SOB

 

[biglakeba$$]

How far do bucks travel?

Depends on how good the shot was. ;)
The one my son shot last fall with his bow made it not quite a quarter mile..... To the spot where our neighbors found it a week later... :(

Its amazing around rut time over the years how many new bucks show up for just a single picture and never to be seen again.

I sure would have liked to have gotten another pic or laid my own eyes on this one. Only pic we ever got of him.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Couple more random thoughts on the topic. Again, please remember that these are just tendencies:

Big woods bucks tend to have larger home ranges than farm land bucks. On the surface, one would believe that has everything to do with the farm land bucks having everything they need/want in small areas. No doubt that factors into it heavily, but I've seen the same when a property within the big woods setting is managed up and has everything a buck could ever want, far better than the surrounding area provides. Mr. Big still has the tendency to roam a bit more. I believe that's just because he can, with so much seemingly safe habitat surrounding the property, and because none of these settings have had what I'd consider a high density of mature bucks off the property. So, there's more competition between mature bucks on the ground and less off it. I'm not pretending to be right about the reasons. They're just the best I've come up with so far.

Mature bucks on high pressure grounds have a very strong tendency to have pretty darn small home ranges, even when they lack any other real buck competition. My belief is that it is because they have found that pocket that they feel safe in during daylight and really don't wander far from it...it appears to be their security blanket.

I don't believe most mature bucks try to expand their range during the rut. I believe the real reason in the overwhelming majority of cases are hot does that have home ranges overlapping his. She ventures into that overlap range and either her trail or her herself leads him off during the chase. In fact, I believe that many, if not most that just "take off" is really the result of a domino affect, where one either chases or is lead off by one's scent trail. When finished (either done breeding, she loses him or a more dominant buck claims her), he stumbles across another doe or her trail as he's heading back, taking him even further away. That happens 3-4 times during peak rut (which is easy to imagine with many does coming into estrus then), suddenly either his home range has been greatly expanded or it makes it appear that he just "took off looking for does." Sure, he "took off," but I believe that specific does caused him too. When you think about it logically (no, they can't think logically, but Mother Nature's system is nothing if not logical), it makes no sense at all for a buck to leave an area where he knows where are all the does are, and typically has more entering estrus than he can handle, to take off for an area he doesn't know at all. In fact, there's a laundry list of reasons why that doesn't make sense.

Just some random thoughts

P.S. The time I see most of the random roaming is really during post rut. At that time, odds are much higher that most does are done being bred within his normal range, but he is experienced enough to know that he wants more and that the odd late adult doe and some doe fawns are still out there to be had. At that point, it seems the urge to find those last few opportunities can outweigh all the downsides to leaving his home range. I personally rarely get pics of the "who the heck is he" bucks on the large properties during the rut. They're almost always post rut, searching for breeding scraps, or late season, being drawn in for food.

 

[Native Hunter]

Good stuff Steve. I was hoping you would weigh in on this. Here is a question or two for you or anyone else:

We all know that deer cross roads (I do because I've hit two.:D) And we know this activity increases during the rut (ask the insurance companies). My questions are: During most of the year do you think mature bucks cross typical country blacktop highways very much on a daily or weekly basis? Would it be less frequent in more open areas rather than heavily wooded areas? If they had everything they needed on one side of the road, would they be less likely to cross regularly - even though it might be good habitat on the other side of the road as well?

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

I tend to agree that Bucks just get busy following does and before you know it, they are a few miles away. I photograph wild deer that don't venture anywhere being they are on a large sanctuary off limits to hunting, The does are there day after day and the bucks are there as well. I can leave and be back the next day and almost always can find all the same deer when I return. Often it takes just minutes. The does are happy where they are because they know they are safe, they don't roam very far at all. I think their minimal movement causes the bucks to be homebodies. It is common to see the dominant buck in a 15 to 20 acre area 95% of the time because that's where the does are 97% of the time. Now however these same deer are not where they are during the rut at least 1/2 of the year. I was just there checking them out today hoping to get some antler peeling photos or something like that and saw 1 deer. In 60 days there will be at least 15 or 20. Because these deer are always getting handouts, there range is really small during the rut. IF they did not get fed I am sure it would be much larger. But the point is, if the does stay put, the bucks SEEM to stay put. From some photo shoots last year, a buck will roughly stay for a doe for 3 plus days. By then another doe is coming into heat. Only 1 buck I saw during the peak of the rut fail to be seen again. (My guess he got hit by a car, or I could not ID him after he lost his antlers. ) However after the rut I saw 3 or 4 bucks that I had not seen before hand.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

NH

As you know, it varies. I've seen plenty of bucks that cross blacktop roads during non rutting periods. I really think it's as simple as what is on both sides of the road.

It would make sense that if he has everything he could want on one side that he'd reduce the amount he crosses to the other, but I don't see it as being much different than if that road was a creek. Give him everything he could want on one side and he likely won't cross the creek as much. Ultimately, he's probably going to cross both, though.

To me, it's all playing odds. Stacking as many little things that will encourage what I want him to do as practically possible. Do that and Mr. Big will probably do what you want him to more than he otherwise would.


Steve,
Though most of the properties I manage (big and normal sized) the buck population is pretty constant through the entire year, I've had a few where, even after I'm done, the bucks "summer in the Hamptons," only to return to the property for fall/winter. In general, I believe that most often occurs because either the does drive them out defending their fawning areas, there is something the property doesn't have that they can get elsewhere, the habitat lays out to promote shifting (drainages through corn get a lot more use/create more habitat when the corn is standing than after it's been harvested, for example) or a combo of those factors. That's the best I've been able to determine, though, and that determination isn't overly profound or insightful. Personally, I think one can make either situation (year round residents vs snow birds) work equally well for our benefit.

Your observations fit my experiences very well.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Native Hunter - As for road crossings & cover vs. open - Here in Pa. most of the " deer crossing " signs along the roads are at spots where woods/cover are located. Not to say deer never cross at open spots. Those signs are placed where deer are seen or hit the most. From my own experience hunting/scouting, deer like to move in or very near to cover. At our camp, deer will " stage " and test the wind / look out into the fields from heavy pines before venturing out into the open to eat. It seems to be the same for crossing roads.

As far as bucks' behavior/travelling, from my experience of 43 yrs. hunting, I believe ( mature ) bucks are/act like a different animal than does & yearlings. They don't spend the majority of their time with the rest of the herd. YOUNG bucks hang around w/ the doe groups, but it seems like 2.5 age & up hang in bachelor groups until the rut nears. I've seen mature bucks appear that had never been seen until the rut - AND - seen mature bucks that we had on cams all summer/early fall disappear - presumably to scout neighboring areas for hot does. Or perhaps they were chased out by Mr. Big. Before the rut, I've watched from a high vantage point ( ridge top ) and seen3 or 4 bucks come to food plots from an opposite direction than the doe groups came from. And from a mile away! ( No does with them ).

When the " seeking/chasing phase " begins, I think you're liable to see anything at any time. Not peak breeding time, but looking, moving, smelling time. I agree w/ Sandbur that grouse or bear hunting changes their habits & tends to make the big ones go nocturnal more than they were. Here in Pa., we see certain patterns all thru archery season, and then our bear season comes in right around the time of peak rut and the good bucks seem to go underground. Also in the fall, we see/hear a BIG increase in quad activity in the woods. The stark, sudden change I see in deer behavior due to these intrusions ( grouse/bear hunting & quads ) is undeniable. ( Around our region, archery hunting is done on foot - by choice - no quads ). Nature has her own sequences of events concerning deer behavior. When humans enter the picture, we throw a wrench into the natural patterns of deer. Now THEY pattern US.

As Steve B. said earlier, post-rut roaming has been seen by some of my hunting buddies - and me. We have seen big bucks sniffing & following deer tracks in the snow that were never seen during the fall/peak rut period. Or we've seen bucks known to hang in a certain area a couple miles from there after the main rut is over following a doe or two.

Personally - I hope we never totally figure out big bucks. The mystery is what makes it fun. If we knew where & when to go to have Mr. Big show up right on schedule every time & we kill him, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel - too automatic. The thrill - for me - comes in the chase, the piecing together of the puzzle, reading the signs, woodsmanship. The kill is only one second of the total process. As some have said - " the fun/thrill is in the journey. "

 

[sandbur]

Good stuff Steve. I was hoping you would weigh in on this. Here is a question or two for you or anyone else:

We all know that deer cross roads (I do because I've hit two.:D) And we know this activity increases during the rut (ask the insurance companies). My questions are: During most of the year do you think mature bucks cross typical country blacktop highways very much on a daily or weekly basis? Would it be less frequent in more open areas rather than heavily wooded areas? If they had everything they needed on one side of the road, would they be less likely to cross regularly - even though it might be good habitat on the other side of the road as well?[/Q

Native Hunter - As for road crossings & cover vs. open - Here in Pa. most of the " deer crossing " signs along the roads are at spots where woods/cover are located. Not to say deer never cross at open spots. Those signs are placed where deer are seen or hit the most. From my own experience hunting/scouting, deer like to move in or very near to cover. At our camp, deer will " stage " and test the wind / look out into the fields from heavy pines before venturing out into the open to eat. It seems to be the same for crossing roads.

As far as bucks' behavior/travelling, from my experience of 43 yrs. hunting, I believe ( mature ) bucks are/act like a different animal than does & yearlings. They don't spend the majority of their time with the rest of the herd. YOUNG bucks hang around w/ the doe groups, but it seems like 2.5 age & up hang in bachelor groups until the rut nears. I've seen mature bucks appear that had never been seen until the rut - AND - seen mature bucks that we had on cams all summer/early fall disappear - presumably to scout neighboring areas for hot does. Or perhaps they were chased out by Mr. Big. Before the rut, I've watched from a high vantage point ( ridge top ) and seen3 or 4 bucks come to food plots from an opposite direction than the doe groups came from. And from a mile away! ( No does with them ).

When the " seeking/chasing phase " begins, I think you're liable to see anything at any time. Not peak breeding time, but looking, moving, smelling time. I agree w/ Sandbur that grouse or bear hunting changes their habits & tends to make the big ones go nocturnal more than they were. Here in Pa., we see certain patterns all thru archery season, and then our bear season comes in right around the time of peak rut and the good bucks seem to go underground. Also in the fall, we see/hear a BIG increase in quad activity in the woods. The stark, sudden change I see in deer behavior due to these intrusions ( grouse/bear hunting & quads ) is undeniable. ( Around our region, archery hunting is done on foot - by choice - no quads ). Nature has her own sequences of events concerning deer behavior. When humans enter the picture, we throw a wrench into the natural patterns of deer. Now THEY pattern US.

As Steve B. said earlier, post-rut roaming has been seen by some of my hunting buddies - and me. We have seen big bucks sniffing & following deer tracks in the snow that were never seen during the fall/peak rut period. Or we've seen bucks known to hang in a certain area a couple miles from there after the main rut is over following a doe or two.

Personally - I hope we never totally figure out big bucks. The mystery is what makes it fun. If we knew where & when to go to have Mr. Big show up right on schedule every time & we kill him, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel - too automatic. The thrill - for me - comes in the chase, the piecing together of the puzzle, reading the signs, woodsmanship. The kill is only one second of the total process. As some have said - " the fun/thrill is in the journey. "

Just a few comments. Bear season in Mn. is open now and bow season will start in 2 weeks. Grouse hunting opens with bow season. I feel all of these things affect deer behavior on public lands, except for the most remote parcels.

I kind of like the anticipation of not knowing what is out there or what will come by my stand. I have not used trail cameras for the last 3 years because of that. I just like the old way and do not really want to name bucks or have a hit list. I'll just shoot my deer when it feels right to me.

I also find that less deer are spooked by not checking cameras and pulling cards.

What I miss are the pictures of odd ball things in my area-like bears, a wolf, or a bobcat. coyotes and fox are fairly common.

 

[Greta&Gus]

In my experience, a buck will have several home ranges throughout the year based on seasonal shifts and food sources. For a portion of the year a buck may live on a specific parcel of land during the summer and shift during the fall or winter. Each buck and each area will be different as to the size of the 'home range' as well as how far the bucks shift.

Since 2005 when we started running cameras there were some summers bucks lived on our land and other summers we have been completely void of bucks. Come the fall a lot of those bucks would leave, some would stay, and we will also see an entirely new set of bucks show up. Some winters we even will see a third population of completely different bucks show up and live on our property. It has been very rare to see a buck spend an entire year living on our property through all of the seasons.

I believe a 'home range' is somewhat limited in size, under 400 acres. But with the large shifts in deer movement bucks will travel many miles over the course of a year.

 

[Native Hunter]

In my experience, a buck will have several home ranges throughout the year based on seasonal shifts and food sources. For a portion of the year a buck may live on a specific parcel of land during the summer and shift during the fall or winter. Each buck and each area will be different as to the size of the 'home range' as well as how far the bucks shift.

Since 2005 when we started running cameras there were some summers bucks lived on our land and other summers we have been completely void of bucks. Come the fall a lot of those bucks would leave, some would stay, and we will also see an entirely new set of bucks show up. Some winters we even will see a third population of completely different bucks show up and live on our property. It has been very rare to see a buck spend an entire year living on our property through all of the seasons.

I believe a 'home range' is somewhat limited in size, under 400 acres. But with the large shifts in deer movement bucks will travel many miles over the course of a year.

What you have described with the seasonal shifting and camera observations is almost exactly what I see here.

 

[dipper]

Just when you think you have them figured out they, make a fool out of you......