Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
MSU Deer Lab recently released their latest study. I just watched it on YouTube but here is the printed version if you just want the numbers https://www.msudeer.msstate.edu/results.php?q=deer+movement
Listening to the professors is probably a little more enlightening as you can hear what the numbers are telling you. Even though the study was done in MS, I think it is likely relevant to a high degree to whitetails everywhere. I know some of the data they presented matches what I have seen in person and via trail camera. The study was GPS locations of 55 bucks that were monitored during the study, data points taken every 15 minutes. Over a million pieces of location data that went into the numbers. It was the largest study of its kind that has ever been conducted. Here is my take away or high points that they mentioned. 1. Roughly 1/3 of all bucks have dual home ranges. Meaning they spend a portion of the year in one home range and another portion in a different home range that can be a couple of miles apart or they had a buck that had dual home range of 18 MILES APART. Meaning if you have a buck disappear it may have temporarily just moved to a different home range. 2. A relatively small number of bucks have a home range of under 500 acres, most are in excess of 500 acres. So for most of us we can not guarantee that we can hold a buck on our property 100% of the time no matter how good the habitat is. 3. A high percentage of bucks make short term excursions from December through March, 2 to 3 day hikes where they leave their home range, but often return. In my mind I am thinking if you are looking to recruit new bucks to your property that may be the time you need to have the best habitat, or at least better than your neighbors. That is when bucks are looking for better home ranges. 4. Bucks cover the largest amount of acres, over a 2 week period, once the peak rut has passed as they look for the last few does in heat. I saw that play out this year on my place and have the trail camera evidence to support it. A sudden 2 week spike in new bucks on the property. They were here and now they are gone. During pre-rut and the peak of the rut the bucks are covering 200 acres a day, but they stay more loyal to that same area. However, from a hunting perspective if you haven't seen much for shooter bucks on your property leading up to the rut, get your butt in the stand after the peak of the rut. Odds are better that a new buck will suddenly show in that 2 week period following the peak of the rut. The interesting thing about the higher acres covered was that bucks only cover roughly 200 acres of ground per day regardless of the time of year. Meaning if you spot a good buck one day there is a very good chance he will still be around the following day if only for a few hours. 5. If you have to choose between a morning hunt and evening hunt choose the evening. While not a huge percentage of change, they documented more buck movement at dusk than sunrise.
These guys put out solid information and I think this was well worth the listen. This YouTube video was only on deer movement in general, they are going to release another video soon covering hunting implications.
Listening to the professors is probably a little more enlightening as you can hear what the numbers are telling you. Even though the study was done in MS, I think it is likely relevant to a high degree to whitetails everywhere. I know some of the data they presented matches what I have seen in person and via trail camera. The study was GPS locations of 55 bucks that were monitored during the study, data points taken every 15 minutes. Over a million pieces of location data that went into the numbers. It was the largest study of its kind that has ever been conducted. Here is my take away or high points that they mentioned. 1. Roughly 1/3 of all bucks have dual home ranges. Meaning they spend a portion of the year in one home range and another portion in a different home range that can be a couple of miles apart or they had a buck that had dual home range of 18 MILES APART. Meaning if you have a buck disappear it may have temporarily just moved to a different home range. 2. A relatively small number of bucks have a home range of under 500 acres, most are in excess of 500 acres. So for most of us we can not guarantee that we can hold a buck on our property 100% of the time no matter how good the habitat is. 3. A high percentage of bucks make short term excursions from December through March, 2 to 3 day hikes where they leave their home range, but often return. In my mind I am thinking if you are looking to recruit new bucks to your property that may be the time you need to have the best habitat, or at least better than your neighbors. That is when bucks are looking for better home ranges. 4. Bucks cover the largest amount of acres, over a 2 week period, once the peak rut has passed as they look for the last few does in heat. I saw that play out this year on my place and have the trail camera evidence to support it. A sudden 2 week spike in new bucks on the property. They were here and now they are gone. During pre-rut and the peak of the rut the bucks are covering 200 acres a day, but they stay more loyal to that same area. However, from a hunting perspective if you haven't seen much for shooter bucks on your property leading up to the rut, get your butt in the stand after the peak of the rut. Odds are better that a new buck will suddenly show in that 2 week period following the peak of the rut. The interesting thing about the higher acres covered was that bucks only cover roughly 200 acres of ground per day regardless of the time of year. Meaning if you spot a good buck one day there is a very good chance he will still be around the following day if only for a few hours. 5. If you have to choose between a morning hunt and evening hunt choose the evening. While not a huge percentage of change, they documented more buck movement at dusk than sunrise.
These guys put out solid information and I think this was well worth the listen. This YouTube video was only on deer movement in general, they are going to release another video soon covering hunting implications.
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