ORIGINAL: Buck Magnet
Wow, do alot of you guys honestly see the major "home range" areas as defined as what your posts portray? I just don't see these scenarios play out in real life. I don't see territorial battles occuring at all, usually the bucks just seem to be roaming and they hangout wherever they find themselves. For instance, last year I had several 3.5 year old bucks on my property, in the early fall the bucks broke out of their bachelor groups and started doing their own thing. I got pictures of these same bucks on a few different properties in the area, but it was always changing as to which buck was on that property. It wasn't as though these bucks picked out "their" spot and stayed their guarding it, they just seemed to hang out wherever they ended up that day.
As far as what happens after a mature buck is killed...I have killed two bucks that were both aged over 6.5 years old and two bucks that were 3.5 years old. I honestly didn't notice any real differance, I didn't see bucks moving in to that area, time just seemed to go on the same as if the mature bucks were there.
The home range of a normal whitetail is 640 acres (1 sq mi). That is their home range, not their territory, aterritory is a defended piece of land. Bucks do not fight for land but rather for does and who get to breed first. Furthermore, it is also possible for home ranges to overlap one another. Once one of the dominant bucks is removed from the herd it would only make sence that the other bucks will pick up the slack and establish a new order of dominance. Though you may not see more movement you would see different bucks moving with more confidence, and as eairler stated, the dominant buck is not always the biggest. This would mean that it is entirely possible to see 'new' big bucks on your land once the dominant one is killed.