OK I wrote this then some how deleted it before posting it when he first posted and been lazy to re type it
BUT IMO
YES the size of the land you have CAN hold mature deer/bucks, but that doesn't mean it will.
and for many reasons
first off, it takes a LONG time for deer to really get MATURE, this is IMO 5+ yrs of age!
SO< for a deer to get that old they have top dodge hunters vehicles and other things, already not that easy!
your land isn;t what the home range is on MOST deer, BUT some do stay on small tracts, NOT all, but some do
BUT for a deer to WANT to stay ONLY on your land, the land has to be something that meets all there needs and NO grass greener on other lands near by
deer live by eating sleeping and staying safe
all the safety doesn't do deer any real good if they need to leave to get other things they desire!
the name of the game IMO< when you own smaller pieces of land, is to make them the most appealing to deer as possible and meet as many of there needs as possible
which comes down to food, cover/safety, water and mates!
GOOD food must be there 365 days a yr, NOT only at hunting season times to HOLD them yr round
safety/cover, has to be there yr round, and this might mean NOT going into parts of your land EVER, NOT in hunting season or other times, or very rarely going into them
as when you push deer out they will move on, yes they will come back, but if they find other places they like as much or BETTER< maybe they won't! or get killed while leaving or??
so having a sanctuary area is a BIG deal IMO on lands your hoping to HOLD deer all the time on!
BUT even when all the things are there, deer will still leave, mating season is a big time they wander off , but this works BOTH ways,
it can also bring them to your place, but again, this can be where getting bucks to that 5+ yr old mark can be hard
as no matter what you do to your land
if the bordering lands all have hunters or worse(poachers or trigger happy folks in general)
they will be killing off young bucks on you or your better bucks if they leave the land for love, and then if NO older bucks on there side, well, none be coming to your place looking for your doe!
its why many states that had huge hunter numbers din't have many BIG bucks, like PA, till the state started the antler restriction which some what MADE bucks live a tad longer to get a tad smarter to dodge hunters better, and then once larger deer became more sen, more hunters held off on killing small one's
BUT that isn;t always how it works!
but back to your land
if you desire to MAKE and BUILD your place to be the BEST it can be to deer
YES it is possible to have some older bucks on your land
as they say you build it they will come
but you also have to hold of on shooting smaller bucks to get them larger/older!
as deer get older they DO get smarter, so that means you have to get smarter in your actions as well!
make your lands better appealing than lands around you is a the first step IMO and keep them that way YR round!