Yes, I believe that as a buck gets older his core area gets smaller. I also believe he becomes more elusive and nocturnal as he ages as well.

Where I have to disagree is in the belief that they can't live right under our noses in the areas that we heavily hunt/scout/live without us knowing it.

I hunt about a third of the days of a ninety day season. I see a lot of younger deer on a routine and repaeat basis. But there are those magical days, usually after a multi day inclement weather event but when the temps are still cold, that all kinds of deer show up, many of them mature, that I have never seen before, either in person or ona trail camera.

It is worth noting that the above citings are independent of the rut where I think most of us acknowledge a good percent (not all) of mature deer expand their core area. I am talking about late season way after the rut.

Then there is the occasional "large to very large" shed that I find that is unlike anything I have seen on a deer the prior season. Where did it come from if they have a small core area but yet can't live right under our noses?

If you still don't think they can live right under your nose, ponder this. When out scouting,hunting or whatever you may be doing in the woods,do you see all or even most of the raccoons, coyotes, possums, badgers, skunks, bobcats, porcipines,etc, etc. that calls your hunting area home?
I would venture to say very few.

These animals may be dumber than us and it may not be rocket science, but they are after all referred to as "wildlife" and have survived the intrusion of man for a reason regardless of whether its intelligence or instinct.

jack:

Understand where I'm coming from by knowing that the lands I hunt hold ZERO bedding areas.......and ZERO "ag crop fields". I'm huning small parcels of land in a high deer density area.

So....I get to see the deer that venture THROUGH the land I hunt.....or travel TO said land when the mast crops are producing. I see the same deer over and over again, all season.

Are there deer that come into these areas I've never seen? It just hasn't happened. When it does....I'll post up the sighting. What's "out there" in the lands I have no access to......I couldn't venture to guesstimate. Don't have a clue.

I'm in my woods +/- 50 sits per season.....and my trailcam is out there, pre-season, for a little over a month. When I speak of high deer density areas.....I'm talking >100 deer/sq. mi.....and likely more like 150/sq. mi. .

It's only my theory.....but I think the mature bucks don't HAVE to travel very far in this circumstance. They have EVERYTHING they need......in areas they can't be legally hunted. Do they (mature bucks) sometimes frequent the land I DO have access to? Certainly. I know AT LEAST three have. I haven't seen one of them, from stand, but I have photos of him.

To better aid in explaing this.....I saw +/- 17 different racked bucks in the summer and fall of the '06 season. TWO of these deer were 3.5 yrs or older. I saw exactlySEVEN different racked bucks in the summer/fall of the '07 season....and only FOUR during the actual huntingseason.....(withonly one of them being older than 1.5yrs).

Like I said.....my theory is....they don't NEED to travel into the places I can hunt them. What lurks in the areas I can't hunt them..........I have no clue.

I honestly believe that the majority of people on this forum have 3.5+ year old animals in their hunting properties that they don't know of. Perfect example.............

Last year there were 5 differentbucks on my property that were seen during archery season that were 100"+ deer. The buck I killed was the smallest of them. 2x of them were seen in areas less thanhundred yards away from where I had a corn pile and camera setup for the entire summer. I only got one of the deer on camera and that didn't even happen till 11/8. My buck from last year specifically was killed maybe 200 yards away from one of the food plots that got hammered the hardest last year and that plot had a camera in it as well. Never saw him before that morning that I let the air out of him.

Edit - Jeff, didn't you say the poachers shot a nice 8 or 10 pointer off the same property you hunted last year? Did you see him or know of him?

I'm in my third year of putting out game cams on relatively SMALL properties, RJ. If there's a 3.5 yr old out there.....I'd "expect" to have gotten a photo of him in at least a previous season......or the current one.

BUT....in thinking about this more....and realizing that 2.5yr olds travel more than their older counterparts.....I'm not above thinking there might be bucks that move into an area for that season....that I haven't seen (how could I have?).

Like I said.....I may change my tune on this....and if I'm wrong, I'll admit it. It's just that .....after 48 sits and weeks of game cams....on small parcels......I'd"think" I would get a glimpse of him.

I actually hope I am wrong. I'd like to have my picture taken with the first "ghost" I see.

Nope. They shot him off land I don't have access to......and they don't have LEGAL access to it, either.

ive seen one in real life, right off the highway with a neck collar. pretty neat

I remembered this as well and looked it up. It wasn't the same property but a couple over. Here is the quote.

The 10-pointer ......I saw at our state's deer hunting expo. He was a nice deer.

As the crow flies......where they "probably" shot this deer is less than 1 mi. The closest to anything I USED to (and still do)have access to is probably .5 mile.

NOW....I have access to where I "think" that deer was taken. We'll see what the new land holds as the years unfold. Like I said....I hope I'm all wrong about this.