Another deer range question.
 

All this talk about a buck’s home range got me thinking. If the DNR’s figures are correct 83 deer per sq mile. That means I should have 33 deer on the 250 acres I hunt. With a doe to buck ratio of 3 to 1 I should have at any given time 8.25 bucks on my place.

In the original sq. mile there should be 21 bucks. If the home area of a deer is roughly 1000 acres that’s just over 1 ½ sq. miles. I should have 30 different bucks on my place through out the course of a year.

My question is do any of you think that it is possible to have 30 different bucks in such a small area.
I attached a pic to show roughly what kind of area we are talking about. My place is in the middle of the mile sq.

P.S. If I made a math mistake please point it out.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

I’ve counted 20+ different identified bucks in a single season, on ~100 acres of land. My deer densities are thru the roof.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Are you kidding? That's a LOT of deer.

On paper....Yeah. But I can tell you the adjacent properties to the ones I hunt don't have NEAR the deer density the ones I hunt do. Not even close. So you might or you might not have that many deer on your property. Total assumption. If your staggering figures are correct (RE: deer density)....the guy next door could have 120 and you have 40, total.....if his habitat will support them and they have MORE of what they need than what you can provide them.

I can tell you from hunting an area with a deer density LESS than what you proport.........Having that many does is a DETRIMENT to buck hunting. They will disperse to other, less inhabited lands.

I did count 13 different 1.5 yr olds in the '06 season....and two 2.5 yr olds, that year. I saw two 3.5 yr olds, that season, as well.

The reason I sad what I did about dispersement, though.....I saw NO BUCKS over 1.5 yrs, last year....except the one I shot. Not one. I had one other (over 1.5yrs) on gamecam.....and never saw him from stand.

Who really knows?

RE: Another deer range question.
 

83 deer per sq mile ... holy chit batman..thats more than I see all hunting season! wow..that blows my mind.. some of the deer densities you guys hunt..

RE: Another deer range question.
 

83 per sqaure mile is an aweful lot of deer. I think you have your square miles messed up if the inner red square is a square mile, then the outer red square looks like close to6 square miles.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Jackson County MI is over 100[&:]deer Per sq mile

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Guys lets remember when they figure deer per square mile, it's only counting habit that can "hold" deer. So that is not 1 sq mile of deer habitat

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Knowing nothing about your land, it is possible. If the deer dencities are correct it makes sense. However, remember button bucks are 'bucks' also! You probably need to cut those #s on half if you want to talk just about 1.5 year olds or older bucks....'racked' bucks.

However, your drawing of the larger red outline appears to be actually 4 square miles (2 miles to a side). 2 square miles of land would be about 1.4 miles to a side.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

I agree that 83 deer per square mile sounds like a ton of deer. Put out trail cameras throughout the area and see how many different deer you can spot. It is probably a better method than relying on inflated numbers.

If you do have 83 deer per square mile maybe you should consider letting me help you out. ;)

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Translator on aisle 5!

RE: Another deer range question.
 

It's close to 2 miles by 2 miles

RE: Another deer range question.
 

you are correct about the bigger square.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

I know on paper it all sounds right but in reality I might ave 5 1 day and 40 the next.We take of at least 2 does per buck we shoot an average over the last 5 years. We are trying to get the doe to buck ratio by me closer to 2 to 1. I don't know if we ever will.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

83 per square mile sounds a little high. I hunted Calhoun Co Illinois for a few years and it has the highest reported number of deer per square mile in Illinois, or at least at the time. I wish I could remember the number, but for the life of me cannot. I remember thinking at the time I should be walking on top of deer with a number as high as I was told. I think the thing you have to remember is that some areas are going to have more, some are going to have less. Habitat on the land is a major factor. A 1000 acres of field is not going to have the number of deer as 500 acres of timber. If you are the only one hunting 250 acres, you cannot possibly see all the deer using your land. In 2005 I shared a 215 acre piece with 4 other guys, many times all 5 of us were in stand together. That year we had 16 trail cams out starting in July. We got many photos of bucks we never seen from the stand and killed two bucks we never got photos of. IMO, even if you lived on your property and never left it, you cannot possibly know EVERY deer that will use it. You might be able to know every buck that uses your property as it's core area, but IMO that is still a reach.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

I hunt a piece of ground that is several hundred acres big, but has only a small patch of woods that is maybe 10 acres tops. Over the course of an average summer and fall I get get photos of between 10 and 15 different bucks in this area. I'm sure I don't get pictures of at least 5 more bucks that if nothing else pass through this land during the course of a year. So we're looking at 15-20 bucks in an area with less deer density and from the looks of your photo far less cover. So yeah, I would figure it's entirely possible to have 30 bucks move through that area over the course of a year.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

Let me share with you what I think I'm up against in a similar situation....

"I" think I'm (and my neighbors) illing a good amount of does. What I fear I'm doing, though.....is making room for groups of does from outside my hunting area to move in and take advantage of the cover, food, etc... the land I'm hunting offers them.

I think the land I hunt will sustain (______) deer.....and when I kill "some" off....there's that many waiting to move in and take advantage of the habitat.

I know this is a pessimistic outlook......but it's also a realistic possibility.

I hope I'm wrong.......and I wish you luck.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

DPFSM is what our Game commission used to use. Deer per FORESTED square mile.

I’m not sure if they still do. Basically if you took a 1x1 mile farm area with 20 deer in it, you could get a DPFSM number of 80 if only a quarter of it was wooded.
Take another 1x1 mile area in our “big woods” and those same 20 deer, give you a DPSFM of 20.


I’ve mentioned on here before my main area is a centered in a perimeter that is enclosed by a 6 mile rectangular loop. That translates to roughly 2 sq mi. Add what I can see on the outside and we’ll call it 3 sq mi. It’s not out of the question to count 120 deer in that loop, and you certainly don’t see them all. I’d easily say there are another half that that go unseen. You are looking at a 60 DPSM density in my area.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

I believe you are right about other does moving in. Every time we kill a doe off a food plot or or a corn pile there is always another 1 to take her place. If you keep killing does like you do year after year you will have to see some type of reduction.

RE: Another deer range question.
 

JEFF,it's a deer conspiracy! They know the food is better on your side of the fence,lol.