Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Read a short article last night (I'll post the publication after lunch.....but it was in a question/answer type quiz section) referencing more about a buck's home range.

The question was dealing with bucks....and why they DON'T disperse.....if there's not a reason to do so. It stated if a buck had everything he needed in the area he was reared......he wouldn't have a reason to leave. The cited telemetry-based studies that showed a buck might not travel outside a Home Range as small as a "few dozen acres" barring the rutting season.

It aslo stated that the further west you go....the more they seem to travel......due to various reasons (proximity of food and does). The home ranges, naturally, are larger, there (and other places where doe density and food is not in close proximity).

Just found it interesting.....

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I agree they keep a very small core area for most of the year except for hunting pressure and the rut.
Late season they may move that core area due to changing food sources,limited availability and weather conditions.
Back in 92 the BIG ONE I missed kept his bedding area in the front yard next to the farm I hunted.
She has part of the yard mowed but the rest about 100 feet was just tall weeds with one small thick bushy area.
That 180+ buck daily about 1 pm would track the backside of her house come around the corner to the back yard get a
sip of water. Then head back behind this small farm in a meadow and fill his gut and then head back to bed.
The farmer told me he would do this about 3xa day and you can tell by the trail thats all this pig did.
I also witnessed this many more times with other bucks when I lived in the Illinois (Zoo :D).
This is why bucks get that arch and gut as they dont have to move much and many live
right close to dwellings it seems in my experiences. Safe havens I think they call it.
My next big guy if I can seal the deal will come approximatly 50 yards from my moms house.;)

P.S.-By the way a former chicago bears player got him about 1/4 mile down the roadthat same year during the rut.
Stinking bears!

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

T:

What this says to me is.......unless we have access to them in these tight little quarters......we stand very little chance.....unless it's during the rut. This kinda stuff makes sense, to me, in my woods....as they have NO REASON to ever (barring certain times of the year when they deplete the food sources, there.....and the rut)come out of the un-huntable land (legally un-huntable).

I'd like to be able to just see what was hiding "in there".

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

That is interesting. Im looking forward to that article Jeff....

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I received the magazine, un-solicited, Mike. I'll let you know which one it was....but I'd never even heard of it, before. This was a VERY short "quiz" section.

While we're at it.....one of the other questions addressed rubs.

I was shocked to find out some rub info. I read in there. How many rubs, on AVERAGE, does a whitetail buck make?

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I dont have the slightest clue, but i would guess 20-30

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Jeff here is a map of my mothers place theyellow blotch is where I believe I will wack this bad boy.
The white blotch is where I seen another bad boy a couple weeks ago and posted the pic here.
Of course the B is for his bed which I actually found last gun season.
See my mom always tells me she sees a 6 point that is with this 18 sneak right behind the house in the mornings.
Usually my step dad is to the west near that white blotch in the fall so my plan is to be in well before sunrise to catch
the guys sneaking back to bed. As for the 6 point my step dad has seen him and claims its the biggest 6 point you
will ever see. Now one thing that could mess this whole thing up for me is my step dad.
Last thing bucks are coming from the Northeast food plot.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Big picture
Yellow we own, red access too.
I believe if we did not have that food plot he wouldn't go that far.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Hey T.....

That long strip of ag land on the left ......come to a point on the far left, bottom side.....forming an inside corner at the woods line.

Call me crazy.....but that looks like a WONDERFUL spot for an evening sit.....even though you're not too far off that road.

What is it across that strip? 130yds? I'm betting they feed int hat little corner. But......what do I know?:D

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

You talking by the 80 on the road? (2nd pic)
I need to clairify the red we have access as in case one runs onto it and dies.
We can also shoot one if were on our property and it comes down a tree line on his property.
So way over there I cant actually hunt it but I am sure my step dad can.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Jeff, that's interesting. I've always felt that around where I live the bucks don't disperse as much as they do in other areas just because there is not that much livable land to disperse to. Everything is so built up it's just small subdivisions and horse farms. The actual ag farms get hammered and hold huge numbers of deer, but the bucks don't live there because of the hunting pressure. As the season draws closer you won't see them out there until around midnight or later which tells me they are not on their feet until right around dark and are coming a long ways to get there.

Then in the fall, once the acorns drop they don't need to travel far for food anymore. As Tony said, up on their feet (but usually right at dark) fill their belly and then back to bed. That leaves a very small range to try to hunt and if you have permission on the wrong piece it doesn't leave you much chance until the rut.

Tony, it sounds like you've got a solid plan. When is your opener? I bet your chompin' at the bit to get in there.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Where the red meets the yellow in the center top is where I would be for the first week of November.:)

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Sept 13th but I won't be hunting out there then. I have a lot of spots this year but the opener I will be close to home.

Actually Jim that is where I hunted with gun the last2 yearsclosing weekendand had does come out just to the south of me.
By then my brother and step dad have it pretty much pressured out.


Jeff sorry dude did not mean to hijack this, I was just trying to show where he beds by the house.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Jeff, was the article about why young bucks don't disperse or about mature bucks home ranges?

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I'm thinking he's hoping to have that tag filled before then.;)

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Mornin. Dan.

Actually it wasn't either. It was just a quick quiz (1 question - out of about 5)asking if bucks disperse from where they were reared. It then went a "little" more in-depth during the answer portion.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Well.. I find your first paragraph hard to read Jeff. Are you talking about dispersal.. or home range? And then are you talking core area or home range in paragraph 2..??

But.. I could easily agree that a home range would be larger out west than in lets say.. the south. Foliage changes to the landscape.. preferred food sources.. heavy snows/lack there of.. all would help to contribute to larger or smaller home ranges.. makes sense.. common sense.

Now dispersal of young bucks is totally different. Interestingly enough its for the benefit of the herd.. or natures way of less inbreeding which would impair whitetails over generations.

Now.. I do believe a core bedding area can be very small.. followed by a core area thats much larger in size.. and then a home range that deer lives in throughout all 365 days.

But I do not believe any whitetail buck.. no matter where.. to have a home range of just several dozen acres. He would have to have adequate amounts of food, water, cover, and females. Not to mention a social hierarchy.. which he simply won't just have on 30 acres. No way.. no how. A core bedding area of 30 acres.. sure.. absolutely... but not a home range.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Duke:

Honestly....the little (very little) "article" doesn't mention "core area". They mention dispersal and home range, though.

Funny you should mention this....because I was surprised at what was written, too. I read it to learn about dispersal. They are saying that if all of a buck's needs are met where he is reared.....he won't disperse. This goes against everyhting I've ever heard. That's a reason I thought it was interesting. There was another question regarding "inbreeding", also. They say that it will NOT adversely affect the herd as much as one would think.....because of the fact that does are generally bred by multiple mates. In the event of twins.....2 sires is common. Triplets and three sires is also the norm. Take into account "some" dispersal.....some die-off....and a bloodline quickly becomes diluted.

"Outside the rut"....the article would disagree with you. That's why I thought you'd find it interesting. I'd be happy to quote the entire thing and send it to you when I get some time, this weekend. More "nerd" stuff we love.;)

Have a great weekend.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I would agree with that.. makes sense.

But I still would find it unlikely a whitetail to have a 30 acre home range. That means he has to survive on that 30 acres for 365 days. Which doesn't make any sense.. theirs just not nearly enough food to permit this. I think the author should re-check what a core area is.. and what a home range is.

You have a good weekend too.. Jeff.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Outside the rut, Duke....we have to remember that part.

And I can show you (though I'm not disagreeing with you) a 30acre patch where a mature whitetail would NEVER have to venture outside of......and he/she could eat, sleep drink and mate in that acreage, just fine. I'm betting little spots like this are NOT uncommon. Ihave a fewspots like this really close to home. Some....I'll be hunting, this fall. They can bed; they have ag crops; they have mast producing trees; they have water and they have does......in less acreage than what you cite (which could be smaller than what the author is citing).

Like I said....I'm not saying they're "right"......but in some settings....I find it plausible.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

The more you read, the more articles you will find that contradict each other. They are in the buisness to sell books / mags...

I only put faith in something that I have read once I experience it once or twice myself. Until then, it really means nothing to me.

To me this sounds far fetched, a home range of a few dozen acres? I don't know this guy, study or the publication it was in but I call BS.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I agree with you on this, I have read a lot of good and bad. Not saying the bad was wrong, just wrong for my hunting area from my experiences. This particular topic seems way off base from anything I have experienced with deer movement.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

My guess is those numbers are a little low.

Dan

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Meet and hunt with a few of these so called expert writers and my guess is your opinion will go even lower;)

Dan

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I would guess 300 rubson average, what does the "quiz" say?

I have several books on bucks that have been tagged and monitored. The info.is very interesting and conducted in different parts of the US. The studies suggest that core ares range from 20 to 150 acres with an average of 60 acres. Home range 300 to 1200 acres with an average of 600 acres.
Studies also suggest, bucks move frequently in daylight within there core but rarely venture out until afterdark. Bucks do not always disperse but dispersal rates are high(90%). Buckssome times travel upto five miles during the rut and in some cases, relocate.

ThoughtI would throw this in to because it was very interesting.One of the studieswas done on 300 bucks on public land inMichigan. 20% were taken by hunters and averaged 2 1/2years old. 10% disappeared completely. 70% died of natural causes an averaged 4 years old.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I'm sure deer react differently depending upon location but i just read an article about deers home range. To keep it short their study showed that All bucks leave there birth area at 1 1/2 yrs old and more to a new home area any where from 1- 32 miles away. Once they establish their home range, and they were not talking in exacting acerage, then they would have a core area. The core area was the area that he spent more than 50% of his time and the core area was usually about 25% of their home area. I found it ointeresting that they all move away from their birth area.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

This is much more believable. Dispersal rates and home ranges I can agree with.

As a long time shedder.. I can tell you first hand how often I find sheds a mile or more apart. Trailcams of a buck 3/4 of a mile from where an antler lays in spring. It's just not plausable (in my own opinion) that a whitetail buck could have such a small home range... smaller yes... but not less than 200 acres.. and thats really really small.

Likely in terms of 700+ acres on a home range.

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

I would say 250-350 rubs per year, right on par with your guess...... Although, I am not sure I really want to hear the guys answer after he talks about a few dozen acres as a buckshome range :D

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

A few years ago I was hunting a non typical I had sighted on 3 different occassions, but before I could connect a buddy killed him during Slug season 5 miles from where I had seen him 3 times during the first part of season.

Dan

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Roughly 5 miles as the crow flies is the farthest we have found a matched set apart.

Not unusual for some deer to travel 1 - 1.5miles every day to feed depending on crop rotation or in the winter.

I've killedtwo bucks 6 miles from where we have found their sheds. Both were 4.5 years old when I killed them. Both bucks werekilled 250 yardsfrom each other a year apart. Both sheds were foundwithin 400 - 500 yards a yearapart. They were 2.5 years old when they dropped their sheds that we found. We didn't find their sheds when they were 3.5 years old.

I killed another buck3 miles from where he shedded. " edited... " He was 3.5 years old when I killed him. The sheds werefound the year before.


We seequite a few 3 year oldbucks relocated in the springto different " core summer - fallareas" . Once they setup inthat area... they come back to it even if they move miles in the winter to better feeding areas or from hunting pressure.

We have 3 sets of sheds from one buck. All sheds where found within a200 yard area. His home range was small but still consisted of 400 acres. He was avery visible buck compared to most even at 6.5 years old. He had two major bedding areashe frequented1/4 mile apart at any giventime of the year.

Deer are not afraid to travel here. Core areas can consist of 100s of acres and home ranges very big with our terrain, crop rotation, perferred food at different times of the year,pressure and winter.

Tim

RE: Hey Duke....More "Home Range" fodder
 

Tim, Gri22ly, Buckeye, and the Duke all bring up good points. There is no doubt in my mind that bucks in more opencountry have a much larger core and home range then say a hardwoods buck in MI. Put some pressure on a mature buck some where like Kansas and his new core area will be 2 miles away in the next little patch of woods or worse in the middle of a field out in no mans land, not to be seen again till next season.