The deer don't winter on the land that I hunt. So my question is the 3 six pointers one or two eights and a couple of a little bit bigger bucks that I saw last fall will they all return this year?

How does nature stay away from imbreeding? Fawns born here do they come back? I thought I heard that they roam from the area where they were born to stay away from imbreeding is this true?

It just seems that every year I see alot of small bucks. I'm wondering after that first year and a half if they go elsewhere?

I don't know about your area but when I had my property in NW WI the deer left to yard up about 5 miles away as soon as the snow depth got to over 2 feet.
As far as I could tell, the same deer came back in the spring.
The WI DNR did a study on Deer Migration ( not just short trips to yarding areas) in that part of the state several years ago. The Deer along the south shore of Lake Superior would travel as much as 20 to 30 mile south each winter to yard in the cedar forest south of the lake near Hayward and Cable.

Those Deer for the most part would return to the area from whense they came as the spring sun warmed the area and melted the snow.

Around my cottage in the SouthernTier of NY, the deer (pretty much all of them) will leave the tops of the hills and move into the valleys once the snow comes. The deer will have a winter and summer range. I would really suggest that you ask TR Michaels on his forum about your question. He would be the most knowledgable.

Deer change patterns periodically throughout the year and bucks can and do tend to roam quite a bit during the rut. That is one reason that "inbreeding" does not occur as much as you might think. Bucks have a "core area" that they tend to stay in for most of their adult lives though they can and do wonder across a much larger area.

So, to answer your question, it depends on whether or not your land is in the core area. It sounds like it is not so I would be willing to bet that you have a 50/50 chance of seeing the same bucks again this year.

I read a pretty good article a while back on buck dispersal by John Ozogda, in this article he talked about how buck fawns, once they reach a certain age (wish I had the article in front of me), they are naturally pushed out of their mothers core areas by their mothers and they often disperse miles away. This behavior keeps the deer from imbreeding.

Shed

I also have read a few articles of that nature, and I believe they state the does "kick out" her offspring bucks when they are 1 year old and when the doe is about to give birth again.

I hunt a small tract of land, approximately 100 acres. Deer will return to a hunting area if there is good cover and close food supply. Also, hunting traffic and other outdoor activities can play a big role. I've seen deer return year after year. As mentioned above, the rut will bring in some new faces and some will leave, usually if you see a big buck, you can pattern him early in the year, but as the rut and eventually winter sets in, he may have moved on. But, if luck is with him, chances are that he may return the following year. Just my own observation. Good luck.

Woo! Biology class is paying off!

Inbreeding is good, Incestual Inbreeding is bad.

Inbreeding is the continued breeding of organisms with similar characteristics or traits. IE - Whitetail deer breed with Whitetail deer. This is good. This is what you want.

Incestual Inbreeding is the continued breeding of similar organisms from the same family. IE - A brother and sister breeding. This increases the possibility of a recessive allele being expressed rather than the normal dominant allele. This will cause retardation, deformities in the antler structure, etc... NOT good.

Just a little info on inbreeding, never thought I'd be able to use THAT stuff.

biology class does pay off.....