Deer's home range will it return??
 

I recently read in a article that when deer heard in winter sometimes they will go as far as 50 miles away to be in suitable winter wether. My question is if they go 50 miles away in the winter are they going to return again in the spring??

\

hard to think thats true??? i dont buy it.

I believe it. I hunt in an open area with a bunch of fields around, 40 acres of tall grass, and a very thin timber line that runs on each side of the creek..its goes for miles. From june/july until end of November you can ALWAYS go down there and deer will be there. Thats where I killed my first deer this year. Usually a group of 10-12 deer all in a pack. Always together. The end of November and in December you will NOT see a foot print from a deer. The only thing I can think of is they don't have a reliable food source/cover. Really don't know. Kind of weird.

hopefully some more people can chip in..

I wouldn't think that's true. If they did go that far I doubt they'd come back to the same spot, and think of how many hunters out there talk about seeing the same buck year after year. Even having trailcam pics to document it. I don't think they go that far personally.

and this makes you think the deer are traveling 50 miles away? lol

whoops. My bad. NO, I know they don't go 50 miles. No way in heck. What I mean is, the deer around me go some where. Not sure where.

I have heard when the anti hunters relocate deer, (on our tax payer dollar) they usually die within a few months.

Either they can not adapt to a new location, or the stress of the capture & release..

Deer will yard up in large areas of heavy cover during a severe winter. Will they go 50 miles?, I doubt it. Will they go 5 miles? probably. But they will be back in their summer and fall quarters next spring. My hunting area is largely devoid of deer in the winter, but they are always back in spring.

I doubt they go 50 miles but I know 9 times out of 10 they return to the same spot year after year