Mature Buck Travel Radius

[Danny1977]

I wish there was a "like" function to click on(or maybe there is and i'm just too blind to find it) as all of these comments are very insightful and extremely interesting. I do believe that it just depends on the buck. They all have their own personality and will most likely do what they feel suits their needs. One buck in Michigan might travel a mile or two as the other buck in Maine will travel almost across the state to breed. I guess is what it boils down to is finding out what that particular buck you're after is "more likely" to do. Also meaning that whatever you predict may or may not happen.
I thank all of you for the comments of vital information. I'll keep you posted on any findings I come across while in search of "Bruiser"

BTW I did go back in to hunt this spot approx a week after I pulled this SD card when the conditions were good just to have another hunter walk through at 0800 hrs and blow all of the deer out of the area. After that the buck was picked up on my TC during after shooting hours. Gotta love public land lol. Time to hunt things a little differently

[PK_]

Is he crossing a saddle or traveling a bench or running a top? What time of day?

Don’t draw a circle, just follow the elevation. Bucks generally travel during daylight at the same elevation that they Bed. I mean, not always and of course they travel up and down to get to different areas but they generally don’t start traveling that broad during day until rut and pic looks more like Oct?

I could be way off, tough to know without having more Intel but I agree with earlier post I would hunt right there on that date next fall likely the day on either side as well...

Correct. This was late Oct. The pic was taken fairly low in elevation which kind of caught me by surprise since I was under the impression that a mature buck would want to bed up high. Then come to find out that there's a fairly popular hiking trail up top which I would imagine would push him down farther due to pressure from all the hikers. Unless he beds up high but farther away and cruises down low? Perhaps some more scouting can tell.

Ha. That’s funny. Right after I submitted that reply trying to sound like I thought I knew what I was talking about, I had a feeling that you were going to reply that the pic was taken lower in elevation.

What time of day?

I Have seen bucks bed low in elevation when hunan presence is up top. I would check any low benches, thickets, knobs or even logging roads for beds, especially on the steepest areas of the hillside.

[mainebowhunter]

I wish there was a "like" function to click on(or maybe there is and i'm just too blind to find it) as all of these comments are very insightful and extremely interesting. I do believe that it just depends on the buck. They all have their own personality and will most likely do what they feel suits their needs. One buck in Michigan might travel a mile or two as the other buck in Maine will travel almost across the state to breed. I guess is what it boils down to is finding out what that particular buck you're after is "more likely" to do. Also meaning that whatever you predict may or may not happen.
I thank all of you for the comments of vital information. I'll keep you posted on any findings I come across while in search of "Bruiser"

BTW I did go back in to hunt this spot approx a week after I pulled this SD card when the conditions were good just to have another hunter walk through at 0800 hrs and blow all of the deer out of the area. After that the buck was picked up on my TC during after shooting hours. Gotta love public land lol. Time to hunt things a little differently

You know what is funny? The areas I hunt have so little crossover its crazy. I mean, I hunt different pieces within 10sq miles. Since 2011, I have yet to see one buck crossover. 2 pieces, kitty corner to each other. In 10yrs, never seen any of the same bucks on camera. Another spot, my buddy hunts, .5 mile from me. No crossover there.

THAT BEING SAID. I pull most of my cameras by the end of Oct. BUT 2-3 miles from there, I run cams right through til Jan. No crossovers.

BUT my buddy 30 minutes from me routinely sees bucks moving 1-2 miles during September. Heck, 2012 I killed a target buck in another spot in Maine, the previous day was 1.25 miles away as the crow flies at another set. Killed him back where I was hunting at 2 days later.

Midwest, 2016 killed a buck 1.5 miles as the crow flies. My buddy was hunting that area previously for that deer. I shot him...never even crossed my mind it was the same buck. Another buddy said..."man that looks awfully similar to this buck" We started laughing. Yep. It was him. But on the norm, in 2 weeks, if we don't see mature bucks on our ground, we don't normally see them show. The ones we see, we usually know from previous years or within the 2 weeks we get them on camera multiple times.

[ghoasthunter]

I love this topic and like most have said there's a lot that goes into how far one will travel during the rut. For years I've always wished some scientist would show up and wanna do a deer study on my deer. Tag 5 bucks from the age of 1 thru 5 and see where all they go in the month of November. It's a subject I like to think I know a lot about but really I don't know much. The only thing I know about it is the older age class bucks don't move far until that first big round has came in and out. The last 2 weeks historically have always been far better than the first 2 weeks of November to catch the old ones on their feet covering far more ground than they do in the first 2 weeks.

As for personal experience, the farthest I have ever seen a buck move during the rut was this year as I saw a buck on November 8th in one spot pinned down with a doe late at night 10 yards off the road. That spot was 9.3 road miles from my house and on the night of November 19th as I pulled in my driveway he was pinned down with a doe 10 yards off my driveway. Straight line miles I'd say was around 6.

I had a buck on camera with a very distinguishable funky beam last year during rut 2 days later I had him on camera in same mountain range 5 miles away and that buck had to cross a main highway and a big river in high water to get there.

[mainebowhunter]

I will also add. Some seasons, I do come across bucks that I am chasing, one in particular. I chased him for 2 or 3 seasons. Every year, it seemed like he would swap bedding areas come Oct. And by mid Oct, he would be gone. By end of Dec, I would see him back and then again all summer and into early fall. And he would do it every year.

Interesting stuff thats for sure. I have spent a lot of hours thinking about this stuff thats for sure. I don't hunt the rut here...so really I am interested in Sept Oct and Early Dec.

[JoeRE]

So as has been pointed out it varies a lot by terrain and habitat. Big woods bucks seem to generally be more nomadic on average. It also varies so much depending on a buck's personality. Honestly I wouldn't want to speculate on an average...pretty much guarantee most bucks aren't average. If you wanted to start, look half a mile up and down whatever drainage you saw the buck in. Maybe 50/50 chance you will find a core area....unless its peak rut. Then many travel miles although the older ones I think travel less on average.

I have seen a few mature bucks that are so homebody its crazy. I swear they sit in 100 acres the whole year. There's plenty of examples of others being seen many miles apart. The furthest between sightings I personally have had was a buck on public land I killed a few years ago - just under 2 miles as the crow flies from where I got a bunch of TC photos of him and where I killed him. The interesting thing with that deer was they were completely separate creek drainage. That isn't as common.

I would add its definitely not like drawing a circle - like PK mentioned. I have noticed there are common boundaries that bucks use for edges of their range. Often they stick to one side of certain drainages, sometimes the edges are creeks and rivers, major highways, really big ag fields, that sort of thing.

A range might be 2 miles long and half a mile wide or less, or quite often just several "pockets" that a buck hops between. I have seen that last bit pretty often. A buck might be in one area of a few hundred acres....or he might be in another area of equal size but a mile away. He just slips back and forth between the pockets where he spends more time.

Sometimes those areas are seasonal but not always. I see deer spend a week in one area, then move and spend a while somewhere else, then somewhere else, then show back up in the first area a month later...that is pretty common behavior in October around here. One of the reasons its important to move in on a buck ASAP when you find him. Unless he is a homebody buck he might be a mile away or more in a few days.

I would add spend some time looking at Penn State's telemetry deer study and it pretty much confirms all the above examples.

[<DK>]

I would add spend some time looking at Penn State's telemetry deer study and it pretty much confirms all the above examples.

Yep, x2 on that! It never gets old. Even though they arent the oldest bucks in the woods, amazing info packed in those studies.