How Many Mature bucks on a Property?

[Black Squirrel]

I know this is a very general question with many possible answers,but I got to thinking after reading all the discussion on sanctuaries in another post. How much do Mature bucks tolerate each other? I don't believe you can really stock pile mature bucks, as I don't think they will tolerate each other. I think it first depends on how may bedding spots are on the property you hunt. But lets say you got access to 160 acres with 3-4 good buck bedding spots. Will you have more than one mature buck to hunt during the season? I would think it depends on the time of season as well. I suppose early season, when they are still in bachelor groups, you could possibly have more than one. And then after velvet shedding, I would think they would be less tolerable of each other. So basically my question boils down to this: How many, and what age class of bucks can a hunter expect to use on his 160 acres? maybe one 3-4 year old, a couple of 2 year olds and a handful of yearlings?

[Schultzy]

Great question, wish I could answer It. On the land I hunt (120 acres) I know I had one 3.5 year old living there through out the summer, fall and now still. Come October a 5.5 year old I knew very well started living there too as he does this every year when the corn comes out. On both of the neighbors land which borders both sides of the land I hunt I know there was a 3.5 year old living In each of these properties too.

[dan]

You can have as many as you have seperate buck bedding areas... Thats why picking the right property to own or lease is important. I have seen them bed within 100 yards of each other in marsh and hill country. But thats not the norm for me, possibly because I hunt low density a lot. If you watch the hunt on my Hill country DVD where Andrae bump & dumps a booner, you will notice that there are multiple bucks bedding up there including another large buck... They seem to keep there space though.
The thing is though they will only bed in certain spots based on several factors, so a large area with no human contact doesn't mean a large bedding area... Same number of bedding areas / spots, just more protection from being bothered.
I also think that the true mature animals bed near each other a lot less than the younger ones.

[Bucky]

With the right ingredients, cover, water, close access to quality food, and minimal pressure... I think it is much higher than most of us would think. I would say on the right 160 that was mostly bedding (marsh grass with mixed red/black brush/cattails), low hunting pressure, with quality food, it could be as high as 12-15+ 3-6+ year old deer....

That is bedding, now if they roam to the neighbors 40, or the next neighbors 20 and they shoot everything that moves... you will never achieve that higher #.

If I were to pick a lease/property... the 1st thing I would do is make sure it has bedding cover and huntable access (access from multiple directions). The second is find out about the surrounding neighbors! The right piece of property (habitat wise) can be all wrong without neighbors that have the same goals. IMO

[Spysar]

Are you asking how many bucks will stay on 160 acres? I don't think too many deer stay in a spot that small. The 160 could be a small part of quite a few bucks regular travels though.

[Edcyclopedia]

With the right ingredients, cover, water, close access to quality food, and minimal pressure... I think it is much higher than most of us would think. I would say on the right 160 that was mostly bedding (marsh grass with mixed red/black brush/cattails), low hunting pressure, with quality food, it could be as high as 12-15+ 3-6+ year old deer....

That is bedding, now if they roam to the neighbors 40, or the next neighbors 20 and they shoot everything that moves... you will never achieve that higher #.

If I were to pick a lease/property... the 1st thing I would do is make sure it has bedding cover and huntable access (access from multiple directions). The second is find out about the surrounding neighbors! The right piece of property (habitat wise) can be all wrong without neighbors that have the same goals. IMO

Not being a smart but what if you hunt NH "160 acres"!
New game my friend, challenge is on
I'll provide a free place to stay and a "decent" nh spot to hunt...

[Black Squirrel]

Are you asking how many bucks will stay on 160 acres? I don't think too many deer stay in a spot that small. The 160 could be a small part of quite a few bucks regular travels though.

Yes, how many use that property regularly, that you can set up on them beast style, based on bedding, feeding, water, etc. Again I know it probably varies greatly from property to property, but How many different Mature bucks can you have using a paticlular property. I think like Dan said, it probably depends on how good your bedding is. The sanctuary post got me thinking about this. Lets say you do decide to leave a sanctuary, but in reality, will you get more than one mature buck to use it?

[huntinnurse]

I think how many deer in that part of the state (wherever that state is) will make a difference as well. For instance, in the Wi CWD area there is a much lower # of deer in general as opposed to say western Wi. Northern Wi has far less deer #'s than 10-15 years ago, so the # of mature bucks in one area would most likely be low as well.

[Bucky]

Ed - I don't know what NH is... is that New Hampshire? Doesn't matter what state, if you give the deer bedding cover (lots of it), nearby food, water, and MINIMAL hunting pressure... you can hold multiple mature bucks. It works! I'm not saying they stay in that 40-80 acres, but they do spend the majority of their life in that bedding sancuary as long as it has the ingredients mentioned above. The original ? asked was is it possible to esentially stockpile mature bucks in a sanctuary, I believe the answer is yes.

Black,

I'm speaking from experience... An 80 acre property that has the proper ingredients can hold multiple big bucks regularly. Sure they roam off and move around (chase does, rotate perferred feeding areas, etc), but primarily live and bed in the same 40-80 acres.

Leaving a area alone and calling it a sancuary will not work very well, unless you have the most important ingredient = bedding cover... hill points, thick bottoms, marsh/red or black brush/cattail islands. The more you have the more potential... keeping them close to their preferred bedding takes water, food, and minimal pressure....

Obviously predators play a role as well, but I'm including them in the "hunting pressure" aspect of the equation.

I bet if you gave Dan a stack of topos and told him to pick a property, one of the main things he would look for are potential buck bedding locations. Then access, food, water, and pressure would come into play... as well as what is the general potential of the area = deer #s, genetics, age structure.

[gjs4]

If you have everything the buck wants hes there- if you have everything the other bucks want theyre there. If you have mature bucks that hate interaction..they wont. You ca cram 50 people in an apartment complex comfortably, but you cant keep a country boy there regardless of how many others he has to put up with. Make any sense? Just my opinon that was fueled by Tony Lapratt

[lungbuster]

I can tell you from experience on our 300 acres,175 of which is cropland with another 50acres of pasture, leaving only about 75 acres of actual wooded property. We had trailcam pics. of 5 different mature bucks (3.5 and older), I scouted 4 different bucks that were not on trailcam and we killed 2 4.5 year olds that were not previously seen. Factor in at least 3-5 that no one has seen that live there and I would say we had a rough total of about 9-13 mature bucks over 3.5 living at least part time on our property. We have some great bedding areas and I know of 7 individual buck beds on the place, food is abundant and we have multiple water locations.