Just how far will they travel...

[Ghost Pointer]

Just how far are mature bucks willing to travel daily for food? I recently got several nice bucks on camera coming to a food source and I have found beds straight up the mountain about 1.5 miles away. I am curious are these bucks traveling that distance every night to come eat or are they bedded somewhere closer that I am overlooking.

I think I remember reading Dan talk about judging bedding distance by what time they show up in fields at night. "if its right at dark, then there weren't bedded far off, if it's late at night, they are likely further away and taking them longer to get there." I could be wrong, but thought I remember reading that here. These bucks are showing up 1:00-3:00 a.m. heading to the field. They are coming back through between 5:00 and 7:30 am right now.

So in your experiences, just how far are they traveling for food, daily? They are almost always coming back by the camera just before daylight. Every now and again, they will be a little behind and coming through in the early light.

[stash59]

I don't believe 1.5, even 2 miles is out of the question. We often think a deer gets up. Maybe loafs around abit. Maybe goes to a staging area. Then beelines it for an ag field. Deer are browsers. Taking a nibble here then a nibble there. So they could be bedding closer too. But if there isn't any bedding/security cover to use closer. They are probably traveling that far.

You could try sitting in the evening on a travel route to try and catch them moving down. To get an idea. If you can actually find someplace to get a visual, without tipping them off.

[Tennhunter3]

The average bucks home range is around 350 acres. Some as small as 70 acres or large as 840 acres. Based on a test done by the Qdma.

I think how far they travel to food changes drastically based on where they are located. terrain type , amount of food available and time of year.

I would say bucks eat most of the time within 700 yards of bedding at least in my areas. In wisconsin or kansas I would think their home ranges would be larger.

Most of the best buck bedding I find has transition, food ,water , cover in a small area. They live in the perfect place to survive while moving very little. By 5 plus they know where the best spots are too hang out.

[Dewey]

In marsh terrain I have tracked mature bucks over 2 miles from a secure bed to a preferred food source even in very frigid weather. From the amount of tracks it was very obvious this was a daily ritual. Seen this so many times it doesn’t even surprise me anymore. Best way I have found to locate primary beds that have potential to be good year round. Covering a few miles to feed is nothing for a deer.

[Bonecrusher101]

The average bucks home range is around 350 acres. Some as small as 70 acres or large as 840 acres. Based on a test done by the Qdma.

I think how far they travel to food changes drastically based on where they are located. terrain type , amount of food available and time of year.

I would say bucks eat most of the time within 700 yards of bedding at least in my areas. In wisconsin or kansas I would think their home ranges would be larger.

Most of the best buck bedding I find has transition, food ,water , cover in a small area. They live in the perfect place to survive while moving very little. By 5 plus they know where the best spots are too hang out.

Excellent thanks for sharing!

[Bonecrusher101]

In marsh terrain I have tracked mature bucks over 2 miles from a secure bed to a preferred food source even in very frigid weather. From the amount of tracks it was very obvious this was a daily ritual. Seen this so many times it doesn’t even surprise me anymore. Best way I have found to locate primary beds that have potential to be good year round. Covering a few miles to feed is nothing for a deer.

Thanks for sharing, this is very interesting thread!

[cspot]

My house sits on a hill overlooking a lot of broken farmland country. I see deer all the time that are traveling 3/4 of a mile or so from bedding to the ag fields. Like the others have said though most of the time they are feeding their way there.

[Primetime]

I was always curious about this as well.. Not necessarily the travel distance but the amount that they browse. I've seen deer (not necessarily mature deer but it may apply) browse on food on the way to a bean or corn field in the evening or even in the morning coming back from a main food source. I mostly hunt private ag fields btw so beans and corn are everywhere and i still see it. Maybe its a safety thing and they dont want to be in an open field in the daylight so they stay in cover and browse till its dark but I wondered if there was more to it. For example, in the evening, Dan has said hes seen deer leave their beds with no regard to wind and I have seen this as well. That kind of takes away the whole safety aspect to it for a deer. It would make sense for them to get up and go straight to the main food source yet they still browse and take their time. I always wondered if it had to do with food intake and getting as much calories in as possible. Kind of like palate fatigue (i think thats what its called) in humans. People can go out to dinner eat a full meal and be completely stuffed then at the end someone orders a desert or something completely different than what they ate for dinner and all of a sudden your able to finish off basically another meal worth of calories. Kind of a crazy idea and may be completely incorrect. But it kind of seems to make sense that a deer can be the same way they can browse on different types of food before and/or after they spend all night feeding on beans/corn. And maybe there is also a preferred browse type depending on location.. I have no proof on this at all its just a crazy idea I wondered if someone ever thought the same thing.

[stash59]

I was always curious about this as well.. Not necessarily the travel distance but the amount that they browse. I've seen deer (not necessarily mature deer but it may apply) browse on food on the way to a bean or corn field in the evening or even in the morning coming back from a main food source. I mostly hunt private ag fields btw so beans and corn are everywhere and i still see it. Maybe its a safety thing and they dont want to be in an open field in the daylight so they stay in cover and browse till its dark but I wondered if there was more to it. For example, in the evening, Dan has said hes seen deer leave their beds with no regard to wind and I have seen this as well. That kind of takes away the whole safety aspect to it for a deer. It would make sense for them to get up and go straight to the main food source yet they still browse and take their time. I always wondered if it had to do with food intake and getting as much calories in as possible. Kind of like palate fatigue (i think thats what its called) in humans. People can go out to dinner eat a full meal and be completely stuffed then at the end someone orders a desert or something completely different than what they ate for dinner and all of a sudden your able to finish off basically another meal worth of calories. Kind of a crazy idea and may be completely incorrect. But it kind of seems to make sense that a deer can be the same way they can browse on different types of food before and/or after they spend all night feeding on beans/corn. And maybe there is also a preferred browse type depending on location.. I have no proof on this at all its just a crazy idea I wondered if someone ever thought the same thing.

Browse is still a deer's main staple food category(category because there are lot's of kinds of browse). That's what their stomachs, intestines, etc were designed/evolved to digest. Open a deer's gut and browse foods will dominate the contents. Picking a little from one kind of plant here and another there. Ups the odds they get every type of nutrient they need.

When they are up feeding it's all about filling their stomachs. Although in summer. Sometimes it looks like hitting the preferred ag crop is also a social event. Major digestion doesn't start until they're bedded and chew their cud.

How quick they move to feed, or feed itself. May depend more on if a weather front is coming or gone thru. Although extreme hunting pressure, like gun season. May force them to move and feed quicker.

[simpzenith]

A mile really isn't that far. My average walk to my hunting spots is a mile or more and maybe because I travel that far so often, it just doesn't seem very far anymore. A deer lives out there 365 so I'm sure a mile or 2 is nothing to them. lol

[jwilkstn]

I am aware of bachelor groups near me in TN that are bedding near the top of the Cumberland Plateau and dropping 800' of elevation to feed in soybean fields every evening. Not sure of the distance, because I'm trying to decipher their travel route, but it's a long way. I think we as humans often way underestimate the ability and willingness of a 4 legged deer.

Regarding the home range acreage Tennhunter mentioned above, I don't disagree... but it depends on habitat. Also, home ranges aren't circular necessarily. A home range that is oval shaped could easily be within a study's average acreage result while allowing for a deer to move 2 miles to preferred food. Not to mention seasonal shifts

[stash59]

I am aware of bachelor groups near me in TN that are bedding near the top of the Cumberland Plateau and dropping 800' of elevation to feed in soybean fields every evening. Not sure of the distance, because I'm trying to decipher their travel route, but it's a long way. I think we as humans often way underestimate the ability and willingness of a 4 legged deer.

Regarding the home range acreage Tennhunter mentioned above, I don't disagree... but it depends on habitat. Also, home ranges aren't circular necessarily. A home range that is oval shaped could easily be within a study's average acreage result while allowing for a deer to move 2 miles to preferred food. Not to mention seasonal shifts

This is a good point. I think it also depends on a deer's personality. Also what the herds "tradition" is.

What I mean by tradition is. In far northern latitudes. You often have deer herds migrating to winter ranges or deer yards. Some areas have a number of different yards. All within range of a "home area". Which yard a deer yard uses often depends on where their mother took them the first winter of their life. If a doe get's killed before this migration. Those fawns often don't migrate at all, or move to a different yard. Than their mother used. Just following random other deer.

Another thing is I've seen this "need" to migrate mentality. Even in areas with mild winters. Where yarding isn't really necessary.

Where I grew up, in central Wis. The old timers told about how rare it was to see a deer when they were young. A deer sighting was big news, shared in the local paper. Most of the deer in the state were up north. So if the deer that eventually populated these more southern reaches. Had that need to migrate thought/instinct in their minds. You can see why they may still do it.

When we think of winter migrations. We often think of a mass exodus after the first big storm. But it's often more of a trickle effect. That first shift from summer patterns to fall patterns can be the start of it all. With gradual movement towards the winter range occurring as fall progresses. How slow or fast a deer makes this move. Depends on their personality.

I often questioned the, a deer lives in a 1 sq. mi. or less area concept. When I was in my late teens and early 20's. I'd see bucks with unique antler configurations, in the summer near my home. Then in the evening of opening day of gun season. At the check station. I'd see a buck, often many bucks. That other hunters had killed. 4,5,6 miles away from my home area. That I recognized from summer sightings.

In my mid 20's I got confirmation that I was seeing what I thought I was. A biology student at UW Stevens Point. Was studying the deer in our area. He had numerous deer radio collared. He found the majority of the herd made a 20 mile migration to a winter yard. And many of them used the trickle method to get there. Using multiple "core" areas along the way.

So not saying these recent studies are wrong. In fact I think they are actually the norm. But use what I witnessed/found out. In case certain bucks just seem to fall off of the face of the earth come fall. Maybe they move a little farther than you thought they would. Like Dan says; "always" and "never", don't often apply to deer. Especially mature bucks.

[Tennhunter3]

I am aware of bachelor groups near me in TN that are bedding near the top of the Cumberland Plateau and dropping 800' of elevation to feed in soybean fields every evening. Not sure of the distance, because I'm trying to decipher their travel route, but it's a long way. I think we as humans often way underestimate the ability and willingness of a 4 legged deer.

Regarding the home range acreage Tennhunter mentioned above, I don't disagree... but it depends on habitat. Also, home ranges aren't circular necessarily. A home range that is oval shaped could easily be within a study's average acreage result while allowing for a deer to move 2 miles to preferred food. Not to mention seasonal shifts

I do agree with you.
I've had several home ranges that have stretched over a mile north to south but are very narrow at least that's what my cameras show. Each buck and area is different.

Qdma only estimates the amount of acerage bucks use not the shape of the home range. I do think mature 5 plus year old bucks the home range shrinks alot from when they were 3 year olds.

[jwilkstn]

I am aware of bachelor groups near me in TN that are bedding near the top of the Cumberland Plateau and dropping 800' of elevation to feed in soybean fields every evening. Not sure of the distance, because I'm trying to decipher their travel route, but it's a long way. I think we as humans often way underestimate the ability and willingness of a 4 legged deer.

Regarding the home range acreage Tennhunter mentioned above, I don't disagree... but it depends on habitat. Also, home ranges aren't circular necessarily. A home range that is oval shaped could easily be within a study's average acreage result while allowing for a deer to move 2 miles to preferred food. Not to mention seasonal shifts

I do agree with you.
I've had several home ranges that have stretched over a mile north to south but are very narrow at least that's what my cameras show. Each buck and area is different.

Qdma only estimates the amount of acerage bucks use not the shape of the home range. I do think mature 5 plus year old bucks the home range shrinks alot from when they were 3 year olds.

I also have noticed that fully mature bucks tend to have smaller home ranges. Either that or they are masters at avoiding cameras outside their core lol. But seriously, based on tracks, sightings, big rubs, AND camera intel I do believe their ranges are smaller. To be honest, though, I haven't been fortunate enough to follow a particular buck in this way from 3 to 5 years or older. So I'm left with the question, do their ranges shrink as they age- OR- do the fully mature bucks get that old because they kept smaller ranges and didn't get shot out traipsing around?