Big bucks and circuits

[may21581]

So it's pretty obvious that the older a buck gets the smaller his core areas and ranges shrinks as well. As others have said it's like they get locked into an area and they dont abandon it unless something drastic changes. Since beast hunting and learning to think outside the box I have witnessed this and can contest to it as well.
With that said i was just curious as to what others have witnessed with a mature buck running and traveling specific circuits within their home range. Do they tend to also be more specific on their paths of travel sticking to a fewer amount of trails and travel corridors within their range?

[Boogieman1]

I’m yet convinced that older bucks shrink there home range or if it’s just a personality trait of a specific deer. I get pics of old deer every year that are clearly not from the area. I believe older deer learn safer travel and are not prone to move in daylight. But they still move, they just aren’t careless about it.

There circuits seemed to be chiseled by time. Time during nightly travel there not smelling evidence of hunters. In my case where the avg public is under 400 acres and the avg bucks home range is 1200 acres why on God’s green earth would a buck step foot on that place if he shrunk his home range and didn’t move in daylight. Yet I get atleast a couple daylight pics every season. My opinion is early season yes they have a very safe honey hole and protect it. Come rut they are moving to where the deer are. Look up roid rage amongst guys taking steroids, then figure in the amount of testosterone a buck gets hit with is 10x that amount all at once.

[bigredneck61088]

I think it all depends on the personality of the deer, just like humans, some walk a lot some don’t, some are aggressive and some aren’t, and some want does in worse ways than others

I agree they shrink their home range generally as they mature, but I still think there is a lot of variables due to personality

[JAK]

Ive been hunting a specific buck for 2 years i think hes 5.5 yo. And i never saw much for a buck traveling on a circut up untill this buck. But i have noticed with seeing him and trail cams this buck is extremly nocturnal. Except from Nov 4-7 th the last 2 years seen him in daylight twice last year and he was on camera this year twice in daylight through those same dates. All near the bedding area. Otherwise everything else has been nocturnal. Dont know if that was a coincidence or a rut circut. But you can bet next year if hes around ill be in that bedding area dureing those days.

[may21581]

Ive been hunting a specific buck for 2 years i think hes 5.5 yo. And i never saw much for a buck traveling on a circut up untill this buck. But i have noticed with seeing him and trail cams this buck is extremly nocturnal. Except from Nov 4-7 th the last 2 years seen him in daylight twice last year and he was on camera this year twice in daylight through those same dates. All near the bedding area. Otherwise everything else has been nocturnal. Dont know if that was a coincidence or a rut circut. But you can bet next year if hes around ill be in that bedding area dureing those days.

I could be wrong but my thoughts on this are those does that he is sniffing around on those dates would be in his home range. He is very familiar with them and knows when to look for them in that spot. When you get his picture is it generally within close proximity of the prior photos? It is not uncommon to get a specific buck on the same day or within a day or two of the previous year during this time period. I have done this and can testify to it.
So have you been able to connect the dots with a specific wind he is using yet and narrowed down his path of travels where he could be coming from. Is your tactic on this buck hunting the does or pushing closer to his core area?
I do believe a bucks range gets smaller. He has learned where it is safe and where he can move during daylight. So he may travel and run around under the safety of darkness during the rut and sometimes we can catch them day walking or getting up or bedding down sooner and later. So out of 365 days how do you kill these beasts on the one or two days he chooses to walk at 2pm?
Most of the giants killed people have a history with. They learned what this animal does, when he likes to do it and where at. Then when the time is right they move in on him. And with some skill and luck they do it.
What we learn on this site about bed hunting and pushing closer to their core area seems like alot higher odds. Getting close to his bedroom where he will move a small distance in daylight and knowing which way he is going are killer setups.
The older I get the less I like the rut. You can kill a stud in this time frame but the deer are so unpredictable. We all know hunters who have that special stand that produces year after year at a given time. If they stay out and only hunt it a few times when the time is right their odds are through the roof. My style is to locate specific bucks, learn as much as I can about them, and move in on them as close as I can. I like to get eyes on them first and move in for the kill the next sit. We all have are own styles, there is just something special about learning everything you can about specific animals and killing them.

[JAK]

Last year i seen him from a tree twice both times on a east wind. This year he was on camera with a northwest wind twice in daylight all within 300 yards of the origanl sighting. The bedding area is probly 5 acres i was close on him last year. But this year he had allot more pressure and changed things up a little. But im pretty sure of his core area. Not sure if his day time activity is just coincidence but does give me a little pattern as to hes definetly up and on his feet in that bedding area around those few days the last couple years.

[Hatchetman]

Buck travel varies so much from one area to another.
In my home area, I hunt primarily two areas of land I own.
Ones 38 acres (where I live) & the other is 77 acres (the small farm I grew up on)
These parcels are in individual (640 acre) sections, however the sections are kitty corner to each other meaning the corners touch.
I’ve been living on the 38 acre piece since ‘89 been running cameras steady on both parcels since about 2000.
In those 19 years I have only had one buck that showed up on camera in both parcels. The parcels are about 1.5 miles from each other and mostly wooded in between.
On average I’d say throughout the fall I will get about 8-10 different bucks at each parcel but they sure don’t cross each other’s turf.
Lots of pressure. A fair amount of does. Limited small thick areas, plenty of ag & mast crop food keeps the bucks range small in my area.