Is the interstate a night time barrier?

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buttonbuck
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Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby buttonbuck » Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:08 pm

Got a trail cam pic of a boss buck, 3:30am on a friends 1acre overgrowth. Plum trees brought him in. All private property within a 10mile radius. I'm seeing a few really nice pieces of private near and am going to ask permission. The interstate is 2000' to the NE and runs N-S. Should I consider this a barrier likely not crossed at night or do they disregard due to light traffic? This would help me try and narrow down the property I should be looking at. Also what mile radius should I be looking in?


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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:19 pm

Agree with Burk.

I got the willies one night driving home on I35 in Kansas Northeast of Emporia once because I saw about three cross in my rearview mirror and they were flying, top speed, as they crossed all four lanes. Maybe they were experts at judging speed/distance when running across, but there would have been no prayer for anyone if the timing was wrong.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:15 am

I have seen alot hit on i40.
My dad hit 1 on the interstate a small doe in the hatchie river bottoms. Luckily he had slowed down to about 50 by impact.

He was all over the brakes but it basically ran into the car I was in passenger seat. The deer cross interstates all the time.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Wed Jul 17, 2019 4:06 am

Some of the GPS collar studies have noted boundaries, I don't think barrier is necessarily the right term, but boundaries such as roads and rights of way, that bucks generally use as a softer delineation of their core area. Obviously as others said, deer cross these all the time though. I have a couple spots that border divided highways, and based on my observations in those areas, I would generally agree they tend to act as boundaries to individual deer, and often there is a lot of rubbing on the edges and even some bedding up against them. It probably depends on too many factors to generalize on the internet, I think all you can really do is figure that one out on a case by case basis.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby Trout » Wed Jul 17, 2019 4:29 am

It's funny that this topic came up, on Sunday morning I saw two deer- one was a really nice velvet buck- on a county road that goes under a major 4 lane highway. They were literally walking under the bridge along the shoulder of the county road into the wooded median that divides the north and south lanes of the highway. It was just before 7am, I'm sure that those deer were heading into the median to bed. I thought it was a pretty awesome spot for them to hole up for the day.

That said, and echoing the comments above, I know of several spots along the same highway where the highway creates a funnel as the deer will not cross it, but travel parallel alongside it instead. I'm sure they would cross in those areas if they felt they had to, but I dont think they like to.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 5:44 am

I think it depends on how busy the interstate is. i would think there are a lot foo deer that refuse to cross one. the ones that routinely do probably don't add much to the local gene pool after a year or so.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby stash59 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:59 am

DaveT1963 wrote:I think it depends on how busy the interstate is. i would think there are a lot foo deer that refuse to cross one. the ones that routinely do probably don't add much to the local gene pool after a year or so.


^^^this^^^

If it's real busy the ones that try probably don't last long. Also depends if what's on the other side is worth the risk. Like a prime food source or hot does.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby stash59 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 7:09 am

DaveT1963 wrote:I think it depends on how busy the interstate is. i would think there are a lot foo deer that refuse to cross one. the ones that routinely do probably don't add much to the local gene pool after a year or so.


^^^this^^^

If it's too busy probably not! Those that try may not live long. Also depends if what's on the other side is worth the risk. Like a prime food source or hot does. Alot of rural interstate areas have a lower amount of traffic at times. May be at night. I've driven on North Dakota & Montana interstates at night and often didn't see head or tail lights for stretches up to 20 minutes.
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:57 am

Don't know about a interstate cause I live in the sticks. But will say a normal road often makes a great barrier aka funnel. A mature animal more often than not doesn't wanna cross it in daylight so they parallel it until dark. In most cases the crossing point is a dip or low spot in a fence where a edge is present. Look where deer crossing signs are located think u will see a common denominator. Often massive rubs and scrapes inside the timber from these signs
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby buttonbuck » Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:25 am

Thanks for the feed back, I wasn't sure if there was a difference in how a mature buck might handle this situation vs a youngin. Def a prime food source and the other side of the interstate really had the best acreage
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:56 am

DaveT1963 wrote:I think it depends on how busy the interstate is. i would think there are a lot foo deer that refuse to cross one. the ones that routinely do probably don't add much to the local gene pool after a year or so.


When I lived in DC for a few years I would regularly see dead deer along the beltway, what is that like 6 lanes each way with a 6 foot concrete divider?
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:34 am

elk yinzer wrote:
DaveT1963 wrote:I think it depends on how busy the interstate is. i would think there are a lot foo deer that refuse to cross one. the ones that routinely do probably don't add much to the local gene pool after a year or so.


When I lived in DC for a few years I would regularly see dead deer along the beltway, what is that like 6 lanes each way with a 6 foot concrete divider?


like I said those dont tend to contribute much to the gene pool.... i.e. they die. The smart ones stay clear ;)
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:28 pm

Boogieman1 wrote: Look where deer crossing signs are located think u will see a common denominator. Often massive rubs and scrapes inside the timber from these signs

Man, I hope your right... Got a sign about 100' from my driveway! :lol:
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby cspot » Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:05 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:Don't know about a interstate cause I live in the sticks. But will say a normal road often makes a great barrier aka funnel. A mature animal more often than not doesn't wanna cross it in daylight so they parallel it until dark. In most cases the crossing point is a dip or low spot in a fence where a edge is present. Look where deer crossing signs are located think u will see a common denominator. Often massive rubs and scrapes inside the timber from these signs



If you find a deer crossing sign with a balloon attached then you really have found the right spot. :lol:
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Re: Is the interstate a night time barrier?

Unread postby cspot » Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:08 pm

It is surprising how even small gravel backroads with little traffic will act as a barrier for deer movement. I share pics with the neighbor down at camp. It is surprising how many different buck that either I get or he has that the other one doesn't. Now some bucks we both get pics of too. We both have multiple cameras but I know that 2 of ours are within 150 yards of each other.


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