How much do deer actually move......

[Pacahunter]

My properties are set up very well for hunting and observing deer. The deer have everything they need. I hunted very little bow hunting. Haven't hunted a particular piece in 4 weeks.
My wife had an interesting opening day of gun season. She saw bucks cruising cruising most of the day, including a big bodied small racked busted up possible 4 year old. Doe groups moving, all day too.
Than 15 minutes before dark, she lost count, but she watches 15 plus does and fawns literally stand up, and make their way to our food plot. These were different deer which weren't moving earlier.
They didn't move from before sun up till right before dark. Evan with bucks running right past them, chasing other does.
No adjacent neighbors really archery hunt, but there is plenty of hunting pressure in the area.
I still haven't figured out where some of these bucks hide. I just wonder, they must be right under our nose, they just must stay bedded all day?
I've heard deer need to feed every 4 hours or something, this clearly wasn't the case during this hunt.

 

[Chipdasqrrl]

I think about this all the time when I'm in the woods. I think that over time, the older bucks have figured out the people that hunt an area very well. So these older bucks know which areas to avoid, especially during daylight.
As to where I think they are, I think they've discovered an area (maybe even less than 4 acres) where they have cover, food and water and most importantly they know there's no humans there.
When these bucks notice an increase in human intrusion, I think they simply disappear to this secret spot.
Of course different areas of the country will be different, but this is what I believe happens in my area of Northern Michigan. We have extreme hunting pressure and thousands of acres of swampland for bucks to disappear to.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Vector]

I feel, bucks especially, are their own individuals. Some move a lot, and some stay to a tight home range to defend it relentlessly.

As many bucks as I have seen "sneak away" as they run from human scent, I feel they are VERY self-serving too. No need to flag when they are only worried about scurrying away with their own hide.

The oldest bucks are the most weary, not necessarily the baddest dude in the woods.

 

[SwampCat]

The bigget buck I have seen this year, up until today - ran by me at a distance of 25 yards at 1:00 in the afternoon, through my front yard, right behind my archery target and between the tomato cages in the garden. My property extends down in the bottoms, a mile and a half from any house or road - yet we are more likely to kill a big buck in a food plot 80 yards off a paved highway than down in the bottoms away from everything. I have got pictures of a buck in one food plot and an hour later, another picture a mile away. Yet some bucks seem to spend all their time in a forty acre area. My home ground is a long, skinny 300 acre area - about 1.5 miles long. I have eight food plots on this property and most of the larger bucks will be caught on game cam in every food plot at one time or another

 

[Pacahunter]

Our gun seasons are almost over. I'm am generally not aggressive in my trail cam locations, but this time of year I will move cams on heavy trails right in bedding areas. I will also get more aggressive hunting in my semi sanctuaries.
I have yet to get a picture of a one sided 4.5 year old, but have seen the buck multiple times. It's really interesting how certain deer avoid cameras.
Getting aggressive now on trail camera placement is very valuable for multiple reasons.

 

[Chipdasqrrl]

From what I’ve read and experienced, older bucks won’t use those beaten down deer highways. Look for a lightly used path 10-30 yards on either side of the major runways. Just my opinion
One morning a couple of years ago I saw a 3 1/2 yr old buck, and later that morning I backtracked his trail in the snow all the way to his bedding area. He traveled 15 yards off of a major trail even though it wasn’t the path of least resistance whatsoever. I could see where his antlers went in the snow when he ducked under a half fallen tree.

Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Pacahunter]

Thanks, I like finding pinch points inside bedding areas. Some I create myself. One of my pieces is a solid tract of bedding. There is very few, is any prime trail cam locations outside the rut. I'm essentially done buck hunting for the year. I am very careful how I hunt bedding cover. That gives me very limited Intel on what actually happens in my prime bedding areas. A fresh set of batteries in prime bedding does not hurt me at all going into next year
Doing this has given me prime Intel on how deer use my prime bedding. Which direction they are moving morning, midday, evening. Especially just after all the pressure that just happened. This type of info can be invaluable in the future if I really decide to get aggressive someday.
You might have read how deer use trails. I use the right opportunity to see for my self.