Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Whitetail deer home range…

According to the MSU Deer Lab:

“Most whitetail deer bucks have a home range of 1,000 acres.”

“One buck had a home range of only 116 acres.”

“The most extreme range of one buck was 18 MILES.”

According to the MSU Deer Lab studies we can deduce that you need in excess of 1,000 acres to HOPEFULLY grow 1 mature buck. Their 1,000 acre home range will more than likely comprise of properties belonging to multiple owners, depending on where the center of their home range lies AND the shape of their home range.

Deer do not observe property lines. Their home ranges don’t even remotely resemble the rectangular survey upon which the majority of our properties are based upon.

If you’re “managing” a property for mature bucks AND said property isn’t a contiguous, extremely large property, then you are merely attempting to manage deer that only come and go from your property.

We could have huge mature deer all over the state but every hunter would have to be on the same page to make it work.

Your opinion?

Corn being a game-changer?

I watched a study they did with collared bucks that said they traveled 2mi every night to feed. Fed in the same place and took a different route back. I thought it was interesting

I met a guy that has a farm about 2 miles behind me. We get pics of the same deer almost daily. My place in the morning, his place in the evening. We had a very nice deer We have been hunting all season. Saw him twice in bow season with no shot opportunity. He was killed a couple weeks ago about 4,5 miles from us by road. Close to the same distance as the crow flies.

A whitetail buck has 2 things to accomplish while on this earth, survive and reproduce. The will to survive is overpowered by the desire to reproduce and that is his Achilles heel. If he can choose to eat corn or breed he will probably choose to breed.

The corn (actually any food source) attracts does, and during estrous, any bucks that may be pursuing said does. Possibly a 3 y.o. 8 point that travelled a few miles from where someone was “managing” their 120 acres for trophy bucks.

My case in point.

Exactly. I’m amazed at the amount of people who have delusions of “managing their herd”.

Can you make your place more attractive? Absolutely!

Can you genuinely “manage the herd” with less than at least a couple thousand acres? Unlikely

It is very possible to have more than 1 mature buck per 1,000 acres, that is if mature means 4yo and older. The other parts of the above MSU study come as no surprise. They're all individuals.

Isn’t there studies indicative of button bucks home range being lessened if he is orphaned. Same for the doe fawn?
We had 5000 acres in the club and it wasn’t enough lol

I have my standards. I can't control my neighbors standards nor do I want to. I definitely don't need government to tell him how big or old a deer needs to be before he can kill him. I know my neighbors have killed deer I've passed on. It's a waste of my time to worry about it so I just keep hunting and waiting on the kind of deer that makes me happy. It's not my place to tell my neighbors what should make them happy.

Every primary area I hung a cam last year had 2-4 mature bucks on cam. That was 4 different spot. Curious to see what another spot had but I couldn't get to the cam due to snow levels.

I agree. A mature buck isn’t exclusive to “his” home range, it can overlap the home range of another mature buck. It boils down to whether your property is the spot where they overlap. Also a mature buck’s home range could cross one part of your property while another mature buck’s home range could cross another portion of your property.

Exactly!

It helps to have several large properties , conjoined, equaling several thousand acres, with like minded owners.

I agree with Bill, however i also have a bloodlust that causes my standards to lower at times, im weak therefore im subject to be part of the problem

Exactly what QDMA promoted. Landowner cooperatives

Your response is a primary reason for my post. Basically what I’m saying is that the vast majority of property owners, lessees, etc. aren’t “managing a herd” and their standards aren’t necessarily the same standards as other hunters on other properties which comprise of the buck’s home range.

“Managing for mature bucks” in Alabama is the equivalent of driving on the Autobahn in Germany where there is no speed limit. When driving on the Autobahn you shouldn’t get pi$$ed when other drivers pass you, they drive the speed that they choose and you don’t own the road. The same with “managing” deer here. 99% of hunters don’t have enough property to contain the herd and therefore must accept the fact that their hard work will possibly benefit another hunter miles away.

I’m not pointing fingers. I own a property that is a mere 13 acres. I have had pics of some nice mature bucks as well as pics of bucks that need a year or two to be a real stud. I can’t control what adjoining landowners shoot and I’m not about to suggest to them what I think they should shoot.

Here is a rub that I found today on said property: