Where do the bucks go every year?

[JCDEERMAN]

All of that and some. For me it's been about big antlers ever since I got good enough at killing deer that it wasn't fun or challenging. At some point it has morphed from big antlers into older age class, which aren't mutually exclusive. Big antlers often accompany old age but that old age has replaced big antlers as my priority objective.

I enjoy studying them, scouting for them, manipulating the habitat to attract them, etc., then putting the pieces of the puzzle together to effectively hunt them. I don't have to kill one to enjoy the experience. But when I do it very much is like winning a trophy. Same as any other sport. I enjoy the game regardless but winning means getting a trophy. And social media doesn't nor ever has influenced me as I've never had it. This site is as close as I've ever had and I was hunting big old bucks way before signing up here. In fact I'm here because of others like myself who enjoy the same topic of conversation. Chicken before the egg.

All of this - it's me to a T

 

[Antler Daddy]

BTW, my reply never mentioned antler inches either. SMH

All I know is that I would love to see some other photos of that buck in your profile.

 

[backyardtndeer]

No telling. Deer get bumped around by people, they move looking for any possible last does, it could even be food availability. Really would be a guessing game trying to figure out just why one might move near the end of the season, but likely has to do with the ladies.

 

[BigAl]

In some parts of the state, I GUARANTEE that is the case. Mature bucks are darn hard critters to see and kill. In some areas, more die of natural causes than hunter's arrows or bullets.

And now you can throw CWD into the mix in some areas.

 

[Bone Collector]

Here is a theory I put together through 12 years of observations, trail cam pics, etc. from my property. It is 32 acres, but it backs to hundreds of acres but there is a road that runs through it all behind my property. Typical country two lane. My property is bordered up front by a major highway. In the early days there was way less people/inhabitants in the area and I would get pictures of 3.5,4.5, and 5.5 yr old bucks but they didn't and still do not live on my land, though some may have used my property as part of their core area. However that changed quickly and then I noticed that I would have 2.5, 3.5 and maybe an 4.5 here or there. but they always passed through and were tough to see in daylight.

what I started realizing as I got to understand the property and how deer used it, was I started seeing the 2.5 and some of the 3.5s but I always seemed to be a stand off or at work when the bigger deer came through. When I would see the 2.5s and the 3.5s and pass them I would wait to get pics at the end of the year. After getting the pics, i would expect them back next season, but they would not show up. I figure (speculating) that there is another property nearby that they prefer and as they become dominant they go there and once there they do not need to or want to come back. As long as no one bothers them they stay there and I chase my tail...

this eats at me yearly when I see a 3.5 year old, because as of the last 5-7 years if I pass them they leave and don't come back. So I wonder should I shoot or keep watching deer disappear? I've started trying to do some habitat improvements, but it will take time.

 

[BigDave12]

All of that and some. For me it's been about big antlers ever since I got good enough at killing deer that it wasn't fun or challenging. At some point it has morphed from big antlers into older age class, which aren't mutually exclusive. Big antlers often accompany old age but that old age has replaced big antlers as my priority objective.

I enjoy studying them, scouting for them, manipulating the habitat to attract them, etc., then putting the pieces of the puzzle together to effectively hunt them. I don't have to kill one to enjoy the experience. But when I do it very much is like winning a trophy. Same as any other sport. I enjoy the game regardless but winning means getting a trophy. And social media doesn't nor ever has influenced me as I've never had it. This site is as close as I've ever had and I was hunting big old bucks way before signing up here. In fact I'm here because of others like myself who enjoy the same topic of conversation. Chicken before the egg.

All of this! Ditto!!!

 

[DoubleRidge]

Every property is different. Some hold bucks all year. Some only hold bucks in the summer. Some only hold bucks in the fall. Some only see bucks around the rut, as bucks from neighboring properties suddenly expand their ranges and begin travelling into areas they only use during the rut.

While everyones observations are very interesting to read....BSK's statement above is a fact....there are just so many variables from property to property....there is no "one size fits all" answer.

 

[hammer33]

On our farm its does in the spring/summer. Little to no bucks, maybe a spike or 4 pt on camera.
Right about MZ we start seeing some young bucks. RARELY will we see a mature buck, like once every 5 years or so, same on trail cams.
When the rut kicks in, its spikes, 4-5-6pts running all over looking for those does who start to disappear.
Still no mature bucks.
Once the main rut is over, we will usually get ONE mature buck sighting or trail cam photos for 24-48 hours then thats it for the year. Typically between December 18-end of season and they are always with a young doe or pack of does.

 

[themanpcl]

All I know is that I would love to see some other photos of that buck in your profile.

i'm putting that together now. i had to go through all of my pics from may-nov. i think i have about 8-9

 

[Madbowh]

I'm curious about something...we've been hunting on some land for five years and we've seen some bucks grow bigger over time. We've let the smaller ones go and shot them later. Some of them we recognized from the photos we took over the years. Some of them we never saw before.

Three years ago, we got another track of land about four miles away. We've also let a lot of bucks go there, some that were hard to decide. But most of them we never see again. It seems like every year there are new bucks around, mostly small 6s and 8s, and a bunch of smaller ones. I think we've got photos of at least 15 different bucks this year, and we've seen most of them from the stand. There's one buck there that's a big one, so maybe he's from last year, but we don't see any of the others from last year or before. It seems like they leave this land when they get older. There's not much hunting pressure around here, as far as we know. We never hear any shots close to us or see or hear anyone. So where do the older bucks go from this land, why do they leave and new smaller ones come every year?

Outside of the rut the bigger bucks have smaller home range than the little ones the older they get the smaller their home range gets. I've got a5.5 year old that has been living on the same 10acre and I doubt he goes more than a 1 mile radius accept during the rut, I bet he may not even travel that much then because he has a group of 6 does he stays with all year. Not taken him yet because of opportunity I only have permission on that 10 acres and he beds there and there literally only 1 tree I can set up in with no clipping anything. I come close about 2 weeks ago. Every deer is different, the mature ones know where they are safe and where to find everything they need and won't normally slip up unless the rut.

 

[Rob-HC Hunter]

I think it is multiple factors to include: pressure, farm sustainability, cover, food, killed by other hunters, hit by vehicles, natural causes, etc etc.

We recently found a target buck dead on our farm. Suspect he was shot by a neighbor and died on our farm. If we hadn't walked up on him we would have been scratching our heads wondering what happened to him.

 

[Madbowh]

I think it is multiple factors to include: pressure, farm sustainability, cover, food, killed by other hunters, hit by vehicles, natural causes, etc etc.

We recently found a target buck dead on our farm. Suspect he was shot by a neighbor and died on our farm. If we hadn't walked up on him we would have been scratching our heads wondering what happened to him.
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View attachment 210188

Hope I didn't have this happen. Some idiot come running through a couple connecting private lands mine included on christmas morning shooting and running/ chasing deer with a shotgun, green fluorescent t shirt. I heard him shooting but wasn't getting involved, I hate this type, first mistake orange is required by anyone accept landowners anyone don't think so call twra, wildly slinging shells on property 2 landowners only want bow hunting that you have no permission on all just to try and STEAL a christmas present/deer for yourself. These types are a disgrace and need a serious whooping. I got the guy on cam but no face shot he's lucky I would've turned him in.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

Every property is different. Some hold bucks all year. Some only hold bucks in the summer. Some only hold bucks in the fall. Some only see bucks around the rut, as bucks from neighboring properties suddenly expand their ranges and begin travelling into areas they only use during the rut.

That's why I run so many season-long photo censuses - to see what patterns a property has. And to confuse matters more, alter the habitat and everything changes.

The Ash Boring Beatle has significantly altered the habitat in my area, I wished they had left it alone!

 

[deerhunter10]

Mossy oak game keepers just did a podcast with Bronson Strickland it was pretty interesting in deer movement.

 

[DeerCamp]

I'm curious about something...we've been hunting on some land for five years and we've seen some bucks grow bigger over time. We've let the smaller ones go and shot them later. Some of them we recognized from the photos we took over the years. Some of them we never saw before.

Three years ago, we got another track of land about four miles away. We've also let a lot of bucks go there, some that were hard to decide. But most of them we never see again. It seems like every year there are new bucks around, mostly small 6s and 8s, and a bunch of smaller ones. I think we've got photos of at least 15 different bucks this year, and we've seen most of them from the stand. There's one buck there that's a big one, so maybe he's from last year, but we don't see any of the others from last year or before. It seems like they leave this land when they get older. There's not much hunting pressure around here, as far as we know. We never hear any shots close to us or see or hear anyone. So where do the older bucks go from this land, why do they leave and new smaller ones come every year?

Kinda depends on what time of the year you saw them, and how many times you saw them. It's always a guessing game, but that info would allow for an educated guess.

 

[BSK]

Unfortunately - and I will take some of the blame for this - QDM concepts got a bit oversold. Too many hunters think passing up middle-aged bucks is going to assure those bucks will be back as mature bucks in later years. Yes, this does work quite well on large properties, say those over 1,000 acres. And especially those in the 2,500+ acre range. However, on the small 10 to 50-acre parcels, not so much. Heck, I've got 500 acres, and we do see some bucks back from year to year, but it is a minority. I've never tried to calculate the percentage, but someday I'll get around to it. But I would guess that maybe 20% of passed 2 1/2s make it maturity on our property, and maybe 33% of 3 1/2 year-olds. Abd we certainly do see the occasional mature buck show up that we've never seen before.

This is just me personally, but instead of being frustrated year after year hoping to produce some mature bucks on a small property, I would learn through trail-cams what the best you can consistently hope to produce, and then target those bucks. Maybe that's just an above average 3 1/2. But I would set my goals using the reality of the situation.

 

[slabhead]

Kinda depends on what time of the year you saw them, and how many times you saw them. It's always a guessing game, but that info would allow for an educated guess.

I guess what I'm trying to say is...for the last 3 years we've had 6s and 8s on camera pretty much all year, even at the end of deer season...the next year we'll have 6s and 8s, might have one that is a bigger 8, maybe from the previous year, sometimes you can tell and sometimes you can't. I guess I was just expecting if we let the 6s and 8s walk, eventually they'd grow, but it seems they leave and new batch of 6s 8s take their place the next year.

i'm guessing based on some great comments here that when they get a little age on them they may be moving to a track that better suites them. This track just may not have what a mature buck is wanting/needing. I've got to figure out a way to keep a few coming back each year if I can.

 

[slabhead]

Unfortunately - and I will take some of the blame for this - QDM concepts got a bit oversold. Too many hunters think passing up middle-aged bucks is going to assure those bucks will be back as mature bucks in later years. Yes, this does work quite well on large properties, say those over 1,000 acres. And especially those in the 2,500+ acre range. However, on the small 10 to 50-acre parcels, not so much. Heck, I've got 500 acres, and we do see some bucks back from year to year, but it is a minority. I've never tried to calculate the percentage, but someday I'll get around to it. But I would guess that maybe 20% of passed 2 1/2s make it maturity on our property, and maybe 33% of 3 1/2 year-olds. Abd we certainly do see the occasional mature buck show up that we've never seen before.

This is just me personally, but instead of being frustrated year after year hoping to produce some mature bucks on a small property, I would learn through trail-cams what the best you can consistently hope to produce, and then target those bucks. Maybe that's just an above average 3 1/2. But I would set my goals using the reality of the situation.

Great advice! Thanks

 

[knightrider]

Unfortunately - and I will take some of the blame for this - QDM concepts got a bit oversold. Too many hunters think passing up middle-aged bucks is going to assure those bucks will be back as mature bucks in later years. Yes, this does work quite well on large properties, say those over 1,000 acres. And especially those in the 2,500+ acre range. However, on the small 10 to 50-acre parcels, not so much. Heck, I've got 500 acres, and we do see some bucks back from year to year, but it is a minority. I've never tried to calculate the percentage, but someday I'll get around to it. But I would guess that maybe 20% of passed 2 1/2s make it maturity on our property, and maybe 33% of 3 1/2 year-olds. Abd we certainly do see the occasional mature buck show up that we've never seen before.

This is just me personally, but instead of being frustrated year after year hoping to produce some mature bucks on a small property, I would learn through trail-cams what the best you can consistently hope to produce, and then target those bucks. Maybe that's just an above average 3 1/2. But I would set my goals using the reality of the situation.

This!!

 

[Ski]

i'm guessing based on some great comments here that when they get a little age on them they may be moving to a track that better suites them. This track just may not have what a mature buck is wanting/needing. I've got to figure out a way to keep a few coming back each year if I can.

You nailed it. Think of a rock concert. The stage is the major food source and surrounding habitat is the arena. Doe groups and fawns take VIP front row every time always. Young bucks get the first affordable seats but still close to the action. Middle age bucks make up the nosebleeds. They're out there and still in it but they're not getting the action the does are getting. Mature bucks aren't even in a seat. He's digging in a dumpster in the back corner of the overflow parking lot across the street. He's around but not anywhere any other deer wants to be. He gets passed up, ignored, and dismissed like a bum and he prefers it that way just like a bum.

Mature bucks don't need a lot of food, especially during season months. They also don't need social interaction outside of the act of breeding. He literally exists on the fringes of the herd. Hunting him is nothing like hunting other deer. Hunters like seeing deer when they hunt. He doesn't. Habitat managers like attracting deer to their property. He goes out of his way to avoid other deer. See the conundrum?

Furthermore like any groupies following a band, deer follow the food. Food sources are ever shifting and with it so is the arena. Timing matters. Doesn't matter where it's at, the structure will be the same. Every arena is basically set up the same way. Some are big and some are small. But they're structurally the same. Understanding how and when your hunting spot fits into the arena will give you a gage of where to find the old buck. He's there. He's just not with the other deer.

Sorry for such an odd analogy but it's the closest thing I could think of to relate how the deer herd works. It's their nature. A doe pushes her yearling buck out and from then on he's pushed further and further out for the rest of his life. His buddies and brothers die off until he's all alone, far off in the peripheral shadows of the herd. Hunting him isn't like hunting other deer. It's not difficult. You just have to hunt where he's at, which quite often is where other deer aren't.