gonna have to go and get that.

BSK, I understand that bucks can be very unpredictable. But I have also read of hunters killing a big buck that they have hunted, 2 or 3 seasons in a row, in the same area. I still believe some mature bucks like to spend most of their life in a relatively small area if they feel secure.

Without question, some bucks "stay home" and can be seen/trail-cam photographed year after year. But it is interesting to see how many bucks just "show up" on a property, stay for that season (or just the peak of the rut) and simply disappear, never to be seen again. Now a few actually "just show up" ever year, year after year, and are not a resident, but can be counted on to "be back next year." But to be honest, the percent of "regulars and repeaters" may be under 50% of the bucks using the property in any given year (and I'm talking square mile or less properties).

Now the question is, does this knowledge change my views on the best management practices? Not one iota. I still recommend passing up all bucks below the target age, and harvesting any bucks that meet the age requirement. But to see a particular buck and decide to pass him assuming he will be around next year is an iffy proposition.

Seriously ,.. whats up with the missing ear on the buck on page 49. Printing error?? Photoshop?? injury maybe?? I've never seen a deer with a missing ear bfore.....

Join QDMA and request the October issue.

I can't wait to see the final data from the Auburn GPS-collar study. They are specifically looking at the rut ranges of older bucks from one year to the next. Last number I heard was the average amount of overlap between rut ranges for a single buck from one year to the next is only around 30%, meaning individual bucks don't have much fidelity to the same rutting areas from year to year.

"These animals are fascinating creatures to say the least."

Ain't that the truth. Do you think the whole shifting while in rut maybe mother natures way of preventing inbreeding?

Many deer behaviors may have started as methods for reducing inbreeding, yet those behaviors now serve a completely different purpose. Whitetailed deer appear to have many if not most of their unique social behaviors wrapped into producing maximum localized genetic diversity. That may be a species survival mechanism. Every localized population has such diverse genetics, no matter what environmental infuence they are faced with, some individuals will likely have an "accidental" adaptation for surviving and prospering under those conditions.