Daylight movement question?

[Merrick]

I am hunting on a family owned small 45 acre track. I run 5+ cameras from August till March. Although I get many deer pics the majority of "my bucks" don't show up until October but stay until well after January. Whether the cause is outside pressure or the large number of does that stay on property I don't know, could be both. Most of my mature deer pics are night time photos, but I do occasionally get that one daylight photo. I have started a file of when I get any daylight movement of mature bucks. Some of the pics I think could just be random luck, but I have some pics of the same mature buck during daylight, almost exactly one year apart! Anybody else seen or have evidence of this?

 

[BSK]

If you go back through old posts, I've written about buck seasonal range-shifting fairly extensively.

On any given property, IF bucks shift ranges seasonally (and not all bucks do), you can expect to see "new" bucks showing up on camera around hunting season at two primary times. The first is just after velvet sheds (I call these fall shifters), and the second time is about two to three weeks prior to peak breeding (I call these rut shifters/expanders, because some bucks are actually shifting their range, while others are just expanding their normal range).

If you watch over the years, you will find mature bucks are photographed in daylight during a couple of periods. These are usually late summer into the first week of bow season, and then again in the two weeks prior to peak breeding in your area (the "cruising phase" of the rut).

 

[fairchaser]

On any given property, IF bucks shift ranges seasonally (and not all bucks do),

BSK, IYO, is this shift driven by the rut or changes in food sources or possibly both. May-be that explains why some do and some don't.

 

[BSK]

Two answers to two separate questions fairchaser:

First, for those bucks who do range-shift, they shift at different times of the year for different reasons. I believe there are several other seasonal shifts, but they only two I've looked at in detail are the summer-to-fall shift and the shift around the rut. The summer-to-fall shift occurs when buck summer bachelor groups break up. Often bucks leave their normal range to join a bachelor group in summer (biological and social benefits exist for living within a summer bachelor group). This may require moving a mile or more. Once antler-growing season is over, these groups break up and every buck goes his own way. This is why some people running trails cam report they have a bunch of older bucks on their property in summer, but they all vanish just before bow season, while others report having no older bucks on their property in summer, but older bucks suddenly show up out of nowhere in mid to late September. If your property contains a bachelor group in summer, many of those bucks will leave come velvet shedding. If your property doesn't contain one of these bachelor groups, you may literally have no older bucks until the bachelor groups break up and bucks spread out. Big bachelor groups can literally leave large surrounding areas completely devoid of older bucks during the summer months.

The second important range "shift" occurs just prior to the rut, and this doesn't always involve a true shift of ranges. Most bucks greatly expand their travels (usually double the size of their range) around the rut, to bring themselves in contact with as many different doe groups as possible. This means that a buck that normally only uses your neighbor's property suddenly expands his travels onto your property. This expansion only lasts for the duration of the rut (about 6 weeks) and then his range shrinks back to its original size post-rut. However, some bucks literally do shift to a completely new range only for the rut. GPS collar research at Auburn found that some bucks move to a completely new range just for the rut, and some of these true rut range-shifting bucks do not shift to the same area each rut. They choose a new area every year.

What percentage of the local buck population seasonally range-shifts is the other important question. For unknown reasons, a very high percentage of bucks will range shift in one area, while in another area, almost no bucks seasonally range shift. I've looked for some type of common feature between areas that see similar range-shifting patterns, but have yet to discover anything definitive. The closest I can come is that areas of the same type of habitat over vast areas usually display little seasonal shifting, while areas of blocky habitat--big chunks of timber interspaced with big chunks of agriculture--experience the highest seasonal shifting percentages.

 

[fairchaser]

Two answers to two separate questions fairchaser:

First, for those bucks who do range-shift, they shift at different times of the year for different reasons. I believe there are several other seasonal shifts, but they only two I've looked at in detail are the summer-to-fall shift and the shift around the rut. The summer-to-fall shift occurs when buck summer bachelor groups break up. Often bucks leave their normal range to join a bachelor group in summer (biological and social benefits exist for living within a summer bachelor group). This may require moving a mile or more. Once antler-growing season is over, these groups break up and every buck goes his own way. This is why some people running trails cam report they have a bunch of older bucks on their property in summer, but they all vanish just before bow season, while others report having no older bucks on their property in summer, but older bucks suddenly show up out of nowhere in mid to late September. If your property contains a bachelor group in summer, many of those bucks will leave come velvet shedding. If your property doesn't contain one of these bachelor groups, you may literally have no older bucks until the bachelor groups break up and bucks spread out. Big bachelor groups can literally leave large surrounding areas completely devoid of older bucks during the summer months.

The second important range "shift" occurs just prior to the rut, and this doesn't always involve a true shift of ranges. Most bucks greatly expand their travels (usually double the size of their range) around the rut, to bring themselves in contact with as many different doe groups as possible. This means that a buck that normally only uses your neighbor's property suddenly expands his travels onto your property. This expansion only lasts for the duration of the rut (about 6 weeks) and then his range shrinks back to its original size post-rut. However, some bucks literally do shift to a completely new range only for the rut. GPS collar research at Auburn found that some bucks move to a completely new range just for the rut, and some of these true rut range-shifting bucks do not shift to the same area each rut. They choose a new area every year.

What percentage of the local buck population seasonally range-shifts is the other important question. For unknown reasons, a very high percentage of bucks will range shift in one area, while in another area, almost no bucks seasonally range shift. I've looked for some type of common feature between areas that see similar range-shifting patterns, but have yet to discover anything definitive. The closest I can come is that areas of the same type of habitat over vast areas usually display little seasonal shifting, while areas of blocky habitat--big chunks of timber interspaced with big chunks of agriculture--experience the highest seasonal shifting percentages.

Very informative information. Thanks BSK.