Growing Mature Bucks

[BSK]

But once bucks are seen as 2 1/2's, those which survive usually will be seen in subsequent years, albeit sometimes with a skip, everyone assumes Buck "x" died, then he shows up next year.

For those hunting/monitoring smaller acreages, periodic range shifting because of localized shifting food sources, heavy cover areas, can cause "your" buck to simply "shift" beyond your boundaries, yet may be spending much of their time only a few hundred yards beyond.

VERY much agree with these comments.

 

[BSK]

While I suspect this is sometimes the case, it often isn't.
Unfortunately, most young bucks cannot be identified should they ever re-visit as older bucks.

In the VAST majority of cases, once a yearling buck has dispersed, he is gone for good. And as TheLBLman pointed out, identifying yearling bucks in future years can be very difficult, as antler shape usually changes so dramatically for yearling year to 2 1/2. However, now and then I will see an identifiable yearling buck back as an older buck. The two pictures below were taken last year and this year. Last year, this little yearling buck with three white socks was photographed just once as he crossed my property. This year, he was back as a 2 1/2 year-old 8-point, but like last year, I only photographed him once.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

In the VAST majority of cases, once a yearling buck has dispersed, he is gone for good. And as TheLBLman pointed out, identifying yearling bucks in future years can be very difficult, as antler shape usually changes so dramatically for yearling year to 2 1/2. However, now and then I will see an identifiable yearling buck back as an older buck. The two pictures below were taken last year and this year. Last year, this little yearling buck with three white socks was photographed just once as he crossed my property. This year, he was back as a 2 1/2 year-old 8-point, but like last year, I only photographed him once.

Very cool

 

[TheLBLman]

In the VAST majority of cases, once a yearling buck has dispersed, he is gone for good.

There is one exceptionally good caveat to this.
IF you can "harvest" a male fawn's mother doe,
ideally between October & January,
perhaps a majority of these male fawns will not disperse from their birth areas.

For those who might think purposefully targeting a fawn's mother doe sounds cruel,
let me add some perspective.

Once a fawn has lost its spots (commonly by late September/early October in much of TN),
it no longer needs nourishment from its mother, and its mother will typically push it away if the fawn attempts to nurse.

In other words, once the spots are gone, the fawns are mostly eating the same food sources as the momma doe. And, they are usually able to escape coyotes as well. If these fawns are orphaned, they will usually "group" up with some other doe families, and learn more "life skills" from them.

Most interesting, orphaned male fawns actually have higher survival rates than non-orphaned ones. Go figure that one.

 

[tellico4x4]

There is one exceptionally good caveat to this.
IF you can "harvest" a male fawn's mother doe,
ideally between October & January,
perhaps a majority of these male fawns will not disperse from their birth areas.

Fully agree. For the past 12 years, when we target does we always choose one with fawn(s) over one by herself. Fawns become imprinted on our plots and many never leave. We get pics year round of them on same plot(s) year after year. Makes it easy to identify & watch them mature. Every year we kill 4+ year old bucks off same plot we had pics of in July. Multiple times every year. Majority of bucks are very much homebodies.

Our property (3500 acres) & adjacent properties (9000 acres) have lots of does. We've averaged killing 20+ every year for the past 20 years, sometimes twice that amount.

Sure that this wouldn't work for everyone but does very well for us.

 

[BSK]

Most studies find yearling buck dispersal is reduced dramatically by orphaning button bucks through harvesting their mother. I think dispersal drops to around only 25-30%, unlike button bucks with mothers still alive display around 70% dispersal.

 

[Ski]

Fully agree. For the past 12 years, when we target does we always choose one with fawn(s) over one by herself. Fawns become imprinted on our plots and many never leave. We get pics year round of them on same plot(s) year after year. Makes it easy to identify & watch them mature. Every year we kill 4+ year old bucks off same plot we had pics of in July. Multiple times every year. Majority of bucks are very much homebodies.

Our property (3500 acres) & adjacent properties (9000 acres) have lots of does. We've averaged killing 20+ every year for the past 20 years, sometimes twice that amount.

Sure that this wouldn't work for everyone but does very well for us.

That is incredibly interesting. I've heard the theory about button bucks my entire life but never tried experimenting with it, or heard of anybody else purposely practicing it. I might have to give it a shot once or twice just to see what happens.

 

[tellico4x4]

That is incredibly interesting. I've heard the theory about button bucks my entire life but never tried experimenting with it, or heard of anybody else purposely practicing it. I might have to give it a shot once or twice just to see what happens.

With our somewhat aggressive doe harvest, this also greatly reduces the chance of button bucks getting accidentally killed. Believe we've killed 5 or so in the past 10 years, and that's usually by an inexperienced hunter.

 

[TheLBLman]

With our somewhat aggressive doe harvest, this also greatly reduces the chance of button bucks getting accidentally killed. Believe we've killed 5 or so in the past 10 years, and that's usually by an inexperienced hunter.

Exactly.
NOT shooting any lone antlerless deer usually greatly reduces the risk of killing a button buck.

Button bucks are typically the 1st antlerless deer to step in a food plot, as well as simply wander around curiously at any time of day, by themselves.

But beware late season when button bucks often stand as tall or taller as their momma. Many times I've seen a hunter choose to shoot the larger of two antlerless deer in late December/early January, only to have selected a button buck, the one of shorter stature being either that button's momma or his sister.

Learn to distinguish fawns from yearlings, then mainly target females believed to be 2 1/2 or older, and you'll seldom make a mistake in shooting a button.