Mature deer behavior?

[74MOPAR]

How much intrusion will a mature buck put up with? Example, is just winding you enough to alter their travel patterns? Or seeing a human make them move completely? I know it's a never ending subject with tons of variables I was just curious to hear a few opinions.

 

[Tn Joe]

I think every buck is different. Some will put up with more than others.

 

[BSK]

I think that depends on how much human intrusion/interaction they are used to. In remote areas with little human traffic until deer season, they won't put up with much. In farmland, where farmers/people are going through all the time, they will ignore any activity they deem nonthreatening.

I intentionally try to acclimate deer on my place to my presence. I work in the food plots, wander through the woods all year, work cameras, etc. without making any effort to hide my scent or presence. In fact, I will vape my strong-smelling vape even around scrapes I'm monitoring with cameras. I'll drive up to the camera on ATV, work the camera, sit and vape for a minute or two, and then leave. Mature bucks will be working that scrape an hour later. They pay me little attention because they smell me all year, and the vast majority of the time, I'm harmless to them.

 

[Ski]

Every deer is different. Where you spook them also matters. Sneaking up on him in his bed and he's likely gone forever. Spook him as he's out and about and he'll get out of your way and probably return again.

 

[killingtime 41]

Remote areas where they never see or smell a human. They will leave most of the time without you ever knowing they were there. Doe's are the same way in the remote areas. Just not as ghost like as the bucks are. It's really all about how often they smell human scent. And if they do smell humans and if most of the time it isn't usually connected to danger then you're fine. But you bust him in a bed regardless he's gonna use a different bed. In the mountains they have several beds depending on thermals and wind direction. Ski had a brilliant graph on lulls in wind and movement. That's normally why the old bucks are moving at that time in my estimation.

 

[Tn Joe]

Sneaking up on him in his bed and he's likely gone forever.

I keep hearing stories of guy spooking bucks out of their beds then going back in and killing those same bucks as they come back to bed in that same spot. I'd guess that would probably depend on the area of the country your hunting.

 

[deerhunter10]

Depends on a somethings. I think one thing is how much will he put up with where he is fully nocturnal. They already don't daylight much but I do think you can effect daylight movement pretty easy. We have bumped deer while working and have pictures of them an hour or two later. Most of our farms are working farms, and we also as bsk said try to make them somewhat use to us. The only thing we don't do we don't penetrate alot of our woods a ton. We check all of our cameras that aren't cell with our side by side or tractors. A lot of factors and every deer is different. We killed a deer last year that was shot 2 years ago and I swear he lived on 20 to 30 acres. Even after he was shot still got pictures but he only daylighted after he was shot twice once on camera once when he was finally killed. (That we know of of course)

 

[Ski]

I keep hearing stories of guy spooking bucks out of their beds then going back in and killing those same bucks as they come back to bed in that same spot. I'd guess that would probably depend on the area of the country your hunting.

I've heard the same. It's no doubt true with some bucks. I'm not sure how many times you've gotta do it before it works. I know on my own place if I get too close and spook one out, I don't see him in person or on camera for weeks, sometimes ever again. On a big tract of public where they get bumped a lot they might come back because it's still the safest place.

 

[fairchaser]

I can tell you one thing they won't tolerate is seeing or smelling you in a tree! Also, I see hunters leaving their stands hanging on the tree. I've been guilty of that too. But, what do you think deer are doing all night and when you aren't there? Smelling your stand! That's right. I pull my stand every time unless I'm coming back the same day.

 

[Snake]

They are a unique animal no two are alike . Most you either kill them early or during the rut . They are still a dumb animal but if they rely on their senses very hard to kill . Humans they just avoid like the plague.

 

[TheLBLman]

Mature bucks are just generally less predictable than younger ones.

Although should you have years of studying a particular buck, you may be able to predict his future actions better than a particular younger one. With exception to large public hunting tracts, most TN hunters don't have enough acreage to encompass most bucks' lifetime range shifting.

However, mature bucks often utilize less acreage at maturity, sometimes spending a year apparently never leaving an area as small as 100 acres (or less). Unless you disturb them too much, then they "move over" to some other 100 acres.

They are also more wary, and in many respects, their behavior can be so very different from a 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 that you can think of the mature buck as a different species of animal.

While they are more likely to be mostly nocturnal, they are also more likely to be moving in mid-day.

Go figure.

They also have a tendency to follow (often at a considerable distance) younger bucks, and am not talking about "young" bucks, but more the case of a 5 1/2-yr-old trailing a 4 1/2-yr-old. They may be so far apart each appears a "loner", but the more mature one is using the younger one to be first in checking for any danger.

Another tendency is to parallel trails more than walking on the more established trails. You may have a parade of deer, including 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 yr old bucks come by. Later, the mature one RUNS by, parallel to the others (typically downwind of the trail).

Which brings up another trait:

They have more a tendency to run from Point A to Point B,
as opposed to simply slipping along a trail.

The mature one may stand motionless for a long period as the other deer mosey along. Then suddenly, he just takes off in a flat out run, only to stop again, and stand for a long period.

Making them even more unpredictable, they are more likely to "cut a diagonal", and do so in a flat out run.

They may be following along behind other deer, off-set to the other deer's trail by 75 yds, perhaps 150 yds behind them, but the deer they're "following" are on a trail that twists & curves. Next thing you know, the mature buck takes a "short cut" by "cutting the diagonal", maybe only needing to periodically "run" 150 yds for every 250 yds the other deer are more steadily just mosying along.

 

[TheLBLman]

A couple years ago, on the very last day of TN's season, I watched a familiar 6 1/2 yr old buck stand motionless from right about sundown, until it became so dark I could no longer see him, or any the other bucks which had begun entering the field right at sundown. This was a familiar bachelor group ranging in age from 2 1/2 to 6 1/2. One 4 1/2 was a 130-class 8-pointer, which was considerably above average for TN. This 4 1/2 was always next to last to step out, the 6 1/2 was always last, and way last. By his behavior, if any "trophy" buck got shot, it would more likely be one of the others, particularly the 130-class 4 1/2 that stepped out in good shooting light.

That particular 6 1/2 was one I had named "Buford" and he was my #1 target buck in 2021. Came very close to getting him the last two days of the season. Came close, but never could get a high-probability opportunity. The next (last) day, I had him nearly dead to rights, but never had a good look at anything other than his head. Was just waiting for him to take only 3 or 4 steps, and waited, and waited about 30 minutes, by which time couldn't even see the other deer in the field.

It's a very different kind of a challenge to hunt a specific buck.

"Buford" was killed by a bowhunting friend in October 2022 @ 300 yds from where I had nearly killed him in early January 2022. He was 7 1/2 yrs old, and appeared to be in excellent health with a wide 140-plus-class mainframe 8-point rack.

Unfortunately, the bowhunter never recovered "Buford". I spent the late winter trying to find his remains to no avail. Since the trail cam pics stopped and we never saw him again, seemed a certainty the arrow wound was lethal. There was heavy rain and heavy flooding soon after he was hit, and I think he probably was washed down the creek and into the TN River. The creek we tracked him to rose from about a foot of water to over 6 feet, overflowing its banks.

 

[BSK]

I keep hearing stories of guy spooking bucks out of their beds then going back in and killing those same bucks as they come back to bed in that same spot. I'd guess that would probably depend on the area of the country your hunting.

I hear these stories as well. Every area is different and deer react to their local conditions. In areas where bedding locations are very limited, I guess I can accept this idea of bucks having A bed. But in the GPS-collar studies I was involved with, where we had bucks and does collared with GPS units collecting positions every 20 minutes for months on end, one thing that really stood out is that the deer - including older bucks - NEVER bedded in the same spot twice. This makes biological sense. By constantly moving bedding locations, predators cannot key in on them.

 

[backyardtndeer]

I think every buck is different. Some will put up with more than others.

Absolutely agree with this. Also depends on how close he is to his core area.

 

[fairchaser]

I had the opportunity to hunt Ensley unit many years ago when it was very good. Since 8 pointers were off limits, I had this giant 8 pointer 140 class, buck ease through my shooting lane. I got to observe this mature buck at close range for over 30 minutes and it taught me a great deal about their behavior. He stood motionless for long stretches of time, only moving his head. He was watching and smelling only. Any movement, sound or smell, he picked up on immediately. I think many hunters get detected long before they ever see this age buck! And the buck simply eases out of their area!

 

[BSK]

I had the opportunity to hunt Ensley unit many years ago when it was very good. Since 8 pointers were off limits, I had this giant 8 pointer 140 class, buck ease through my shooting lane. I got to observe this mature buck at close range for over 30 minutes and it taught me a great deal about their behavior. He stood motionless for long stretches of time, only moving his head. He was watching and smelling only. Any movement, sound or smell, he picked up on immediately. I think many hunters get detected long before they ever see this age buck! And the buck simply eases out of their area!

I would agree with you. Mature bucks are a different animal.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Another tendency is to parallel trails more than walking on the more established trails. You may have a parade of deer, including 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 yr old bucks come by. Later, the mature one RUNS by, parallel to the others (typically downwind of the trail).

Which brings up another trait:

They have more a tendency to run from Point A to Point B,
as opposed to simply slipping along a trail.

The mature one may stand motionless for a long period as the other deer mosey along. Then suddenly, he just takes off in a flat out run, only to stop again, and stand for a long period.

Making them even more unpredictable, they are more likely to "cut a diagonal", and do so in a flat out run.

They may be following along behind other deer, off-set to the other deer's trail by 75 yds, perhaps 150 yds behind them, but the deer they're "following" are on a trail that twists & curves. Next thing you know, the mature buck takes a "short cut" by "cutting the diagonal", maybe only needing to periodically "run" 150 yds for every 250 yds the other deer are more steadily just mosying along.

I'm sure I've seen them do it, but most encounters I've had aren't "running", but more of a "on a mission walk"….getting to a predetermined location A. Then a predetermined location B. Those locations may by 20 yards, may be 100 yards depending on terrain and his ability to, as you say, parallel or determine what the deer ahead of him did. Them cutting corners is a real thing. I've seen them do it many times on changes in habitat from thickets lining edges of hardwood mature timber. And them standing motionless for long periods of time, that one will get you. We as humans tend to "settle" after a few minutes, even after we highly suspect what we just saw was a mature deer. Only to let our guard down enough to miss that narrow opportunity 30 minutes later or so much so to never see him again.

 

[LenS]

I hear these stories as well. Every area is different and deer react to their local conditions. In areas where bedding locations are very limited, I guess I can accept this idea of bucks having A bed. But in the GPS-collar studies I was involved with, where we had bucks and does collared with GPS units collecting positions every 20 minutes for months on end, one thing that really stood out is that the deer - including older bucks - NEVER bedded in the same spot twice. This makes biological sense. By constantly moving bedding locations, predators cannot key in on them.

Would you mind elaborating on this a little, please? Were the next beds 100 feet away, 100 yards away, etc? I assume the bucks had general bedding areas but the specific location varied within their "sanctuary"?

 

[hitek7]

I bumped my target buck 2 or 3 years ago checking a camera at 11AM. I went back in at 1PM and had not even gotten sit down when I saw him coming back down the hill. Granted he was bedded with a doe when jumped and followed her back in.

 

[useyourbow]

I have been listening to the Deer University pod cast. Their findings with radio collared deer, genetics testing, and general studies have put a lot of "old wise tales" to rest. I recommend giving them a listen.

 

[BSK]

Would you mind elaborating on this a little, please? Were the next beds 100 feet away, 100 yards away, etc? I assume the bucks had general bedding areas but the specific location varied within their "sanctuary"?

No "bedding areas" at all. Deer bedded wherever they happened to be at the time, and they would bed a dozen or more times per 24-hour cycle. We saw no indication of "bedding areas." Whatever patch of cover existed in the area was utilized, and often deer just bedded in open hardwoods. We saw no indication deer we using any one area for bedding. They had a "circuit" they moved through on a daily basis, and the circuit slowly moved day by day through their seasonal home range, taking about two weeks to work from one end of their range to the other. In essence, their daily range was a small subset of their seasonal range, and that daily range slowly moved from one end of their seasonal range to the other, taking about two weeks to cover the full distance. Then they would start back. A great deal of overlap existed in the daily ranges from one day to the next, perhaps 85%. That is why hunters/trail-cameras will catch an individual deer in the same food plot for 2-4 days in row, and then not again for a couple of weeks, only to have the pattern repeat itself. Deer spent more time feeding in whatever the best habitat was within their daily range, then shifted to the next favorable piece of habitat as their daily range moved beyond the first patch. We tracked does without fawns, does with fawns, young bucks, and old bucks. They all showed the same pattern. And by the way, this was on the Cumberland Plateau. Although the area's habitat had been managed to produce lots of patches of cover. Perhaps this is why deer did not display "bedding area" behavior. If bedding cover had been far more limited, behavior might have been different. But again, often deer just plopped down in the open hardwoods, even if thick cover was close by.

 

[BSK]

I have been listening to the Deer University pod cast. Their findings with radio collared deer, genetics testing, and general studies have put a lot of "old wise tales" to rest. I recommend giving them a listen.

Until the advent of all this recent modern technology: trail-cameras, cell trail-cameras, GPS-collars, etc. we hunters had to take 20-30 seconds of personal observation of a given animal and then try to extrapolate all of their daily movements from those little snipets of information. This can lead to some serious errors in interpretation. We, as humans, tend to project human thoughts and influences onto an animal that does not have our reasoning power. In fact, it is highly likely that deer cannot "reason" at all. They simply react to input moment by moment and are incapable of "thinking through" a solution to a problem. They simply instinctively react to a situation, and if that works (they're still alive), they will react the same way each time they are presented with the same stimulus. But that does indicate - and a fully believe - they have long memories. They do not forget dangerous encounters and alter their behavior to avoid the same encounter.

I literally cannot count the number of ideas hunters (and even biologists) held sacrosanct until modern research techniques proved those idea wrong.

 

[Ski]

It's a very different kind of a challenge to hunt a specific buck.

Yes it certainly is. It's the most rewarding and also the most frustrating deer hunting you can do.

I'm not sure if it's this way for everybody but I had to basically throw all of my deer hunting knowledge out the window. It simply didn't apply to 5yr+ bucks. Common knowledge is to hunt trails, food sources, pinch points, somewhere they'll get funneled down. Great ideas for deer hunting. Horrible for old bucks. I've almost never seen an old buck on a visible trail other than crossing it. I've rarely seen one in an open or busy feeding area in daylight. They don't seem to get funneled or pinched anywhere because they'll traverse insanely rough terrain to avoid trails, even if it means jumping fences or high stepping over logs & heavy woods debris. Even the rut doesn't help because if he ruts at all he's not looking for girls. They go to him. Everything I've always learned about "deer" behavior turned upside down when I began singling out one specific 5yr+ buck and hunting only him.

 

[Ski]

No "bedding areas" at all. Deer bedded wherever they happened to be at the time, and they would bed a dozen or more times per 24-hour cycle. We saw no indication of "bedding areas." Whatever patch of cover existed in the area was utilized, and often deer just bedded in open hardwoods. We saw no indication deer we using any one area for bedding. They had a "circuit" they moved through on a daily basis, and the circuit slowly moved day by day through their seasonal home range, taking about two weeks to work from one end of their range to the other.

That's exactly what I've personally observed with most deer, bucks or does. Does work as a group most of the season while bucks are individual. If you were to be hunting a certain buck it didn't matter what the weather or moon was doing. What mattered was being where he was going to be on the day he was going to be there. Otherwise hunting a spot for him is a waste of time no matter how awesome the conditions are, because he's nowhere near.

However, something I'm unaware of with the GPS studies is if they've studied senior adult bucks. The way a 5 or 6 or older buck behaves is way out of the scope of what's "normal" for all other deer. And there just aren't a whole bunch of them. Are you aware of any that were collared & studied? That would be incredibly interesting to see.

 

[BSK]

However, something I'm unaware of with the GPS studies is if they've studied senior adult bucks. The way a 5 or 6 or older buck behaves is way out of the scope of what's "normal" for all other deer. And there just aren't a whole bunch of them. Are you aware of any that were collared & studied? That would be incredibly interesting to see.

The one study I can remember (because it stands out) mirrors some of the things that TheLBLman has mentioned, that very mature bucks often have very small ranges. Much less than middle-aged bucks. And they display very strong fidelity to that range (they rarely leave it).

 

[Ski]

The one study I can remember (because it stands out) mirrors some of the things that TheLBLman has mentioned, that very mature bucks often have very small ranges. Much less than middle-aged bucks. And they display very strong fidelity to that range (they rarely leave it).

That would be one of the outliers I'd expect. It would also explain why folks speak of bumping an old buck out of his bed then waiting for him to return. I've not personally experienced that, only heard of it. When I bump a buck he's gone. Perhaps I just bump them harder lol?

Another thought I had about that is something I've seen with satellite bucks and with hunting same spot year after year. If a big old buck is killed, another buck often takes his place pretty immediately. And I've been in stand and watched an old buck leave and within minutes another not necessarily lesser buck come in to his spot sniffing around as if he's ninja spying or staking out the other buck. I've wondered if that is what folks are seeing but thinking it's the same buck coming back.

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . . . often deer just plopped down in the open hardwoods, even if thick cover was close by.

And this can include fully mature bucks!

I think they will plop down whenever & wherever they feel "safe" for the moment.

In many times past, there were more deer hunters, and more open hardwoods, with those more deer hunters really stirring up the deer in the hardwoods. At the same time, these hunters were NOT "hunting" in places where they couldn't "see" far, nor places difficult to get in or thru (such as a cut-over grown into weeds & littered with treetops.

This contributed to the belief deer didn't bed in open hardwoods, and would seek thick "security" cover. What they're really seeking most is a "safe" place to rest a while, and often that is not in open hardwoods (at least during daylight).

In many cases, deer have felt most vulnerable in open hardwoods (and fields). But when undisturbed by humans, they will in fact often bed in open hardwoods, and to the surprise of many, right out in an open field!

I am often finding deer bedding in the middle of large open fields at night, only leaving when dawn approaches. This is one reason hunting fields in the mornings can be counter-productive, as there is a tendency to "flush" out the bedded deer (not just the feeding deer), and then those deer don't return until late afternoon or after dark, only to spend their night in the fields.

 

[tree_ghost]

I have seen them do everything you could imagine…IMO there are many different variables that come into play when a mature buck is spooked. Each animal is different, and because of that each interaction with them will result in a unique reaction, given the personality of that particular animal and the environment he is in…the closest thing I've found to "fact" when dealing with them is that if he ever smells you your job just got exponentially more difficult….
I pulled a bump and dump on a 150" 10point on public a couple years ago. I would have killed him too but when he came in on me the next morning he came in on my weak side while saddle hunting. I noticed the buck at about 30 yards out coming through some extremely dense on the brush as he moved inside of 20 yards he lowered his head to eat Some of the acorns that were falling on the ground. In one fell swoop I spun to my left and came to full draw but as I rotated my feet I slipped off of the edge of my platform and scared the crap out of that deer and myself lol! I was never able to locate that buck again, but it just goes to show what one Deer did in a 24 hour period with two different interactions

 

[Ski]

I have seen them do everything you could imagine…IMO there are many different variables that come into play when a mature buck is spooked. Each animal is different, and because of that each interaction with them will result in a unique reaction, given the personality of that particular animal and the environment he is in…the closest thing I've found to "fact" when dealing with them is that if he ever smells you your job just got exponentially more difficult….
I pulled a bump and dump on a 150" 10point on public a couple years ago. I would have killed him too but when he came in on me the next morning he came in on my weak side while saddle hunting. I noticed the buck at about 30 yards out coming through some extremely dense on the brush as he moved inside of 20 yards he lowered his head to eat Some of the acorns that were falling on the ground. In one fell swoop I spun to my left and came to full draw but as I rotated my feet I slipped off of the edge of my platform and scared the crap out of that deer and myself lol! I was never able to locate that buck again, but it just goes to show what one Deer did in a 24 hour period with two different interactions

I think there's a difference in how bucks get spooked. If you bump one as you're moving through the woods then you're as much threat as say a coyote on the prowl. He can move off and with a little time be safe to come back in because the danger will have passed. However, he's not going to establish a core area & bed next to a coyote den. That would be stupidly suicidal and defies every fiber of his nature. It's also what I imagine he feels like when he comes upon a permanent tree stand or blind that gets hunted often, or even encounters a hunter in the same spot consecutively in a short span of time. He reacts same way he would to a den of coyotes. He leaves for good because as a prey animal it's unsafe for him to rest in proximity to where a predator lives. I think it's really as simple as prey doing its best to limit exposure to predators.

 

[TheLBLman]

For whatever reasons, "bumping" deer under the cover of total darkness, simply doesn't seem to "spook" so much as exact same even during daylight. For this reason, I prefer to be on stand "ready" BEFORE the crack of dawn, and stay on stand in the evenings until it is truly "dark" not just the end of shooting time.