Yearling Dispersal - whoa!

[DeerCamp]

Despite my current irritation with Dr. Deifenbach, the PSU Deer Study team does great work. This is super interesting.

https://www.deer.psu.edu/get-your-kicks-on-route-6/

Deer 20256 was captured on March 23, 2022, east of Sweden Valley in Potter County as a yearling.

Yearlings almost always "disperse" to new ranges after their 1st year. GPS data has shown that the average dispersal is about 5 miles, with highs up to 25 miles.

When the carcass of deer 20256 was recently found and reported, he was about 41 miles (as the crow flies) from where he was captured.

The article is a little confusing because it also states 60 miles. I believe this is the driving distance.

Crazy!

 

[TheLBLman]

GPS data has shown that the average dispersal is about 5 miles . . . . .

To my knowledge, there is only one thing that keeps more of the bucks born in your area, remaining in your area:

The button bucks have to be orphaned.
Surprisingly, so long as their Momma Doe becomes deceased after the fawns have lost their spots, the male fawns' survival is typically increased.

 

[lafn96]

To my knowledge, there is only one thing that keeps more of the bucks born in your area, remaining in your area:

The button bucks have to be orphaned.
Surprisingly, so long as their Momma Doe becomes deceased after the fawns have lost their spots, the male fawns' survival is typically increased.

If you consistently did that for long enough, would it then be detrimental as chances are they'd be breeding their sister or even daughter? Mother nature's design for them to leave is for a good reason, right?

 

[DMD]

If you consistently did that for long enough, would it then be detrimental as chances are they'd be breeding their sister or even daughter? Mother nature's design for them to leave is for a good reason, right?

That's what I would think.

 

[BSK]

The interesting thing about yearling buck dispersal is that, in the North, most dispersal occurs in spring just as the bucks are about to turn one year old. In the South, most dispersal occurs in fall, just before the rut, when bucks are a year and a half.

As for dispersal distance, a grad student did a fantastic analysis of all of the different dispersal distance studies (which had a wide range o distances) and found that dispersal distance is heavily influenced by the habitat. The more open the habitat, the farther yearling bucks dispersed. The more forested, the shorter the distance they dispersed.

I've seen studies from the open ag regions of southern Michigan that found dispersal to be very far, with one buck travelling over 90 miles. On the other hand, studies done in full-forest habitat found dispersals of only a few miles.

 

[BSK]

If you consistently did that for long enough, would it then be detrimental as chances are they'd be breeding their sister or even daughter? Mother nature's design for them to leave is for a good reason, right?

In theory, yes. But deer happen to have (and their breeding cycle is "designed" to produce this) amazingly high genetic diversity. When a localized population has exceptionally high genetic diversity, inbreeding does not cause problems. It is only when localized populations are distinctly lacking in genetic diversity that inbreeding begins to cause all sorts of genetic problems. This is the case with Humans. We are the least genetically diverse mammal on the planet. White-tailed deer on the other hand are one of the most genetically diverse mammals on the planet.

 

[DeerCamp]

In theory, yes. But deer happen to have (and their breeding cycle is "designed" to produce this) amazingly high genetic diversity. When a localized population has exceptionally high genetic diversity, inbreeding does not cause problems. It is only when localized populations are distinctly lacking in genetic diversity that inbreeding begins to cause all sorts of genetic problems. This is the case with Humans. We are the least genetically diverse mammal on the planet. White-tailed deer on the other hand are one of the most genetically diverse mammals on the planet.

My senior thesis was on Mule Deer genetics. I looked at various factors such as winter die offs, predation, selective hunting (high grading) etc and it's impacts on herd health.

To your point, you see very few deer born with genetical driven abnormalities as compared to say, domestic dogs... or people.

 

[TheLBLman]

If you consistently did that for long enough, would it then be detrimental as chances are they'd be breeding their sister or even daughter? Mother nature's design for them to leave is for a good reason, right?

Your point is valid, but the reality doesn't match the theory.

First, near impossible to kill half the does.
Secondly, your local homebody bucks typically roam miles away during the rut.

And, young bucks from miles away are also dispersing INTO your area,
as well as coming into your area during the rut.

On top of the above, female deer also do some range shifting, just on a much smaller scale than males.

As to trying to kill as many adult female deer as possible, once you put heavy harvest pressure on them, they quickly become very nocturnal and hunter wary, often making it easier said than done. Hunter observations (of living female deer) may decrease by 80%, yet the actual living population might be decreased by only 25%.

 

[Ski]

If you consistently did that for long enough, would it then be detrimental as chances are they'd be breeding their sister or even daughter? Mother nature's design for them to leave is for a good reason, right?

This is 180 acres and there have been three distinct piebald deer on cam this year so far, and will probably be more before spring. I get several each year and have for several years. I've read articles claiming inbreeding is the cause of piebald deer, and I've read articles that say it isn't true. I don't really know which is correct but I do find it curious that I've never once in my life seen a piebald deer anywhere but I see them regularly on this farm. Is it inbreeding? I don't know. But it's weird and it seems to be increasingly more regular each season. I saw the first one in 2019.

I don't really mind them and haven't shot any. Nothing I could do about it even if I wanted to. But it's neat seeing them and it for sure makes me wonder the root cause and how prevalent it can get.

 

[BSK]

Ski, inbreeding no, but piebaldism is genetic. What that means is you have a couple of local does who have that recessive trait in their genetic code, hence the piebald offspring over and over.

 

[tellico4x4]

To my knowledge, there is only one thing that keeps more of the bucks born in your area, remaining in your area:

The button bucks have to be orphaned.
Surprisingly, so long as their Momma Doe becomes deceased after the fawns have lost their spots, the male fawns' survival is typically increased.

We have always targeted does with button fawns as first choice. Probably at least 12-15 years now. I believe that it definitely keeps the little bucks from wandering too far. In our case I also believe that they imprint on closest food plot available after the doe is killed. We've seen this time & time again. More times than not, the bucks we kill are ones we are familiar with. Very common for mature bucks to be killed in Dec where we had pics of them in July for several years.

 

[Ski]

Ski, inbreeding no, but piebaldism is genetic. What that means is you have a couple of local does who have that recessive trait in their genetic code, hence the piebald offspring over and over.

Will doe fawns born to those does also carry the gene? Will there continue to be more & more piebald deer as result?

 

[BSK]

Will doe fawns born to those does also carry the gene? Will there continue to be more & more piebald deer as result?

50/50 chance, if the mother is not a piebald (if she is, 100% chance). Same goes for buck fawns. They have one X-chromosome which they get from their mother.

 

[peytoncreekhunter]

Ski, inbreeding no, but piebaldism is genetic. What that means is you have a couple of local does who have that recessive trait in their genetic code, hence the piebald offspring over and over.

In regards to the inbreeding, am I correct in thinking that if a buck breeds his daughter that's not a problem because she's only got half of his genes but if a buck breeds his granddaughter then that is a problem because she would have 3/4 of his genes?

Akin to people line breeding dogs...?

 

[Dumbluck]

This is 180 acres and there have been three distinct piebald deer on cam this year so far, and will probably be more before spring. I get several each year and have for several years. I've read articles claiming inbreeding is the cause of piebald deer, and I've read articles that say it isn't true. I don't really know which is correct but I do find it curious that I've never once in my life seen a piebald deer anywhere but I see them regularly on this farm. Is it inbreeding? I don't know. But it's weird and it seems to be increasingly more regular each season. I saw the first one in 2019.

I don't really mind them and haven't shot any. Nothing I could do about it even if I wanted to. But it's neat seeing them and it for sure makes me wonder the root cause and how prevalent it can get.

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That is super cool. It will be interesting if that little button buck disperses

 

[BSK]

In regards to the inbreeding, am I correct in thinking that if a buck breeds his daughter that's not a problem because she's only got half of his genes but if a buck breeds his granddaughter then that is a problem because she would have 3/4 of his genes?

Akin to people line breeding dogs...?

Neither. White-tailed deer are so genetically diverse, mother-son, father-daughter breeding happens all the time, and no problems arise.

Inbreeding is such a problem in humans because we have so little genetic diversity.

Our closest genetic cousin is the chimpanzee. We share 98.8% of our genetic code with them. However, there is more genetic diversity within a single chimpanzee social group than there is between all the Humans on the planet. Genetic research suggests humans have so little genetic variation because we have experienced so many "founder events," events that knocked the local human population down to extremely low levels. These population levels were so low that when the population rebound, all people in the region are the descendants of just a few founder event survivors, hence very little genetic diversity. These founder events happen fairly frequently (in a geologic timeframe) and happen at different times in different regions.

As an example, in some parts of Europe, the Black Death could be considered a founder event. Europe and Asia-wide, the Black Death probably "only" killed 30-50% of the human population, but in localized pockets, the Black Death killed 80+% of people. Imagine a town of several thousand people that experienced an 85% fatality rate. The people who repopulated the town would all be very closely related because there were so few survivors.

 

[Rockhound]

Ski, inbreeding no, but piebaldism is genetic. What that means is you have a couple of local does who have that recessive trait in their genetic code, hence the piebald offspring over and over.

Interesting, could a wandering buck cause the same thing? The reason I ask is because every 3 or 4 years we have 4 or 5 piebald deer show up in say a 6 or 7 mile radius. And then for 3 or 4 years not a single sighting.

 

[TX300mag]

I know it's not a popular thing to say, but I can see how one might theorize that focusing on buck harvest might possible slow the spread of CWD over larger geographical areas.

 

[BSK]

Interesting, could a wandering buck cause the same thing? The reason I ask is because every 3 or 4 years we have 4 or 5 piebald deer show up in say a 6 or 7 mile radius. And then for 3 or 4 years not a single sighting.

Absolutely.

 

[BSK]

I know it's not a popular thing to say, but I can see how one might theorize that focusing on buck harvest might possible slow the spread of CWD over larger geographical areas.

And this is the reasoning for allowing so many buck tags in the CWD Zone.