01What the research found
RECEIPT
The study
Maryland: 32 GPS bucks and their trips
WhereChesapeake Farms, MarylandSample32 adult bucks, GPSWhen2003-2007
What they did
Followed GPS-collared bucks and counted "excursions": at least 6 hours and at least half a kilometer outside the buck's home range.
20 of 3220 of 32 bucks made at least one trip
What they found
- 20 of 32 bucks (63%) made at least one trip, immediately before or during breeding season.
- The average trip lasted 10.5 hours (range 6 to 40).
- The average minimum distance was 778 meters, about half a mile, past the home range.
- 22 of the 37 trips (59%) were at least partly in daylight.
Limits
- One site, about 3,200 acres, with low hunting pressure.
Source. Karns, Lancia, DePerno and Conner. 2011. "Investigation of Adult Male White-tailed Deer Excursions Outside Their Home Range." Southeastern Naturalist 10(1): 39-52. eaglehill.us →
RECEIPT
The study
Mississippi: bucks with two homes
WhereMississippiSample30 adult bucks, GPSWhen2017-2021
What they did
Followed GPS-collared adult bucks across the year.
What they found
- About a third were "mobile," with two seasonal home ranges.
- Mississippi State Extension puts the average gap between the two at 4.4 miles.
- Mobile bucks stayed in one range about 79 days before moving to the other.
Limits
- One region of Mississippi.
- The paper gives the gap in kilometers (7.1 km); the 4.4 miles and 79 days come from the Extension summary.
Source. Resop, Demarais, Strickland, McKinley and Street. 2024. "Rutting and rambling." Ecology and Evolution 14(2). Also Mississippi State University Extension, P3927, "Understanding Buck Movement." doaj.org → extension.msstate.edu →
02My read
MY READMy tactic, not a study result
A new buck in the rut is often just visiting. I hang stands where travelers cross, not where he showed up once.
The Mississippi result partly cuts the other way, which is why I say "often," not "always."
03Field notes
- One picture of a new buck isn't a pattern. Get him again in the same spot before you move a stand for him.
- Check your own state's season dates and legal hours with your state wildlife agency.