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It Is Decidedly So
By Bob Humphrey
Sometimes getting an answer from Bob is like consulting a Magic 8 Ball.
QUESTION: I’ve been getting pictures of a pretty good buck on my trail cameras this summer, and I hope he’ll still be around during hunting season. What are the chances this buck will stay around?
ANSWER: For questions like this, my quick answer is that you’ve got at least a 50% chance: Either he will or he won’t.
On a more serious note, the odds are in your favor. Research indicates that the older a buck gets, the more likely it is to use the same home range and core area. There’s a survival advantage to being familiar with your surroundings. However, routines can change throughout the year.
Through spring and summer, bucks spend most of their time in and around smaller core areas, especially if there is adequate food and nutrition. They may also associate in bachelor groups with other bucks. As the days grow shorter and cooler, they begin wandering farther from home searching for food and the first estrus does. They may even relocate to alternate core areas as aggressive interactions between bucks increase.
As rut activity intensifies they may make longer excursions away from their core areas, but they typically return within a day or two. So long as your buck remains alive, he’ll probably stick around the neighborhood, but that can be a pretty big neighborhood. And once the first hunters hit the woods, bucks move less during daylight and more in thick cover. Good luck!