Worked the game check station yesterday at Quantico and read an article about data white tailed deer biologists have compiled over the last 10 years using radio and gps tracking devices to study the movements and behavior of bucks during the rutting phases. Their finds have dispelled what I have been lead to believe over the years about bucks movement during the rut. They dispelled the moon phase and how little it effects the breeding etc. And how far bucks actually do range during that period.

Basically they say the moon phase as little to no effect on the bucks and does breeding cycle (hunters moon, etc) and that bucks do remain in their core area.


Any thoughts from you deer hunters and what you notice out there and if anyone has noticed any changes in deer behavior relating to the breeding cycle and moon phase and or bucks ranges during the rut.

Are things changing in the deer world?


Earl

I would be interested to know who wrote and published the study, and where it took place.

I have never had a firm opinion on the effects of the moon one way or the other. D&DH magazine has pushed a version of moon theory pretty heavily for the last 20 years and I was never convinced that it is as entirely as predictable as they have laid out.

However, the timing of the rut does vary considerably from year to year. Some will argue that annual variation follows cycles and is predictable. How can anybody entirely discount the moon from playing a role in that? If not the moon, then why does it vary so significantly?

As to buck movements. I have read the QDM magazine for about 10 years. They report on a lot of radio collar studies. It seems pretty indisputable that bucks vary in range throughout the year. I have seen this just on my own trail cams. For instance I had a bachelor group of several bucks showing up on all of my cameras throughout the summer, then they vanished a little over a month ago. Some of theses bucks will hopefully show back up during the rut, but where are they now? Also, bucks will suddenly show up at the same time every year during the fall. The 4 year old buck I killed last year showed up about the end of Oct for 3 years until I got him, but would be gone by the end of January. Where was he the rest of the year? The answer is simple to me....occupying a different part of his range.

Beyond range-shifting, the studies published in QDM show something entirely different called excursions.....where a buck will leave his range for distances of up to a few miles for anywhere from 12 hours to a few days. They are called excursions because he is going to ground he had never occupied at any other point in the year, so it is not part of his range. Probably on the heal of a hot doe or at least looking for one.

Also, bucks have range of varying size. Some cover just a couple hundred acres, some many times that. Some of that is probably resource driven, some personality.

I know that field and stream magazines do there rut report every year according to the moon phases. I think when its a big full moon at night deer seem to move more, and stay bedded down during daylight hours. I seen something on a woods and water episode where a deer biologist from New York (I know its New York) but he said they did a study on dead does hit on the road and there fetus. It showed does being bred from mid-oct. till January and even February also stating that if a buck keeps his horns later the winter goes by he'll be the dominant breeder. Also I think I read somewhere where they collard a rutting buck and it traveled from 1-2 miles daily in search of hot does. This season I'm going to start looking at pressure changes something I started to pay a little attention to last year. I've noticed on drastic changes deer seem to move more, especially high pressure.