Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Keeping Tabs On Deer Travel
It’s one thing to have a general idea of how and where deer travel, and still another to know their exact travel route. Snow makes it possible to keep tabs on the comings and goings of whitetail deer.
All of this seem so simple in theory. A deer leaves its bedding cover to feed, meanders around, and returning to its bedding area. The story is spelled out in the snow but there is much more to it than this.
Winter whitetails are subject to panic attacks, especially those that have survived the firearm deer season. Those animals can be like a fugitive trying to elude the police.
They often check their back-trail, often bed down while facing into the wind, and are alert to any disturbances. They sometimes conduct a major overhaul of their travel patterns based on food availability, animal distribution and periodical interactions with humans.
The bottom line is that deer habits can change based on any one of these potential problems. A deer that bumps into a human walking to a stand, or if they spot a person in a tree stand, all bets are off. The deer, most likely, will shift their travels around to avoid future encounters or problems.
The snow still tells the story. Even if we accept this concept of deer movement, and that they may change a little or undergo a major shift, should be easily understood. However, unless a person spends time afield and studies deer travel routes, they will not have a full understanding of the traits of particular deer.
There is a big old buck on my ranch. He has been seen on occasion, perhaps only three or four times over the past two years, and he is seen just often enough to know he is still alive.
I’ve been spending some time after recent fresh snows, checking for his tracks. There is some strong points that indicate he is living in one or two really thick locations. I’ve found periodic large tracks in certain areas, but often the tracks will be seen once here, the next time it may be some distance away. Are they his or another deers tracks?
Is this the big buck or just some large-footed deer that doesn’t have a huge rack? I don’t know the answer to that question, but whenever time permits, I go looking for sign of this massive buck. However, like the fugitive from the law mentioned earlier, this animal changes his routine, perhaps on a daily basis.
The sightings of him have been random, but have come from two general areas on the ranch. This leads me to believe that he is out there, somewhere, moving after dark. He probably gets up often in thick cover to move around, but he doesn’t leave his preferred thickets until long after dark.
Bucks like this are difficult to hunt. It doesn’t take much cover to hide a whitetail, even one that may score over 200 points. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ve been close to him on several occasions but didn’t know it. He’s survived this long by keeping his head down during daylight hours, and he appears content to live in this manner.
There is no doubt that this buck is a loner. He keeps to himself at all times except possibly during the rut. He may or may not breed does, and scientific studies have proven that some very large bucks have a very low sex drive, and may not breed at all.
I don’t know if that is true with this buck or not. What I need is to see some big tracks, look around and see this huge buck. If I saw the buck, and his tracks, I could commit them to memory. It would enable me to possibly recognize his track the next time I saw it.
Studying deer travels in the snow is just one more way of learning more about whitetail deer. I’ve studied these animals for over 60 years, and the day I quit learning something new about whitetail deer, will probably be the day that I leave this world.
The more we know about deer, their habits and travel patterns, is what will make us the ultimate predator. Becoming a great deer hunter doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s something that hunters must continue to learn as time goes on.—The Whitetail Wizard