# Deer travel distance



## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

I have a question. A buddy of mine posted on his fb page the other day a pic of a large buck that looked very farmiliar to me. Well I went looking thru my trail cam pics and I have the same exact buck on camera in my area on 11/2/15(last season) and I have him on my camera again this year as well. Well thinking it was a twin or something like that I passed it off as nope its a different deer. Well we did a comparison and its the exact same deer. The rack is Identical our pics. 

I guess my question is how far do the deer really travel? There is a 10 mile distance between where we both hunt. Is this common or just a very active on the move buck???


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

Heres the pics


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

I think the brow tines look different. 10 Miles also seems excessive.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

after taking a second and third look they are the same deer or identical twins.
sherman


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## DontDoubtTheJones (Oct 25, 2016)

Here is a great article on deer travel

http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2015/the-life-and-times-of-buck-8917


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

DontDoubtTheJones said:


> Here is a great article on deer travel
> 
> http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2015/the-life-and-times-of-buck-8917


very interesting reading. after reading this I would say its not very likely that they are the same deer. but it is a close match. but is it possible that the deer did in fact travel the distance to get his picture taken on both cameras??
sherman


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Thats not the same deer...as stated the brow tines are different...right brow is longer in the one pic...do you know how many racks look similar?...thousands of deer out there...not even sure how you can determine thats the same deer if those pics are all you have to go by...


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## huntindoggie22 (Mar 28, 2008)

First picture looks like the left side only has 4 total points. Second picture the left side has 5 total points.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

huntindoggie22 said:


> First picture looks like the left side only has 4 total points. Second picture the left side has 5 total points.


Not sure how you can even tell by looking at those pics...any other pics?


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

We had a 170 inch nontypical on camera on public ground last year. He was killed on private property 5 miles from where our camera was. Being as nontypical as he was it was 100% the same deer.


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

nope that's the only pics on my cam of him except for the ones of him last year. I hope to get him on camera again with clearer pics. I changed the settings in the cams from 4mp to 10mp so I hope I get clearer pics..


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

jray said:


> We had a 170 inch nontypical on camera on public ground last year. He was killed on private property 5 miles from where our camera was. Being as nontypical as he was it was 100% the same deer.


Deer can deifinitely travel 5 to 10 miles...especially through a years time.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

DontDoubtTheJones said:


> Here is a great article on deer travel
> 
> http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2015/the-life-and-times-of-buck-8917


Very fascinating. Gotta wonder why he picked that spot to die. A spot he had only been once, which was 2 years prior. Poor guy :/ Weird.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Shad Rap said:


> Deer can deifinitely travel 5 to 10 miles...especially through a years time.


that buck in the study above traveled 90+miles during the rut(within 3 sq mi roughly). Outside of the rut, their range is greatly reduced to roughly 100 acres. They have a home area and pretty much stick to it. I'd suggest everyone watch that study 

So Can they travel 10miles? Yes. Do they? Most likely not.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

I hope you dont think that I meant deer continuously travel throughout their lives...we both answered the question the same anyway...deer get pushed all over the place and a rutting buck will travel a good ways...hell a jumped/spooked deer can run a half mile to a mile easy...the question was can a deer travel 10 miles...the answer is yes...not wether they most likely will or will not.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

To the original question: I have a handful of experiences where a particular deer has been killed during rut a good distance away from their home range. Most recent is a non-hunting family here at work. I work with the wife - they have only 16 acres, but nice whitetail area and land. They are not crazy anti-hunters, but they would never allow hunting or hunt. Her husband has been running feed stations for 20 years and he got into the cams when they came out as well. 

2 years ago they had a 13 point buck there all summer into fall. He was the largest buck they had pics of ever and they have owned the land for 20+ years. He disappeared and never returned. They learned he was killed Monday of gun season by a high school boy (much to their disappointment). Their son attended same high school and talked to the kid and showed him the cam pics. Kid killed the deer on his uncles property - it was 8-8.5 miles by "crow's flight" away. They were shocked and there was zero doubt at all this was the deer. 

Not all deer are the same and they have different personalities as well (just like dogs). Some are more aggressive, some are home bodies, some are more tolerant of human activity. Most deer are not going to travel 10 miles away even during rut...no need to. And most have a fairly small home range during non-rut. However, depending on the location and the personality of the deer, some will travel much greater distances than others.

And honestly during breeding season who is to say an occasional buck doesn't stray outside his range, lust sick and confused and head the wrong way on a scent trail. Unlikely, but I have thought of this and I don't see why it would not be possible. I know I had one too many in my 20's and got lost on foot in downtown Cleveland


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

Many bucks will take an extended trip outside of their home range at some point, usually during the rut. These trips have been documented over and over with radio telemetry and GPS studies. The length and duration of these excursions can vary widely.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

they look like different deer to me...The brow tine on the right is higher than the brow the left in the bottom pic.in the top picture they both look the same height


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## Sciotodarby (Jul 27, 2013)

There was a dark racked buck with a drop time off each side of his rack on one of our farms several years ago. I had him in my scope on Sunday evening of gun season but I didn't take the shot because it was about 5:15, cloudy, and spitting snow and didn't feel comfortable with it. He'd been around all summer and through the rut, so I figured I'd get a chance at him during muzzleloading season. Wrong . He got shot about 12 miles away the way the crow flies on the first morning of muzzleloading. Absolutely positive it was the same deer as there was no mistaking his rack.


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