# How far do deer travel?



## MS Sportsman (Jan 30, 2009)

There have been several radio collar studies done on this in the past few years. One was just realeased that was done in LA I read in a magazine or forum somewhere. I don't remember the exact findings, but they were good reading. Do a web search for telemetry studies or radio collar studies and maybe you can find them.


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## Nuwwave (May 20, 2009)

The LA study stated: "Annual home ranges on the order of 155-418 acres for bucks and 60-70 acres for does. Even more impressive are the core areas (area of concentrated use within an animal’s home range where 50% of the locations fall) on the average of 34 acres for bucks and 12 acres for does."


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## Skewerer (Nov 8, 2006)

I read about this in a recent issue of deer and deer hunting. You should check it out.


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## paarchhntr (Dec 21, 2005)

One of the last two issues of QDMA magazine had a very informative arcticle on this subject. 

The deer were radio collared and tracked. It is amazing how far some of the bucks would travel during the rut. They always seemed to return home in a day or two. I cant remember a whole lot of specifics but it surprised me on how far they actually travel.


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## dxtbowhuntersj (May 8, 2008)

i remember a few years ago we had a group of does that were making a circle of about 4 miles round trip. as crow flies maybe 1 1/2 miles wide. they were on a 3 day run. from my house you could see 3 fields where they would run. only time i have ever seen that.


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## country2 (Dec 4, 2006)

This is not scientific at all but just my observations in IL. Mature bucks around here seem to summer in a little different area than they spend the fall.Sometimes just a 1/3 of a mile some up to 2 miles that I have seen. I have one buck that seems to be smarter then me that I am trying to kill seems to summer and late winter about 1 1/2 miles from where he spends oct/nov/early dec.(where I hunt) but if I dont catch him in that timeframe he is gone again. I will find him hitting the neighbors fields 1 1/2 miles away not to be seen on my ground again until after he sheds his velvet. Just what I have seen here.


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## rce777777 (May 26, 2009)

Dr.James Crowell has done alot of this research with Mississippi State University. From what I get out of it, there is a big difference in range depending on which part of the country. His "Deer and Deer Movement" is very helpful. (I think thats the name of it, he has several books)


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## DB444 (Feb 20, 2009)

*I suspect the answer to that question is individualized*

Each deer has it's own personality. One deer may stay in a 20 acre patch of cover the majority of it's life. However, I have seen deer travel significant distances in one or two days. One buck I was hunting in Virginia comes to mind. He was a 230' class non typical that came up missing after Nov 5th and magically showed up dead 30+ miles away two weeks later. He had crossed two major rivers and at least one major highway to accomplish this feat. There was no mistaking his rack. Perhaps he was shot locally and the hunter stated he shot him at the claimed location??


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