BUCK MOVEMENT STUDY - EPISODE 7: DO BUCKS BED IN THE SAME AREA EVERY NIGHT?

Do bucks bed in the same area every day?
Hunters often strategize about targeting bucks on "patterns" from bedding to feeding areas. So, we looked specifically at data from our collared adult bucks to see if they bedded in the same areas every night. We found that on average bucks ended their day 950 yards from where they began it. So in short, bucks did NOT return to the same bedding areas in early season or during the rut. Watch the video for more info on daily movements and the differences in movement between early season and the rut!

[@seanbalch7563]

I love that deer science can be used to become a more effective hunter rather than product endorsements telling you how to be a more effective hunter.

[@Captn_Cor]

It would be cool to see a wind layer over the map, or even topo/hybrid layer. Great content

[@StealthTRD]

Exactly

[@ricklovall6430]

This is incredible information. It blows my mind that there are only 13.5K subscribers. Everyone needs to learn from your studies. I appreciate it!

[@ROBSwank-pm1vd]

Just amazing the knowledge your gaining n exposing us to .. defying long thought out myths on buck movement.. thank you 😊

[@woodsdog7849]

Very informative. It would be interesting to note the wind direction each time the buck moved from his "common" bedding area to the major nightime feeding area. It was interesting as he generally left his daytime bedding area and headed in a westerly direction and approached the feed field from the west then the very next day, even though he bedding somewhat in the same bedding area during the day (albeit a bit closer and more central on the map) he took a more easterly approach to the nighttime feed feild that he was in the night before. It would make sense if the general wind direction on the first night was an east or south east wind and the next night if the wind was from the west or south westerly wind. Thanks for sharing this it was very cool but reinforced that patterning a buck is a very "relative" term and a pattern is more of a tendancy than a pattern.

[@LumberJack-qb1dc]

My buddies and I are really enjoying the movement study videos. Could it be possible to include topo lines in the portions of the video showing the buck movement?

[@StealthTRD]

Yesss!!!

[@swampbiologist]

Very good info Steve, good to see you're still at it!

[@karmas.busdriver]

I'd love to see how they move in relation to wind direction.

[@msudeerlabtv5058]

Mike, we are working on this. Stay tuned.

[@wisemechanic1758]

I’ve always wanted to do this. This is an awesome video

[@ForgottenHillbilly]

Would have liked to see these patterns of 3-4 different bucks. Deer are deer yes but one thing i've learned is each have their own personality. Also older bucks behave much different than young bucks do.

[@LD-qj2te]

Great stuff !! Thx !!

[@ronmacdougall9612]

Great info

[@upperroomtoo]

I did not expect the rut to be so late in the season. I'm in eastern NC and we traditionally consider the last two weeks of Oct the peak rut.

[@tdracing8001]

We always have late Rut in MS. We are in East Central MS and growing up I remember folks always complaining that the season basically ended before the rut actually got good. I think it was just We didn't see bucks running does till they were cleaning up on the last the weren't bred and that was generally at the end of the season.

[@WHITETAIL215]

This is so cool

[@ronmacdougall9612]

Very interesting

[@curte7739]

There used to be a KZbin channel where someone had attached it was either a GoPro or some kind of camera to a deer and you could go on the channel and it was always live so you could see where the deer was at what he was doing etc.

[@randydeskins9359]

That would be awesome.

[@tdracing8001]

Request: how does his movement overlap with moon phases and traditional feeding time.

[@vanhaus5022]

Interesting, kinda makes sense they move during the rut for sure..

[@thomassekellick8768]

I would like to see the distance they are traveling daily in the winter topo lines and wind direction. I have a monster buck january through feb comes to my camera everynight 530-6 oclock abd stays till almost midnight. Would love to find his sheds.

[@hdelano11]

Nothing new we didn't know but good video. It's been known for years bucks move and travel more during the rut.

[@zzz7zzz9]

In many of my areas i hunt, the deer are on a 10 day route. Mule deer, not whitetail. Don't know where they go, but their travels take them 10 days to come by again.

[@bassman9699]

Very interesting but it sounds like I'm listening to sam Elliott lol.

[@2birddogsandawolfdog945]

Should do this with every deer in the area

[@tommyeastham7684]

Hey Dr. really enjoying ur videos. When scouting, if u see a cluster of squirrel nest in a area. Do u give that area more attention?

[@user-re9my7hp5h]

Was there any hunting pressure?. It would be interesting to cross reference wind direction with certain beds..

[@chrismatthews5040]

Every green hirn knows this ,

[@duesing6]

I would have liked to know the wind directions during all his movements, without it its hard to figure out what he was up to and was this a young buck or an old one?

[@buckydoedowner9040]

Ive always wanted to see a study like this on farm country bucks. Where fields dominate the landscape with small woodplots. Seems to be the areas most ignored on information.

[@zzz7zzz9]

It doesn't need studying. Those deer are forced into their routines because of the limited terrain and cover.

[@buckydoedowner9040]

@@zzz7zzz9 Been hunting farm country for over 3 decades. Havent seen too many routines.Bucks surely dont bed in the same area. Their range is much larger and often less predictable. Hence my comment.

[@owsowmuskwanaistus9213]

ive seen bucks answering calls at noon middle nov

[@collinslangley361]

Do you have any pre rut information?

[@garretthale5670]

I could have told you this without even tracking a buck , it’s on during the rut

[@tatesoutdoors]

Any of them bedding in cattails or CRP

[@Illinois-Wildlife-Encounters]

#aDekeDitty3 love your vids . Please check out how this BUCK deer thinks he is hid in a bean field. Thanks

[@JamesJones-cx5pk]

Was there any hunting pressure?

[@jamesjeske2116]

I passed a little buck twenty minutes before light on road going to my hunting spot and shot the same buck mile away from where I passed him on the road. It was in September

[@2cthetruth]

I remember that!

[@cray-z7404]

We were hunting in different stands together...

[@victorfreeman5066]

Yes they will kick them out of a bed and they will go around the hole hill and lay down in the same spot.

[@loucaruso3971]

If Showed The Size Of The Bucks, Would Help With Discussion Makeing !!!!

[@ilovenythismuchilovenewyor5801]

doc. question. how long does it take a buck to finish his mating w the doe ?? like when he finally mounts her .. is it a one pump n dump type thing or he stays mounted for a minute, minutes etc???

[@randydeskins9359]

I have read that he will stay with a doe 24-48 hours breeding multiple times. I read this several years ago. Have not saw any recent changes.

[@stevenmartin3247]

I usually have about 4-5 different good bucks at the beginning of the season then after the first rut I’ll never see them again and when I did was mainly at night but here and there I may catch one couple weeks later but for the most part I never see them after the first rut why’s is that and where else would they would gone

[@konotreal7126]

After they been spooked during early season they are hiding most of the time,

[@dougvuillemot8670]

Sounds to me like there is a better place for breeding does . maybe a river bottom or something that has more breeding oppurtunity.

[@zzz7zzz9]

Probably bucks that came into the area just for the rut. I have a wt area like that. No bucks on cams until late october and into november. Then, bucks never seen before show up, coming down from higher areas, for the does. They do their business and then vanish again, going back to where they came from.

[@cmstreich]

It would be interesting to cross reference wind direction with certain beds.

[@andrewandrew569]

Idk how you could expect a deer to behave normally with a fucking collar around it’s neck. We’re talking about the crackheads of the woods. They know something’s up.

[@surffishermanandcrossbowki9457]

Would be curious if every time he came out of the bed does he base his direction of travel to always go into the wind?

[@jakeviator2261]

Can you show or tell if bucks bed in certain beds on certain winds or weather patterns rather than just bed anywhere. Is there a pattern to his bedding? And is it defferent "patterns" in defferent terrain?

[@terrybrown2556]

Great videos, Ehd hits Indiana so badly every year now that I am considering giving up hunting all together. It has wiping out our deer herd we have worked so hard to manage. Last year the largest typical buck in America was killed on the property we hunt, we have let bucks walk for the past 10 years and just when the quality bucks start showing up, EHD wipes them all out. Never heard of EHD here until the early 2000's. Hope scientists can figure this out before all deer are eliminated. Best wishes.

[@catchemalive]

What is so impressive it to know that Mark drury and Don Higgins have been preaching this for years simply off of things they have learned over many decades of studying them without gps tracking devices!!

[@treece1]

this has been known for years though.

[@thatswhatshesaid8404]

I hope that they are collecting much more information from the studies because what was shared in this video is already widely known!

[@bits9760]

U said he had a greater home range during the rut. Well from ur outline his home range wasn't greater he just covered every inch of it, so he did cover more ground but he never wandered farter than October! Now I'm assuming there was no human pressure present during ur study? So with that, it's ur study is NOT a real world situation, n you should always add in every variable you can to get the ...let say the truth!

[@jaycarroll6584]

Feer the deer !!!!

[@victorfreeman5066]

Elk the cows will, but the bulls get up and piss in the center of there bed's,and don't use them again

[@kylemurray7086]

Should retitle this video, deer in general don’t bed at night… they eat at night and bed in the daytime, unless you are talking about when they lay down between nighttime feedings

[@francisconti9085]

@Kyle Murray I'm curious where you get this perception ..I've walked with wild whitetail for over 2 decades, they commonly bed and sleep..ENTERING REM SLEEP... 3-5 hrs after their initial nighttime feeding/ruminating block..they bed more in daytime staying shaded and avoiding glare..they will come out in shade, overcast. It's easier to understand deer's perspective and patterns as you are tagging along with them. I'd love to see a good study where the researcher gains understanding of deer AND can integrate with a matriarch & her group. People can't believe deer bedding in front of me, us in transit (in "stack") and the interactions with other deer. I get +/-20 hrs a week w/deer...notes are excessive..I gotta get a more digestible product together.. I think we need more direct time with deer, deconflicted, embedding with herd or matriarchy family unit. I've walked hip to shoulder, directly observing as part of the group, more than looking in from the distance of outside searching for context. Amazing to work alongside a matriarch & spend time together, communicating as a result of operant conditioning, then seeing "language" change, Matriarch "directing" human associate in conjunction with but separate from family. A maternal animal will "train" human associations. Routine, routine, routine...it is an instinct..maternal drive to get group in line, "how to be" I found allowing this & deer curiosity + learning, along with priorities offered novel exposure to their daily lives. I wish I had more time & better camera system for close proximity 360° day/night(near infrared) capture with sound. My deer & I have become near fluent in each other. Blows people's minds.. Mine too! Amazing animals!