UNLOCKING BUCK Travel LOOPS with GPS Studies! Do they use WIND DIRECTION to TRAVEL?

This is part 2 of our series with Dr. Bronson Strickland of MSU Deer Lab! Catch part 1 here - • Solving the mystery of...
In this episode we dig deeper into Mississippi States GPS data on whitetail deer and discuss:
- How bucks seem to "anchor" themselves around specific features
- What features could serve as an anchor on public land or a hunting club
- How a buck seems to have travel loops
- What is the ideal size food plot for mature buck use?
- Variations in buck home ranges
- What is a whitetail's "feed clock" and how often do they get up to feed
- If deer move about the same amount every day, what makes a good vs bad hunting day? How are we missing them?
- How long does it take deer to go back to normal after a spike in hunting pressure?
and a TON more!
Got a question for the show? Submit a listener Q&A form - l.linklyhq.com/l/1uMXP
Grab some Southern Outdoorsmen merch here - l.linklyhq.com/l/1u4aK
Join Woodsman Wire - l.linklyhq.com/l/1u4aR
Use the promo code “southern” for a discount on your OnX Hunt membership here - l.linklyhq.com/l/1tyfm
Save 10% on your next Vortex Optics order at eurooptic.com using the Promo Code “SGN10” - 2ly.link/1wyYO
Check out our favorite First Lite gear - l.linklyhq.com/l/1tyfh
Have you tagged a deer using something you heard on the show? Submit your listener success story here - Share Your Story Here
Come chat with us on our Thursday Hunter Hangouts! Join our patreon - l.linklyhq.com/l/1uMXU
NOTE: Not all advertisements run on this show are endorsed by The Southern Outdoorsmen Podcast unless an ad is read by one of the hosts.

[@michiganwoodsman2199]

I listened to a guy who sat in 100 ft towers for days and days because he was paid by a rich guy to watch his bucks. And he was blown away by the fact that sometimes the giants walked nose Into the wind and other times he watched that same buck walk with the wind! Alot! Tail wind. He said deer are just plain way smarter than we think they are.

[@hunterpickard1297]

I've watched many deer walk with the wind. Pressure matters big time on how deer move. Not much pressure and they will go as they please. High pressure and they have to be a little more cautious and use every advantage they can

[@homeinthewhiteoaks]

The idea that deer only move into the wind seems sound until you think about it. If that is what they did 80% of the time all the deer in North America would all end up in Washington State or British Columbia. I think they like to bed with the wind in their favor, but that sometimes means they have to travel to that spot ignoring the wind until they reach that spot. Or they will make a swing or J hook when they get close to the location they are going to feed or bed. But most of the travel was just making the move to get the wind advantage.

[@michaelyates2498]

Is corialis effect shows why that dont happen

[@ec9697]

Most big bucks I have seen are cutting it at some kind Of an angle when they can’t see and if they can see they don’t care..

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

another point to consider is local variations in wind direction. In our part of Alabama our prevailing wind is actually ESE - but terrain and vegetation can cause it to swirl and redirect quite a bit. So the weather station may say SE, but on the side of a ridge the buck may be traveling it could be different because of it deflecting off something.

[@shaneshonda]

​@@michaelyates2498I don't see how that's relevant since the deer don't fly in the air...

[@michaelyates2498]

@@shaneshonda but the air moves that way thats why

[@markconnelly6928]

So much great information! That’s for the podcast. I can’t wait for the season to start over here in GA.

[@benbearkiller]

I’m so excited to see the the results regarding the evening bed to food

[@pupham]

Y’all should do a follow up video or podcast where you go to this property, and evaluate these travel corridors and bedding areas that the data is laying out, and see if it matches how you would normally read the sign, or not.

[@williamstormoen140]

That would be very interesting to see. Definitely a great idea 👍

[@JAYBO_30_October]

Really enjoyed this one. One of my favorites. I enjoy the science behind buck movement studies, it's very interesting, but I take it all with a grain of salt. With that being said, I do greatly appreciate and respect Dr. Strickland and I think it's awesome you guys had him on the podcast.

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@brianschumaker5912]

I've had success still hunting. But it depends on conditions. If it's still and dry, forget it. But after a rain and breezy, I can usually get within shooting distance. I amaze the hell out of my Dad. It could take me an hour to go 100 yards. Depends on how much cover there is and how the ground cover is. It works when nothing seems to be moving.

[@C.Fowler]

Really good interview….😉👍

[@patschuette8045]

I would love to see this map with 2 colors one for daytime movement and one for night time!

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

We are going to try and make that happen in a future episode!

[@scottfrederick8299]

Don't forget the effects of thermal currents on movement patterns. Lol, you just mentioned it as I was typing this.

[@HaveBowWillTravel]

Cool stuff! I like the Poirier shirt

[@jasonscott5043]

Air density has is what causes the swirling winds. You were talking about the smoke bomb experiment and how the smoke cleared most of the field but skirted the edge of the timber and pooled in a pocket. It’s because the air in the tim er is cooler and dense and the air in the field is hotter and less dense. Swirling winds are usually from down drafts of cooler denser air falling to the ground and spreading out like pouring water on a flat surface. I think deer like that, because as you alluded to, they get a better sense of danger in a broader area. Instead of only danger from one direction. Cloudy or partly cloudy days has lots of downdrafts. Maybe they deal like they have a better sense of what is going on around them by their nose with swirling winds and odds are in their favor.

[@MrSquidwardGames]

I'd love to see several studies where it looks at the food plot size, but approaches the size as a percentage of the food plot acre range (4acre was preferred when the range was .5-20acre ~ 20%.) I feel like if you go to a place with very little field food, the smaller the ideal plot size would be?

[@southernhood5145]

5.7k views in 1 day. you think guys might like this topic😅. y'all really got to try and get access to the land they did this study on. actually put eye's on the major travel areas and beds. that would be next level.

[@scottfrederick8299]

I would bet that the 10 you keep asking about scent checks it and due to the hunting pressure on that plot he is conditioned/has learned that that is a dangerous place to be either from some previous encounter on that plot or learned behavior over a period of years.

[@michiganwoodsman2199]

22k views. 30 comments That algorithm doesn't add up

[@progun2012]

They need to post a random online or Facebook survey of die hard deer hunters asking, what do you guys want from all of this data? A lot of the questions you guys have would be the same questions I’d have. Just an idea

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

That’s a great idea!

[@Miguel_Travels]

It would have been fun to review the maps before revealing any of the data to see how well you could determine bedding sites and movement.

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

That’s a great idea!

[@EinsteinTeachedYou]

Super big bucks move when it's windy 15 ton25 mph. Reason. They are so big bodied and antlered the wind and tree clanking hides their noise and allows them to cover more distance.

[@toddrobinson2987]

Wind…… They will bed with the wind to their back and my experience they move with and against it but I have seen them move perpendicular to it some during the rut. I have trails on my property I know are mainly used by does and the bucks will use a trail on the downwind side of it. They also use these same trails with the after it has changed direction. No trail starts and finishes in a straight line.

[@curtismerriman9956]

So true flat river land is crazy hard to figure out deer in for me. Without Terrain it’s like they travel random.

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

One thing Dr. Strickland mentioned is that they may be keying in on sight a lot when they travel in more flat terrain. As in, if there is some kind of line of vegetation (think of a grown-up road bed going through the woods) they are more likley to follow it.

[@curtismerriman9956]

@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen very nice I will. Hills make since but river bottom is so hard. They don’t do the same things as my public forest. Scrapes our pointless in there. Not sure it’s because of deer population or size of property they Rome but it just doesn’t make since to me.

[@Heavy_Arrow312]

Look for oxbows in the river. Deer tend to bend on the oxbows, back to the river. Wind in there face, literally watching the trail they entered the bed on. Deer don't always bed with wind coming over the back. Nothings guaranteed but I've found some monster beds on them. If you can, use the river/stream to access. Thermals will keep your scent at the water. Move slow, and glass along the rivers edge for bedded deer

[@michiganwoodsman2199]

May want to change the name so the other 90 percent of the Country wants to listen to your channel. Including Canada.

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

@@michiganwoodsman2199 thanks for watching man!

[@thecedarridgechronicles]

So passed me in subs I see. I should report y’all as spam. 😂

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

🤣

[@CastandExploreNY]

Why can’t they do this in other states ?

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

Because Mississippi State University only funds studies in Mississippi. Other Universities could do the same if they wanted too.

[@tacticalwhitetailmappingso5118]

I wish yall would stop looking at individual beds… we all know it’s a area not a 20x20 spot😂 Second until they tease the info as they say for micro details that is crazy hard and time consuming ur painting to broad a stroke on a situation that has way too many variables to have that broad a stroke… case and point he talked about diet for specific deer can be different… and comparing Iowa to the study was stupid… u can’t compare different areas to one another but u can take away tendencies… in topography bucks will travel and bed in certain elevation lines in steep areas… then cut out the rest and make it as open areas… swamps hunt transitions from wet to dry and cover… rest is dead zone… same thing as Iowa… almost… until they narrow the specifics down on the studies there ain’t much to take away from the honestly

[@brenthaskins3821]

Is there any data for the average time spent in a bed?

[@thesouthernoutdoorsmen]

We cover that in this episode. They are bedded for roughly 4 hours in each bed. Average 4 beds per day

[@jasonscott5043]

The batteries in the collar only last so long so they have to limit the times per day they get a location reading. This way they can get a longer duration of data points. The trade off is the data is more general than what you want to know.