Anyone ever wonder where deer disappear to?

[Mayhem]

Does anyone ever wonder where deer seem to disappear to? I have had 2 deer on cam for all of august and September up until the day before bow season opened and they have not been seen since? Do y'all ever wonder where they go?

These 2 bucks had been on my dads camera 1 miles away in the summer, but have not been on camera or seen in person recently either.


Where do they go?

It drives me crazy thinking about it.

[Mayhem]

These are the 2 bucks. I call them Pancho and Lefty.



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[Rwc]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Does anyone ever wonder where deer seem to disappear to? I have had 2 deer on cam for all of august and September up until the day before bow season opened and they have not been seen since? Do y'all ever wonder where they go?

These 2 bucks had been on my dads camera 1 miles away in the summer, but have not been on camera or seen in person recently either.


Where do they go?

It drives me crazy thinking about it.

I ponder this every year!!!!

Rwc

[Radar]

They foundering on acorns around my place, but I still see them at the watering holes.

[RiverRat1]

They may not go far at all. When my ranch greens up they can disappear for a week or two. We don't even see them at night..But I'm 99% sure they are within a few hundred yards still.

[Hoss163]

Yeah I always think the worst when they disappear. Neighbor had to of shot them I think. But a lot of times some will show back up just out of the blue and of course others are never seen again.


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[Mexico]

They move into deeper water over shell, these temps are dropping!

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by Mexico

They move into deeper water over shell, these temps are dropping!

I know, I want to go fishing too.

[TxAg]

There was a good podcast recently about three types of deer. Some are homers, some are extended wanderers, and some are homers that make quick trips to new territory.



Deer University Episode 30

[pilar]

I don’t know on a high fence place we had a mountain lion spotted and it was like a ghost town for a week or two
Then I had a nice wide 9pt disappear for 3 years only to reappear as a narrow 11pt with super nice mass that I shot , we didn’t see him once in that time

[Patton]

They survive by being masters at hide and seek; sometimes you have to go to them instead of bringing them to you (via feeders).

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by Patton

They survive by being masters at hide and seek; sometimes you have to go to them instead of bringing them to you (via feeders).

Totally understand, but it makes it difficult when only bow hunt.

[Patton]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Totally understand, but it makes it difficult when only bow hunt.

I hear ya! It ain’t easy in the least bit.

[AntlerCollector]

Where do they go?







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[texsdr]

Originally Posted by Radar

They foundering on acorns around my place, but I still see them at the watering holes.

Their hooves are swollen?

[Axe Man]

My kids named 2 on our camera Big Boy and Droppy. They disappeared a month or so ago. Cousin had them on his camera recently and is close to 2 miles away. Probably one of the 9 shots I heard at daylight Sunday ended their run I would imagine.

[Greenheadless]

I am convinced deer (especially bucks) have summer ranges, rut areas, and then winter ranges.

I have bucks I see until the rut hits, I have a whole new set of bucks I start seeing during the rut, then in Jan/Feb, I will get deer that i do not see all year that show up all of a sudden for about a month or two until the first green up.

[jshouse]

I have 2 spots about 15 miles from each other, on one we get buck pics all spring and summer long and we will hardly even get a pic of them from October to March. On the other place it's the opposite, we don't see a single buck from March to Halloween, and then they start flooding in. It's crazy.

[Aggiehunter08]

I think it's a pretty simple answer and this is based on similar experience. I've seen tracts that bucks would bachelor up on ever spring/summer. As fall approached most of them would leave that place. Definitely an issue on smaller tracts.

[PYBUCK]

Around central Texas they are eating acorns right now. No need for corn until the acorns are all gone, then the rut starts and they will be chasing does and only coming by feeders to check for does. After the rut they will finally return to the feeders mid
December.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by texsdr

Their hooves are swollen?

Just they bellies, I seen some does this morning hanging around some Jack oaks eating acorns. Plenty of corn under feeder waiting for the coons and squirrels.

Last night around 8 most of them were in their same bedding areas. They are around, just need to have a blind or stand set up near a trail close to oaks or water.

[Throwin Darts]

I have bucks on camera eating protein all off season long that I'll never see again once I switch over to corn.

Then in October, I'll have bucks that I don't often see at feeders that are browsing on acorns.

Then in November, most of the bucks move off of my feeders all together and I suspect are camped out in the area wheat fields.

I have one buck that I've been trying to kill all year that I keep track of where I get pics of him on an Excel spreadsheet. For the life of me, I can't pattern this deer. He is here, then there, then no where for days at a time.

If you really want to drive yourself crazy, switch over to cell cameras and you'll be trying to figure out where these deer are all day every day.

[unclefish]

Its one of the great mysteries and why most of us love to hunt. Wild animals are just awesome.

[mikemorvan]

I've learned to get nervous when i get a bunch of tc pics of really nice deer during antler growing and early season. Those animals invariably disappear when hunting season begins. Wanderlust.

Over the past few years we've had a few bucks we had on camera early on, killed in Oklahoma just across the river. We had pics of a triple beam deer that was probably a 190" deer at my little protein feeder all summer and early season. The next pic we saw of him was an ldp from across the Red. Such is life. At a certain point it's all about luck and being in the right place at the right time. Just gotta put in the hours and hope for the best.

[Snowflake Killa]

It's the way mother nature intended. They go a couple of miles away to someone else's area and they shoot them. And in return you get there crappy deer to look at.

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[mrc]

My cousin has a big 9 that lives on his feeder until the 3rd week of September, for 3 years in a row he disappears on almost the same day only to reappear in early spring. On my place I have 4 feeders and after they loose their velvet they walks circles to the feeders any buck may be at any feeder on any day, sometimes you will see them on all 4 on the same day.

[Hornfan]

In Collin county, I’m convinced they have a bunker in the nearby forest they hide for months at a time.

[Drycreek3189]

Summer ranges and winter ranges are not always the same, especially if you have good summer food. They may overlap, but on small properties the deer may simply move off your place for the fall. I’ve had them do this and then show back up in December or January. Other bucks are doing the same though, that’s why you can never tell what you might see during the chase or rut. That keeps it interesting !

[Apodz]

I bet we wold be surprised of how many of these bucks that “disappear” are probable at times within 50-100 yards of us and we never know.

Bucks absolutely have summer and winter ranges. I deal with it every year.

I posted something about this the other day sort of. It would be kinda cool to have a map that showed me with red dots on it exactly where every buck was during that particular time. Not for any other reason than just wanting to know. And for my sanity lol.

[Qban]

Originally Posted by AntlerCollector

Where do they go?







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Brutal!

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Snowflake Killa

It's the way mother nature intended. They go a couple of miles away to someone else's area and they shoot them. And in return you get there crappy deer to look at.

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Lmao

[CEO]

I had a target buck for three years on one of our leases. He would be on the camera from mid January until the weekend before bow season started. He'd disappear and always show back up around January 15th. Had to tip my hat to that old booger.

[Mudslinger]

Deer's home range can be WAY bigger than most think. Research has shown that they can cover a lot of miles or just a few hundred acres in their home range.

[Patton]

Originally Posted by Apodz

I bet we wold be surprised of how many of these bucks that “disappear” are probable at times within 50-100 yards of us and we never know.

x2 I believe that as well. Scent checking the feeders with very little intention of ever coming in/showing himself.

[Johnny Dangerr]

They have been on the acorns and now the pecans are starting to fall. They will be gone for a couple of more weeks................

[ttaxidermy]

As the rut gets close they travel and during the rut some travel a very long way. Radio collared mature bucks have been known to travel as far as 10 miles in one direction. And many of those traveled at least a few miles..

[Tx.Fisher]

When we hunted out in Crockett county, we had 11 stands on 7000 acres. The bucks would roam all over that place. I remember three consecutive days I saw the same buck in three different stands. All the stands were 1-2 miles apart, and he was close to 4 miles from the first day I saw him.

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by Johnny Dangerr

They have been on the acorns and now the pecans are starting to fall. They will be gone for a couple of more weeks................

No acorns or pecans on our lease.


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[rtp]

Yall are going to have ol' JSHOUSE having nightmares again with this topic.

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by Tx.Fisher

When we hunted out in Crockett county, we had 11 stands on 7000 acres. The bucks would roam all over that place. I remember three consecutive days I saw the same buck in three different stands. All the stands were 1-2 miles apart, and he was close to 4 miles from the first day I saw him.

My wife shot a deer high with the crossbow last season that my dad saw a few days later 1 mile away and my FIL ended up killing him 4 miles from where he was originally shot.


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[BitBackShot]

The good news is that sometimes bucks that disappear from someone else's place suddenly show up at yours. That's what makes it fun.

[BitBackShot]

The buck in my avatar was absolutely as spooky as all get out. I'd see him from a few hundred yards off and he was literally on my camera at my feeder 3 times a day all summer, and he'd always disappear right around bow season.

I had him coming in ONCE from the exact opposite spot I thought he'd be coming from and accordingly, the wind got me and once he got about 75 yards from me, he bolted and stayed gone the entire rest of the season. The following year some dude on a tractor shot him at like 20 yards with an open-sighted 30-30 with his nose up a doe's you-know-what. Went from spookiest deer in the woods to totally brain dead. Tractor was running, didn't bother him a bit.

That's deer.

[ttaxidermy]

Originally Posted by Tx.Fisher

When we hunted out in Crockett county, we had 11 stands on 7000 acres. The bucks would roam all over that place. I remember three consecutive days I saw the same buck in three different stands. All the stands were 1-2 miles apart, and he was close to 4 miles from the first day I saw him.

Yep..

A lot of hunters don't realize how far bucks, on the prowl, will travel..
When I hunted out west of Robert Lee in Coke county years ago I would climb up on top of the highest mesa we had.. From that vantage point I could see for miles in every direction.. During the rut, from this vantage point, I would routinely see bucks travel in every direction for literally miles and it didn't take them long either.. They can cover some ground at a fast walk or slow trot!!!! I would spot them as far away as I could see with my 12x bino's to the south and watch them walk as far as I could see to the west.. It was the same scenario in every direction. I always knew that they traveled long distances but that was a real eye opener.. Very few bucks did we ever see twice once the rut kicked in..

[RattlesnakeDan]

Yes.

[bakin7005]

Originally Posted by AntlerCollector

Where do they go?







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Need the recipe bruh! What's all that crumbly goodness on top?

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[jshouse]

Originally Posted by rtp

Yall are going to have ol' JSHOUSE having nightmares again with this topic.

yes sir, been there for sure. my PTO bank is still trying to recuperate from 2012-2015 and all the days i spent chasing a deer that was never going to come

[Abcdj]

Yes we wonder all the time? But we know the answer at our place. They just simply jump over the fence and sometimes are never seen again. We have probably looked at 200-300 bucks that we never see more than one time in our 14 years that we thought, man that's going to be a good one. We share about 4 miles of fences with two neighbors. One is the Waggoner 530,000 acres. The other place joins both us and the Wag and it is 20000 acres. Neither has hunted till 2 years ago. The Wag started hunting operations but the areas they hunt in are 25-30 miles from us. That is a lot of no pressure, free range country for the big bucks to get lost in!

[SmTx]

Someone had a thread over this a few years ago. Talks about the deer going on a walk about.

[quarterback]

Been giving this a lot of thought. I'm chasing a mature 8 point and have trail cam pics of him at the feeder but haven't seen him when I hunt it. I'm convinced that he beds close to the feeder area and sees and/or smells when I come in to hunt it. You can only be so stealthy when slipping into your hunting area and these older smart bucks can figure you out pretty quick.

[Farmdog]

As mentioned before, a big cat can mess up a good area for awhile, I never used cameras so I was oblivious to this problem Im trying to learn the camera deal, I imagine its hard not to assume the worst but hopefully most are still alive?!