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Buck Dispersal

Rackaddict

Rackaddict

Life Member
I just read an article by Bill Winke in the March 2004 issue of Peterson's Bowhunting magazine. It's on page 40 and the title is "Buck Dispersal Hurts Your Hunting". If you have not read it, you should.

The short and much simplified version of the article is to "orphan" as many buck fawns as you possibly can without causing your overall deer numbers to implode. As many as 80% of young whitetail bucks disperse to new home ranges by 1.5 years of age, whereas orphans rarely leave their home range.

It's a great article. It made me want to kick myself for not eliminating does with buck fawns when I've had the chance in the past.
 
Just read the same article. It really makes you think. Just wish I could get all the neighbors on the same page.
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mole
 
As the saying goes "You can't help the helpless"

Does make some sense. I would wonder if other adult does would drive these buttons off though. What did winke say in the article??
 
It said that in a study, 15 buck fawns that had been orphaned and 19 buck fawns that still lived with their mothers were all radio collared. Of the 15 orphans, only one had left his home range by age 2.5 years and as it turned out, an unrelated doe harassed him into leaving. Of the 19 bucks that grew up with their mothers, 18 of them had dispersed from their original home range.

It was a small test group but it does seem to prove a point. There is sexual harassment in wildlife too.
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Yeah I read that before this season and burried 3 does, two had twin buttons the other had one. Now if the neighbors don't bury the 1 1/2 old bucks next year we may get somewhere. mother natures way of preventing inbreeding.

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That may be true Rack, but what good does that do you. If you want to shoot a deer older than 2 1/2 your still not going to have any more mature deer than you had before. When those deer hit 3 they will forget about being a orphan. Eventually they all have to try to establish their own core area. The need to breed will take over. Also in a perfect world that might work, but lets face it there are guys out there that would shoot a button buck. For its first year, its mother pretty much serves as its brain. We have all watched how stupid they are while hunting. They could be downwind and could care less. They learn these survival skills from their mothers. They arnt born with a natural fear for humans. I to would agree that other does would isolate them as well. From watching orphan fawns they really seem to have a hard time joining a group. It seems they bed by themselves and are always feeding just outside the group. I think it would serve the herd better to shoot the matriarchs. Theres quite a few does out there that dont have fawns in a given year. Every generation has the genetic potential to be better than its previous generation.

Not a bad theory, but it sounds to me like one of those things that would work in a perfect hunting world with unlimited land, food, and lack of hunting pressure. Just my opinion.
 
ScottI.C., I guess I'm not following you.
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If you get the chance to read the article it will give you a much better view of the theory than my post I'm sure.
 
Basically all I was trying to say was that in order to increase the number of bucks staying on your land, you need to increase variables like cover and food. I dont think killing the does with button bucks would lead to any increase of bucks over 3 1/2. Ill have to find the article.
 
I've done this in the past and the idea of this is to keep the mother from pushing away her young buck before he establishes his territory. If the mother is around she will push him off. It does work in the right places.
 
The thing about shooting the matriarch is there is another one right behind it to take its place. So in other words you would always have that to deal with. I think what it boils down to is balance. If you hunt a area and all you are seeing are doe and little ones, you probably need to take out some doe's. I think this article is valid. Scotti is right these newborn deer rely on their mother and learn from them which actually proves the point of the article. That is why when the mother is shot you see that same yearling 100 times in that same area before the season is over. That is all they were taught and all they are comfortable with and unless pushed out they will stay with what they know, which in essence is what the article is saying. As far as what happens to those bucks when they get older and are needing to breed... I guess that is up to them but it would make me feel better knowing they have grown up on my hunting ground and feel comfortable visiting the doe's in that area.
 
I haven't read Bill's article but I am familiar with the research it is based upon. It is in the book I've posted a number of times, Quality Whitetails-The Why and How of Quality Deer Management.

I'm leaving in a few minutes to do the Missouri Deer Classic and don't have time to look up details but the gist of the research is that when the button bucks were orphaned close to 90% were still in the area at 2 1/2 but if they weren't orphaned close to 90% had dispersed at 2 1/2.

This is part of my management plan but I also think there is a limit to how many 3 1/2 and older bucks you will hold on a given area especially around rut.

There is lots of other good stuff in the book. I think you can still order it at 800 209-3337.

Old Buck
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On average, each doe has about 2 fawns with about 50% of them being bucks. Let's say that I don't shoot a doe. That means one buck fawn is going to get pushed from the area. Now lets say that I do shoot the doe. Wow, one more buck staying in my area. But, how many does are in the area? 5? 10? 20? I still have most of the buck fawns leaving the area. But, so does the neighbor. Cool! Now I have 5, 10, or 20 buck fawns leaving my woods but I also have 5, 10, 20 of the neighbor's buck fawns moving out and some of them are moving to my area! If I have a doe hot spot, I am sure to draw in some dominant bucks.

To be honest with you, in most areas of Iowa, I don't think this management practice is that big of a deal. Where I see it helping is when you are culling the bucks in your area that are showing bad genetics. Then, you want more of the local buck fawns to stick around with the better genetics and the higher potential that they might have.
 
I was under the impression that a lot of does in an area are related - grandma, sisters, aunts etc, and the young bucks are kicked out to prevent inbreeding. You don't want to end up with a bunch o' Arkansas deer...
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