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Check out this buck's range - Mississippi Delta "update"

Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:35 pm
Posted by The Torch
DFW The Dub
Member since Aug 2014
21097 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:35 pm
[/img]

We captured buck 140 during December 2020 as a 2-year-old. His behavior was normal... until the rut ended in late January and the water began to rise.

Yes, that’s the 1-mile wide Mississippi River, and he crossed it during peak flood stage before he set up shop in Louisiana, 18 MILES from his capture location.

Deer living in areas prone to severe environmental events like flooding go to incredible lengths to survive. He seems quite content in Louisiana for now, but watch for updates because we have a hunch he might swim back to the Mississippi for the fall.

This post was edited on 8/25/21 at 9:08 am
Posted by TheDrunkenTigah
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2011
17532 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:41 pm to
Deer university did an episode on buck seasonal travel and it was pretty interesting. As I recall some bucks went 1000 yards every year to summer, one buck went 25 miles to the same place, passing through several neighborhoods and crossing major highways. There was nothing pushing him out, and he made the migration every spring and fall, they attribute it to the individual personality of the deer.
Posted by bobdylan
Cankton
Member since Aug 2018
1539 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:44 pm to
I wonder how many the river kills on a % basis.
Posted by oleyeller
Vols, Bitch
Member since Oct 2012
32090 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:51 pm to
Id guess round 3... 350 deer a yr
Posted by mylsuhat
Mandeville, LA
Member since Mar 2008
49071 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 7:54 pm to
Yet people will still swear culling free range bucks makes a difference
Posted by Yukon7
Louisiana
Member since May 2018
605 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 8:10 pm to
The biggest reason culling doesn’t make much of a difference is because , how do you determine what doe needs to be culled? A buck actually gets more antler coding genetics from the mother more than the father. This is especially difficult, because a young buck is more likely to move far away from where it was born. So realistically, the doe probably isn’t even on the same property as the buck.

Honestly, the “cull” thing is more of an excuse for some hunters to justify shooting a small buck or a buck that doesn’t meet club standards.
Posted by Ol boy
Member since Oct 2018
3187 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 8:56 pm to
quote:

Yet people will still swear culling free range bucks makes a difference

And there will be people who use this one deer to justify shooting any deer because “ they travel 18miles and someone else is gonna shoot him”.
The same MSU group has some bucks spending 80% of its entire year in a 40ac block!!
GPS data has or should be eye opening and game changing for what most people think they know about whitetails and MSU is leading the charge on that data gathering.
Posted by Goldensammy
Cypress, TX
Member since Jun 2016
816 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:14 pm to
Very cool info. Thanks for sharing. Be sure to update us in the coming months.
Posted by The Torch
DFW The Dub
Member since Aug 2014
21097 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:17 pm to
quote:

And there will be people who use this one deer to justify shooting any deer because “ they travel


I have an uncle who has hunted Davis Island for 30 years or so, old schooler. I've been a few times in those 30 years.

He and everyone else always said "all" their deer left every year and came back, most swim the river once flooding starts.

I doubt they "all" come back, I'm sure some die and some find a new spot to live that doesn't flood as much.
Posted by GREENHEAD22
Member since Nov 2009
19846 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:33 pm to
Exactly, there are deer who have done the complete opposite and pretty much stay in one place their whole life. I think the takeaway should be that all deer are unique, what you know about one probably won't be the same for the next.

Some bucks are brawlers and all they do is fight and try to frick. Others do the exact opposite and do very little breeding. They are all unique is the growing consensus.
This post was edited on 6/8/21 at 10:06 pm
Posted by dstone12
Texan
Member since Jan 2007
32529 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 9:37 pm to
that's a cool map and the info you posted.



Posted by greenbean
USAF Retired - 31 years
Member since Feb 2019
5165 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 10:29 pm to
Boudreux gonna git dat buk.
Posted by Outdoorreb
Member since Oct 2019
2602 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 10:31 pm to
If I am not wrong there is new data(according to the states biologists) that if a buck is in the lower 30% of his age class he will never meet regional averages. I have even had state biologist say that if a spike has less the 2” spike to kill him. Buck:doe ratio is 1:1.5 and I can’t just kill 45 does and a couple bucks. We will start this management program this coming fall.

This is in strict heard management where it is more about available food/nutrition for other deer/bucks. This recommendation is for 3,000+ acres. It is more about letting your average and above average deer strive by taking the inferior competition out. Again, it isn’t about genetics, but it is about available nutrition. This is also regional averages on score and points.
Posted by Goldensammy
Cypress, TX
Member since Jun 2016
816 posts
Posted on 6/8/21 at 10:31 pm to
quote:

Some bucks are brawlers and all they do is fight and try to frick. Others do the exact opposite and do very little breeding. They are all unique is the growing consensus.


Sounds very similar to humans, right?
Posted by iwantacooler
Member since Aug 2017
2334 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 3:56 am to
I’ll be damned. His December/January locations were on what was my old deer camp before the state acquired it a few years back.
Posted by 257WBY
Member since Feb 2014
6060 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 6:02 am to
Very cool information. Based on the data, the buck swam across the river at flood stage in an almost straight line. Now that’s hard to believe. Not sure a fish could even do that.
Posted by Lord_Ford
Louisiana
Member since Jun 2016
4093 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 6:53 am to
Makes you wander why we have to debone deer meat coming from a neighboring state
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
82922 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 6:58 am to
Just N of Vicksburg, right?
Posted by TheDrunkenTigah
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2011
17532 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 7:04 am to
quote:

This is in strict heard management where it is more about available food/nutrition for other deer/bucks. This recommendation is for 3,000+ acres.


They refer to this as standing crop management but you left out a very important caveat that even they admit, some bucks are late bloomers and this only works if your shooters are 5.5+ and every gun on your place can accurately age a deer on the hoof. It’s the absolute finishing touch on top of an otherwise perfect management scenario, where age structure and ratio are perfect and the only limiting factor is biomass, and in reality it’s to shave off a little of the protein bill for places that charge by the inch.
Posted by iwantacooler
Member since Aug 2017
2334 posts
Posted on 6/9/21 at 7:12 am to
Yes. What is now Phil Bryant WMA.
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