deer territory

Goose25

Goose25

CGN frequent flyer
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Montreal, Quebec
Every winter over a hundred deer gather in a certain area near my buddy's cottage (south-west quebec)...many people feed them so it explains why they keep comming back. I've been observing them for several years now, and they keep returning. This winter we counted 16 whitetails in my buddy's yard (100'x200') and even had a couple climb on the porch to eat outta the bird feeder. I have a rotweiler (130 lbs) and he just stares at them with us, lickin his lips in amazement. Its amazing what i can observe from watching them for hours. I sometimes sit still on a chair in the yard for hours at a time and find myself completely surrounded.

My question is:
"during summer how far would they travel from their winter sanctuary, and in fall around hunting season what distances can i expect them to have traveled to? do they stay in a general area? are they the same deers from the years past?"

I'd imagine that the pack breaks up once warmer weather permits them to feast on natural vegetation, thus makin them less dependant of us humans. Does and Fawns go that-a-way while bucks go this-a-way.

"Am i wrong to make that assumption? Is there more to it then that?"

I know my buddy took pictures with his digital cam last year and i'll try to get my hands on them to post for y'all to see.... thanks for readin' my ramblings :wink:
 
Whitetail deer have been collared and recorded travelling over 90 miles to a traditional winter yard and they can do this in 48 hours. :shock: Some of them are deer that have survived and they bring the young that were born the previous spring on thier summer range :idea:

The deer will radiate out from the winter yard in the spring to take advantage of the food sources available. If they were to congregate in one area for too long they would exhaust the food supply. Does and fawns stay together and bucks form bachelor groups and keep to themselves until the rut approaches. :wink:

Your assumptions are generally correct... a deer yard is generally an area of mixed old and new cedar growth. The deer traditionally return for the browse and protection this type of cover offers when the snow gets too deep to reach other food sources.

The fact that people are feeding them is not the reason they are there... feeding them in the yards should be left to the Ministry... if you feed them the wrong type of food, at the wrong time, or inconsistantly you can do more harm than good. :idea:
 
Whitetail deer have been collared and recorded travelling over 90 miles to a traditional winter yard and they can do this in 48 hours.
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I have seen this in action.

Having a good hunt near Ardbeg, deer are everywhere, sign is good. We get a couple of nasty days, pooof!, the deer are gone, and not just for a day or two, they are history. ( I can only assume they are heading for Loring.

One of the guys we hunt with has been the local trapper in the area for 35 years, he's pretty good at predicting it. Once it happens, our deer hunt is all but over.
 
This is great stuff gents, keep studying the deer and its behaviour and you will learn so much that will pay off and make the most of your next hunting trip!
Dont you enjoy shooting an old rifle when you know more about it or when you can help out someone who's trying to learn. I suppose its the same with wildlife. I learn more each trip and spend 5-10 times longer in plain unarmed observation than in any hunt!
 
gth said:
I learn more each trip and spend 5-10 times longer in plain unarmed observation than in any hunt!
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Now thats just crazy talk!!!! :shock: :lol:
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Better to talk crazy than get caught out of season with a deer in the truck!
I'm reasonably lucky here as I can see deer almost every day, usually on the way to work. If all I see are Does in Buck season then the trip is not wasted. frustrated yes but never wasted, I pick new likely sites for high and low seats and trail up some ambush sites for when the deer leave cover early on! To be honest with all the enclosed land here you can just about shoot most deer under the agricultural enclosure protection rules all year around. If you know where to go then there is leagal open season stalking available all year here! Just not very comfortable at the height of the roe buck rut in June and July! Even seeing deer from the train window lets me keep up to speed with yearling development etc.
 
Goose25 said:
Every winter over a hundred deer gather in a certain area near my buddy's cottage (south-west quebec)...many people feed them so it explains why they keep comming back. My question is:
"during summer how far would they travel from their winter sanctuary, and in fall around hunting season what distances can i expect them to have traveled to? do they stay in a general area? are they the same deers from the years past?"
Click to expand...

Would your friend's cottage happen to be in the 'lac 31 miles area' ? There is a big well known winter yard ( ravage in french ) in this region. Deer come from all over the place to spend winter there. If you can hunt at your friend's place you are really in luck :)
 
gth:

Thanks for the deer! :twisted:

I hunt north of Maple island, and when the weather turns dirty, we start to get migrating deer, and the quality of our hunt improves exponentially. The deer are moving north-east along the edge of the bush (as opposed to the burn) toward Loring. Every morning we get fresh groups of deer (mainly does and fawns - though some nice bucks) moving through our traditional watches.

I believe that Loring is about 15 miles from us, but I understand that deer travel more than 50 miles to and from that yard. Some years over 20,000 deer will yard at Loring.

BIGREDD:

Up our way, hemlock seems to be the preferred food for yarding deer. Cedar provides great cover though.
 
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