As bucks’ antlers reach their peak of growth in late July, early August, sometimes their owners are caught on the move during the daytime on what is now termed a buck excursion.
Loosely defined, a buck excursion is when one of these antlered critters leaves its home range and heads out, possibly for miles.
And then in a few days … back on familiar turf.
Sometimes the entire bachelor group goes on sabbatical, other times a couple bucks get the urge.
Buck excursions occur at different times of the year.
The mid-summer excursion is one I eagerly look forward to, hoping the ghost buck will show again as the rut ramps up.
One of many studies on buck movement, specifically Maryland deer, recorded that these bucks on furlough switch from moving 85% during dark hours to being on their feet 70% during the daytime at peak rut.
The good news for deer hunters is that whether we hunt on a small 15-acre property or range through thousands of acres of state land, the phenomenon of the big buck excursion seems to be an equal opportunity employer.
We all have a literal shot, or do we?
In all the vast server storage of research, where is the answer to the big question?
I mean, where are these bucks going and why?
To date, researchers have posited a few scenarios, from speculation that bucks on excursion are on a vacation, or the excursion is a reaction to changes in food and/or mineral sources.
But since most excursions occur during the rut, it’s also a safe bet to assume a gal may be involved.
An excursion is a trip off the beaten path.
But should these buck excursions be defined in that way, as something of an anomaly, just because they occur outside the home range?
Maybe these rut-oriented variations in buck behavior have a specific destination.
Not just an excursion, but a rut trip to a particular neck of woods.
A Texas study showed that three alpha bucks (old bucks) traveled from different home ranges to the exact same little woodlot.
Then maybe, when bucks are on excursion, they are really going to a specific place for a reason.
That hypothesis sure fits with my anecdotal experience.
I remember still-hunting a Pennsylvania ridge 30 years ago at the end of bow season and watched through the late afternoon until dark, a slow parade of bucks moving and milling around in the hardwoods and hemlocks.
An amazing sight, so many big-racked bucks acting out, posturing, and just hanging. Not feeding, not chasing, not bedding. And some delinquents were standing around, too.
Second instance: years ago, when fall turkey hunting here in New York, I half slid down a steep slope next to an abandoned oil well shack and popped into a cluster of big bucks. Stood there with my mouth open, surrounded by half a dozen large-racked bucks.
When I came back with my bow, they were gone. Typical.
Is it possible that what has been termed as “buck excursions” during the rut are something different?
And when we see a big buck on the move in this way, he isn’t going on vacation but has a specific destination in mind. He knows where the party is and he’s going to crash it!
The exact location of these gatherings is a mystery to us.
And we certainly aren’t invited.
We just see them once in a blue moon, moving … passing through.
The good news is that we know when the rut peaks are going to happen this year: the first peak around Halloween and the other will crest around Thanksgiving.
One for the archers and one for firearms.
During those two high points, bucks can be on the move anytime including the middle of the day, not just dawn and dusk.
Pack a sandwich and something to drink. Hunt high noon. Enjoy eating lunch back at the camp with the gang some other day. This isn’t the time to do that.
When Mr. Fantasy is on his feet at noon, set up in your best travel corridor to catch that party crasher on his excursion.
— Oak Duke writes a biweekly Outdoors column.
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Bucks go on summertime excursions. What we know about why | Column
Reporting by Oak Duke, Outdoors Columnist / The Evening Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Oak Duke, Outdoors Columnist | USA TODAY Network
