Dr. Bronson Strickland, co-director of the Mississippi State University deer lab, discusses the typical home range of a whitetail deer. A deer at the beginning of its life typically disperses away from its birthed area and establishes its home range elsewhere. Once the home range has been established by the deer, it will typically stay in a 600 to 1,000 acre area, if the habitat quality is good enough to satisfy that deer’s needs. However, Dr. Bronson says that a deer will move more or less if the habitat either forces it to or can satisfy its needs within a smaller area. Once the breeding season begins, a buck will sometimes double its range looking for estrus does or focal groups of does.
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Does a New Moon Affect Deer Movement
Dr. Bronson Strickland, co-director of the Mississippi State University Deer Lab, discusses the little impact a new moon has on deer movement. He says that there is little support for saying a deer moves more during the day when there is a new moon. The data continually backs up the idea that a d...
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What Effect Does the Moon Phase Have ...
There have been several theories proposed about how the moon affects deer movement. One revolves around moon position and suggests deer movement increases when the moon is directly overhead or underneath. These two periods, each of which occurs once each day, are termed major and minor peaks, res...
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Does Moon Phase Affect Deer Movement ...
One common theory suggests that moon phase can influence timing of the rut, and therefore peak activity periods. We know the onset of breeding season is influenced primarily by photoperiodism - changes in the amount of sunlight as the days grow shorter. This causes physiological processes in deer...
