This is the time of year that all archery whitetail hunters dream of. They schedule their vacations, complete the “honey do” lists and spend every minute possible in the woods in pursuit of the wise old bucks that are love sick and searching for a friendly doe. For about a week or two week period, the bucks have let down their guard and are most vulnerable as they throw caution to the wind and hard focus on the peak of the breeding season.

Most hunters are fully aware of the rut and how it is supposed to work. But, now enter a new term that applies to deer activity that will compound what happens with deer movement during the rut. That term is “deer excursion” and it refers to a brief trip or trips that a deer makes outside of its established home range. Let me explain.

Recent studies with GPS collared deer have revealed their home range. These studies also showed periodic trips outside of their established home range, where deer have traveled from ½ mile to sometimes over 5 miles on these excursions. These trips occur with both bucks and does, across all age groups, and just about year round; but, as you might guess, there does seem to be a pretty big jump in this type of movement during the rut. Unfortunately, there seems to be no definite way to predict when and how far a particular deer will travel.

Further, there is an activity known as “dispersal.’ This is where 50 to 75% of all young bucks between 12 and 18 months of age permanently disperse from where they are born. This dispersal activity generally occurs in the same time frame as breeding activity, as the does chase off the yearling bucks in preparation for breeding. Studies have also shown that these same young bucks have a 78% chance of going on an excursion during their first year of adulthood.

Research has shown that excursions occur in all locations, be it heavily forested areas, mixed agricultural landscapes or suburban fringes. These trips occur as frequently on properties that are well-managed for deer as they do on lands that are under no formal management at all.

While excursions are shown to occur basically any time of year, they are shown to occur at a slightly higher rate and for longer periods of time during the breeding season or rut. Studies in Maryland, Texas and Tennessee revealed a marked increase in excursions from pre-rut to peak rut and a significant decrease from peak rut to post-rut. This helps explain why you may see a particular buck only once, or why a trail camera may capture only one image of a particular buck, since it may be on the midst of an excursion. When analyzing data from six studies in six different states on 182 collared bucks from 2011 to 2014, it appears that about half of the animals had the tendency to go on an excursion at some point in their lives, but that number increased to 60% during the time they were engaged in breeding behavior.

One Maryland study tracked the proportions of excursions that happened during daylight hours versus nighttime. It found that study animals went from being active 85% of the time at nighttime during the pre-rut to being active 70% of the time in daylight hours during the peak rut! The ones that lived through the peak rut returned to being active 70% in the night in the post-rut and after. These same bucks traveled an average of 1.5 miles away from their home range, with some traveling up to 8 miles. When taking into account the total path traveled, one buck covered almost 25 miles! Time out of the home range varied from two hours to several days.

So, what does this all mean to you, the hunter?

These studies of excursions help explain the increased activity during the peak rut and the importance of focusing your time afield during this same time period. If your time is limited, then limit your time to this peak activity of the rut. While normal sightings of deer movement occur during the hours of dawn and dusk, you have a realistic opportunity now to see deer moving throughout the day.