Mule Deer-How Far to Winter

MT_55

Active Member
Messages
289
Hey guys,, Been a lurker for a long time now.,,Love the site and discussion. I have the opportunity to shed hunt some new private ground in Eastern MT. I haven't been to it yet (only in the fall) in the winter to establish any kind of idea of whether or not the deer winter on the property. It's about 10,000 acres of mild terrain, some creeks & a fair amount of flat ground. Before I make the drive up I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it.

There are a LOT of deer on this property in the fall..I'm just hoping they don't leave the area altogether. There's some food sources and decent cover as well but I haven't been able to confirm with the landowner if they winter there. How far have you seen deer travel to find their winter destination? I guess, have you seen them go more than a few miles or is it typically the first food & cover they feel comfortable with? Just looking for some thoughts.

Thanks!
 
>Hey guys,, Been a lurker for
>a long time now.,,Love the
>site and discussion. I
>have the opportunity to shed
>hunt some new private ground
>in Eastern MT. I
>haven't been to it yet
>(only in the fall) in
>the winter to establish any
>kind of idea of whether
>or not the deer winter
>on the property. It's
>about 10,000 acres of mild
>terrain, some creeks & a
>fair amount of flat ground.
> Before I make the
>drive up I'm trying to
>figure out if it's worth
>it.
>
>There are a LOT of deer
>on this property in the
>fall..I'm just hoping they don't
>leave the area altogether.
>There's some food sources and
>decent cover as well but
>I haven't been able to
>confirm with the landowner if
>they winter there. How
>far have you seen deer
>travel to find their winter
>destination? I guess, have
>you seen them go more
>than a few miles or
>is it typically the first
>food & cover they feel
>comfortable with? Just looking
>for some thoughts.
>
>Thanks!

It all depends. Deer can and will migrate a very long ways. Over 100 miles just depends. Locally the deer migrate from as far as 60 to 70 miles. Only way to know is to actually get out and look.
 
Oh no.. That's not good. SO, if some migrate that far, some must stay fairly local too? I guess I'm trying to figure out if that's the norm or if more deer than not stay local to their home territories.

And yes,, I will get out there and look, just want to make sure the drive is worth the possibility that a portion of these deer stay local.
 
What is the elevation of the property? Deer my leave the property to winter in another locations, but other deer may travel into the property to winter.
-"mello"
 
Mule deer in Eastern MT for the most part stay within 5 to at most 10 miles. Many stay put all year.
One thing that would concern me is that the land is mostly flat. Deer in eastern Mt like to winter in the rough places. I would look in the steepest places on the property.
 
I would listen to antlerradar, if anyone would know, he would. In my experience in eastern mt, I usually find the bucks I have sheds from within a mile or 2 of where the sheds were dropped during the November gun season.
 
Wow, Thank you guys. That's very very encouraging. I ran a topo search and it looks like most of the property ranges from 2850 elevation to 3150 in some places,, with most being from 2850 to around 3000 feet. And after further investigation there is a lot of change up and down.. Some appear to be fairly steep changes. I think it could be good,,but I'm just not sure if that's enough?
 

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