Distance deer travel

I have read up to ten miles in the rut, but most I think go up to five miles. It seems they go out and back and out again. Per Purdue data bucks move more and more up to the rut.

As soon as I read Purdue I quit reading.

This is a question that has been asked for years but no one really knows the answer to this. There have been countless studies done over the years but results vary from deer to deer because each deer is different. Also, it appears terrain has a lot to do with travel distance. I have read some studies that were done that showed that the flatter more open the land is the further deer seem to travel. Hilly, densely wooded areas like Hoosier National Forest would be areas where deer would be less likely to travel a great distance (more than 5 miles). I know of 2 instances where evidence of large travel distances were uncovered on social media. About six or seven years ago me and my buddy who hunts right next to me were both getting pictures of a very large abnormal buck all summer long. That year during firearms season a picture appeared of the same buck being killed in the next county north. After further digging we found out it was harvested 21 miles from where we were getting pictures of it all summer! There was also a ginormous 8 point that a guy harvested in St. Joe county (roughly Southwest of South Bend) a few years ago and posted on facebook. It turns out some guys in Elkhart county (south east side of Elkhart) had pics of the same buck after seeing this guys picture on facebook. Both parties confirmed it was the same deer and it was harvested roughly 20-25 miles from where it had spent most of it's summer. These may be extreme cases but it appears deer, especially bucks, travel a lot farther than we think. 

Another thing that happens every year around September is the dispersal period where bachelor buck groups begin to start breaking up. Some bucks will be forced out of the area and have to find a new area to live due to lack of dominance. I have not seen any studies that show how much deer relocate during the dispersal period. The fact of the matter is deer are very unpredictable for the most part and each deer is different. 

I would say depends on what area you are in and has a lot to do with habitat, food available and doe density. In my home area I would guess a mile or 2 radius tops, as we have a very healthy doe population and lots of heavy cover and food. Majority bucks I kill I or neighbor will have sheds and lots of trail cam pictures of. On occasion we might have a rouge buck show up but not very often.

Distance deer travel? I have personally seen them travel up to 30 miles before, in the back of my truck that is.

I know deer can and will travel long distances during the rut but I would think if a deer is supposedly killed 20 or so miles from where someone was getting it on camera then there may be an instance of poaching going on. The reason I say this is one year there was an albino buck a guy kept seeing and then supposedly this deer was killed many miles away from where the guy has been seeing it. Little did the guy that said he killed it the deer know it was seen the same day in the area it had always been seen. So the guy got caught poaching this deer. But in the end a deer can and will travel a long way especially to love season.

I'm glad you found this link.  I remembered seeing this a few years ago and couldn't find it for the life of me.

We had a group of does and fawns in our area that included a piebald fawn.
The piebald was killed on a farm about 3 miles south and 2 miles east of us.
This was in Huntington Co. There are open fields and woodlots.

I have pics of same buck 2 miles apart in late December. But that’s not all that far in farm country