Living on the boundary of a post-disturbance forest area: The negative influence of security cover on red deer home range size

•The study was done at boundary between large-scale burned and unburned forest areas.•Home range size was negatively correlated with percentage of the burned area.•Constant conditions in burned area resulted in similar sizes of seasonal home ranges.•Presence of cover enabled deer to move within smaller ranges during the hunting season.•The study emphasises the importance of security cover in deer ecology.