During the rut, young bucks will point the way to the bruisers.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For the next 12 months, renowned wildlife photographer Tommy Kirkland will give readers an inside look into the private world of whitetail deer.
The degree of hunting pressure, nutrition, buck-to-doe ratios, management, genetics and weather can influence not just the rut’s timing, but whitetail social interactions as well. Even so, by instinct, rutting bucks usually follow the same behavioral traits — even when immature bucks get in on the action.
When the rut is in full swing, mature bucks are tending and breeding estrous does while young bucks, instinctively desperate to test their testosterone, attempt to spoil the party. If two of them gang up on a tending couple, then a ruckus is under way. Although they will not defeat the dominant buck tending his mate, they may instinctively create a strategy of constant harassment.
In an effort to reach the female, young bucks from 1½ to 2½ years in age can be more than curious during the rut. Though they haven’t fully developed, their actions say otherwise.
Once a female is fully receptive, bucks of all ages may swarm the area. Of course, the degree of action depends on buck-to-doe ratios and population densities at hand. Also, if the majority of females are locked up with mature deer, then bucks could be spread out and preoccupied — making them less visible. However, once peak breeding diminishes, the rut changes again.
Areas that practice QDM will most likely experience a few upcoming males that put mature deer to the test. These younger bucks are by no means able to physically challenge older deer. Yet they can frustrate an older buck’s efforts to successfully breed.
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