

Often, twigs are broken off this “licking branch” by the buck’s antlers during the scent-marking process. The males scent-mark the branch by licking the it and rubbing their orbital gland (near their eyes) on it. Bucks almost always position their scrapes under overhanging tree branches. Bucks then mark the area with their scent glands and with urine.
Whats a deer drive Patch#
Scrapes : During pre-rut, bucks use their hooves to scrape away leaves and expose a patch of fresh soil.Bucks rub their antlers on trees to build their neck muscles and to leave their scent. Rubs : Bucks start to build their neck muscles for fighting and start to scent-mark their territories.Bucks are also focused on building fat supplies to prepare for the physical exertion of the rut, but they are also limiting their daytime movement during this time. During this time, maternal groups of deer consisting of does with offspring concentrate on feeding to increase their fat supplies for the winter and the demands of future pregnancy. Pre-rut begins in late September and continues into October. Rut phases and deer behaviorĮach phase of the rut causes predictable behavior in deer-especially in bucks. The box in yellow is the period of the rut, which you can see the antlered component dramatically increases as bucks become more susceptible to harvest during that time. Please note that the total harvest on a particular day is heavily influenced by hunter effort and how many hunters are out on any given day. Total harvest by day separated by antlered versus antlerless. This timing ensures that all fawns will be born at an optimal time in spring that will increase their chances of survival. In Massachusetts, the peak breeding period is between November 6 and November 20. As the season progresses and the amount of daylight decreases, hormones in both bucks and does elevate and create the urge to breed. The timing of the rut is related to the period of daylight. Each fall, breeding occurs around the same time and is not affected by temperatures, rain, snow, moon phase, nor by any other variable. Rut timing in MassachusettsĪ favorite topic of discussion among hunters is the timing of the rut, but no matter how windy, rainy, hot or cold, the peak of breeding is more predictable than people think. This behavior can increase the odds of a hunter harvesting a buck, or even a doe that has been moved from her bedding spot by a buck. This an important time for many hunters because bucks become more active during daylight hours while pursuing does and are less cautious than usual. The rut can range from several months in southern states like Florida to a short window of time in the fall in the Northeast. Rut is a term used to describe the behavior of deer during the breeding season when males pursue females that are in estrous and ready to breed.
