In the Rut
The Great Outdoors | November 1, 2018
By Jackie Scharfenberg, Naturalist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Cold air fills my lungs. The sun shines less each day. It must be time for the rut – white-tailed deer mating season.
It happens every November throughout Wisconsin.
I began rut preparations back in August, when the shortening days triggered my testosterone levels to rise. First my antlers stopped growing, mineralized (became hard), and shed their velvet-like covering.
In September, I rubbed the soft bark of trees using my antlers. As I rubbed, I left a scent from my forehead gland. The rubs let others know that a big buck roamed this area.
By October, I ate a lot putting on a store of fat. When in full rut, I switch my focus from eating to defending my territory and chasing the does. By the end of the season, I may have lost up to 25 percent of my weight.
As November approaches, I move to the next stage. I locate where the does’ trails cross in an open woods. I find a spot with a limb about four feet overhead, and then scrape the ground bare in a three- to four-foot patch. By scraping I leave a scent from my hoof glands. I reach up to the overhead limb rubbing scents from glands on my forehead, near my eyes, and in my nose. To top off the scrape, I rub my back legs together at my tarsal glands located near my hocks. Finally, I hunch down and urinate down my legs to get the scent onto the scrape. This tells the does I am ready to mate and announces to the other bucks that I am the dominate one in this neighborhood.
Territory
The other bucks in my gang know I am at the top and their ranking
is below me. If a buck from another group wonders onto my turf, well, that beckons a fight. We size each other up to make sure we match in size. If not, the smaller buck turns tail and leaves. If we compare, we lower our heads, maybe side-step toward each other, and finally charge butting heads and rattling antlers. We fight until one gives up and leaves. Size of body and antlers matter in these challenges.
Mating
When a doe comes into estrus (heat), she finds a buck’s scrape and does her own leg-rub/urinate thing over the scrape. The buck smells her scent and pursues her. When the two meet, he comes at her stiff-legged, head down, lip curled to his nose trying to get her to urinate, so he can smell and/or taste it to determine if she is ready to mate. If yes, the two go to a secluded spot to reproduce. They only hang together for a day or two as she remains in heat for only 24 hours. If all goes well, she will deliver one, two, or more fawns the following May.
Boy, the rut wears a buck out with all the rubbing, scraping, pursuing, fighting, and mating. I hope I will have plenty of fat left to make it through the winter.
