WHITETAIL DEER BEHAVIOR and FACTSClick On Any Picture and Go Directly To My Delicious Venison Recipes!
Here in Wisconsin seeing whitetail deer is so common that we do not give it a second thought. There are not nearly as many whitetails as there was 25 years ago, but that's another subject. In other parts of the country, they are scarce or impossible to find. If you were to look for one, the buck illustrated above would give you good idea on what to look for, but I am going to go into somewhat more detail. Known for that white tail that is lifted ("flagged") to warn the others to get a move on - these deer are very graceful and strong. They can easily clear fences almost at a standstill. Once you are familiar with whitetail deer behavior, your success rate in bagging a deer is almost guaranteed. But what fascinates me is the whitetail deer's behavior not only during rut, but really all year-round. They are a social animal and communicate by sight, sound and smell. It is also very important that they abide by a social hierarchy they establish that all must abide by. I will explain this in a minute. Check out the biggest whitetail deer on record HERE! 
As I am writing this (November 1), last night was a full moon and the bucks are seeking. The cold air at night seems to ignite them into a fury looking for the first "hot" doe. I see them now during the day. The doe at this point, want nothing to do with them.The fight for breeding (pecking) order is well on it's way and Carl had a 8 and a 10 point sparring 15 yards below him yesterday morning while bow hunting. He is a man on a mission. He bagged his doe earlier to get a buck tag, and now it's an all out one-on-one mission for that 170 inch+ Pope and Young buck. He already has these trophies on the wall. The cold autumn air is like no other smell you can imagine. The trees have just dropped the last of the red and yellow leaves and every step you take can be heard for quite a ways in woods if you don't know how to walk quietly. Squirrels are in high gathering mode and chattering at one another and me. It's one of our favorite times of the year. (Don't you love whitetail deer stories?)
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The first signs of activity are seen way before the whitetail deer even thinks about rut. I see a large scrape under a tree that has been started and every buck that walks by will check it out and leave their scent. The dominant buck in the area usually starts the scrapes in early fall and freshens them up before and during rut. To describe what a scrape looks like, see the picture below. It is a circular mark where all of the grass and debris is gone and directly above it is a broken licking branch. Do you see it? This branch has to be within their reach because they leave their scent and saliva on it. They will stand on their hind legs to reach it also.
The reason the branch is broken? One angry buck. He got a whiff of another buck in his territory and likely used his rack to snap the branches off. When Carl puts out fresh dominant buck scent on another whitetail deer's scrape (who is dominant in that area), it tends to get them riled up. They will also tear the scrape up.
As deer pass, they will check out the scrape and may or may not urinate on it. Then the buck will also rub the licking branch above the scrape with their forehead and preorbital gland which releases a waxy substance with his own scent. The next buck arrives and does the same, and soon enough it becomes a very large scrape. The highest activity is usually within 2 weeks of breeding. The dominant buck usually places the same scrape in the same place the following year. The doe will also check out a scrape and urinate on it while rubbing her tarsal glands. This is when the buck will flehmen and see if she is ready to be bred.
Whitetail deer can leave their scent throughout the year from different areas on their body. In the corner of the inner eye you will find a tiny black slit. This is called the preorbital gland, and it secretes a waxy substance that serves as identification among each other when they rub branches, shrubs and trees.
The forehead gland is located between the whitetail deer's eyes and the base of the rack. Again this is a identifiable scent of each deer; to leave their mark and to let the others know that he was there rubbing on trees, shrubs, etc. The metatarsal glands are located outside of the leg above the hoof and the interdigital gland is between the toes of the hooves - on the front legs. This gland of course, secretes a substance so they can be found by fawns or others. During rut, a doe's interdigital gland will signal to a buck that she is ready to be bred. This buck will track her like a blood hound until he finds her.
But before this happens, the hair will rise down their back as they try to determine what it is that they see. A doe (or buck for that matter) will stomp her foot to make the object move, and if nothing happens they may do it again and snort. This signals to surrounding whitetail deer that something is askew. They are on red alert now and if she cannot determine what it is, or if she is still nervous - she'll let out a snort and they are on the move. 
The picture on the right makes me smile because this is a nice buck rub. Don't get me wrong, they get a lot bigger than this. Whitetail deer rubs begin around the end of August - first, to remove the velvet on their rack. It may take a few hours to remove the velvet or a few days. Usually the dominant buck in the area is the first to place the rub. Early fall arrives and rubs are are placed on bushes, saplings and trees to "mark" their area; scent is left. The whitetail buck continuously pushes and scrapes his antlers and forehead against the rub object. Half way through October that low visibility placed rub is now a high visibility rub. He is tearing the bark and "sparring" with the trunks of saplings and trees. During rut, the whitetail buck's neck begins to swell due to the testosterone pumping through their blood. This and the continuous rubbing on saplings and trees, builds their necks up so much that it looks like the buck's head is just placed on the body of some of the bucks...and you can't even see a neck because it's so swollen.
The conflict begins when a dominant buck (or thinks he's the dominant buck) is approached by another whitetail deer and pecking order has not been determined between the two. The dominant posturing of a buck (or doe) includes erecting hair on the body and approaching the other sideways at an angle to look bigger. They will walk stiff legged, ears back and are "ready to rumble." 
However, these are not the drag-out sparring that happens during rut, but certainly dominance is achieved. The does also are apt to have a disagreement every now and then. Usually it is the matriarch doe teaching their offspring a lesson, or fighting for pecking order to remain the dominant doe in the herd. She will stand on her back legs and "box" the other with her sharp hooves.A group of whitetail does that run together are what you would call a "close knit family." The other does are often sisters or aunts and are related in some way, and the offspring of the does are raised by her "relatives" if she is killed. The doe fawns will stick with the mother until they are 1-1/2 years old; or sometimes for life. The young buck fawns are literally "kicked-out" of the pack by the does at a much earlier age. The does will beat and box on them with their sharp hooves continuously so the young bucks run for fear that she will kill him. This is nature's way to prevent in-breeding, which would happen if she did not do this.
A distress call is used by both sexes of the whitetail deer and at any age. They use this continuous uncontrollable scream when they are being attached or are critically injured. If you have ever heard a rabbit scream; it is very similar...and is very unpleasant to hear (to say the least). All members of the family group are alerted; bucks and does run to try to help. At this point they know they are in danger and still come to assist; a great feat for such a nervous animal.
The next 4 whitetail deer sounds are mimicked in the wild by hunters, and many hunters do have excellent results with these calls when they know how to use them properly.
To the hunter, the bleat will bring does to the area and that is what he/she needs to shoot a buck. Therefore, where there are does - THERE ARE BUCKS following close behind. The grunt is a sound made by a buck when it is trailing a doe in estrous/heat (a hot doe). This is one of the most popular of the imitated calls because it can attract a large dominant buck or a number of bucks. Let me explain. During rut, the only thing that the bucks are looking for are hot does; they do not sleep, and rarely eat or drink in two weeks time; many have died. Now, if he has the does in his group bred, he begins the search outside of his territory. I do want to mention that dominant does "grunt." She does this during dominant interactions with others and to call their fawns. If this wandering buck comes upon a doe that is ready to be bred - he grunts - trailing her - which alerts the dominant buck in "his" home area that a strange buck is in his neck of the woods...and trailing one of his hot does to breed her. The fight is on.
The wandering buck is closing in to the doe in estrous and hears a snort/wheeze. A snort or snort/wheeze sound is done when they want to challenge another deer either hierarchically or territorially anytime of the year. It is done especially during rut prior to a serious fight. Turning around he faces the buck who's territory he has trespassed and was "grunting" his doe. This buck's hair is sticking up, and he is walking stiff-legged at an angle towards him, and snorts again. A buck will fight or flee at this moment. A single aggressive snort with no wheeze is a more serious threat to the wandering buck than with the combination snort/wheeze. The picture at the left is showing a whitetail buck curling his upper lip and it is called flehmen. There is a gland at the roof of their mouth called the Jacob's gland and is found in most hooved animals and in this case is used to detect a doe in heat. The buck will lick either the doe or the ground where she urinated or defecated and inhales for several seconds, curling his top lip. The Jacob's gland enables him to detect the doe's scent; that she is close or in estrous. He will also do this anytime during the year when he catches a odor that is new or interests him. He will grunt and bleat like a fawn when he is flehmening; especially if he has found a hot doe. If he makes a series of long grunts, she is almost ready to breed. 
If you are scouting for deer activity I have two pictures for you to use as reference. The photo on the left is whitetail deer droppings and the picture below is of course a deer track. If there is fresh snow, new deer tracks and droppings are easy to spot and a good indication that you have found their home turf.
HUNTING |
