These days they still nurse when the doe will allow it but they are no longer dependent on her as their primary source of food...
Large groups linger in the winter cover crops eating their fill...
Individual animals can often be seen in the thick cover of overgrown fields...
As the summer progresses the smaller bucks appear in small "bachelor groups" or individually...
They begin testing their strength against each other as the days get shorter and the rut approaches...
Mature bucks start cruising woods and fields searching for a doe...
The necks on the mature bucks begin to swell and they make rubs and scrapes in likely areas...
Soon they will only be seen in the company of a doe nearing estrus...
Even if they have to run to stay near the object of their desires...
The next two weeks will be the peak of the rut and mature bucks that normally only are out at night will be seen more and more often...
Thanks for visiting and be careful driving if you live in deer country. Deer-car collisions are common at this time of year.
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