She's In Charge

[SplitG2]

John Ozaga had an interesting article in the Sept 2010 issue about the female's role in mate selection.  The article made me think of this series of pictures one of my buddies got a few years ago on a scrape.  To me these pictures definitely support the idea of a doe also seeking out a buck, just not sure if she is after this particular one or not.

[Woods Walker]

When it comes to breeding, it's the DOE who controls who, where, and most importantly when. All the buck does is keep himself in a constant state of "READY", and in constant search for a doe that MAY be receptive to him from October through much of December, with peaks and valleys of activity. That's all he can do. She governs the rest.

This is why I learned a long time ago that if you want to shoot a buck, hunt where the does are. They are his whole reason for being for about 2 1/2 months!

[scottflesher]

that's pretty interesting and neat to see. I've heard that does will select the healthiest buck (genetics considered also) to ensure that the fawns have a higher chance of survival. Guess it's a good thing for us that deer don't have the preverbial "beer goggles". [:D]

[dmcianfa]

I think we'll find that this is not only true with whitetails!!!!![;)][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Patriot]

This is a very interesting topic.  I've never thought about it before.

[SwampLife]

I read the article and thought it was great, I love learning new things, although part of me feels like a lot of what we are spending so much time trying to figure out is just over-thinking and over-complicating a fairly simple predatory scenario.

The series of pictures you posted are great but could be coincidental. Perhaps the doe is just bedding in a food source at night, which is very common and happens to be next to a fresh scrape. Or she could be selecting her mate by using the scrape, who really knows? She is like 7 hours behind he buck, who knows where that buck is by then, he may be chasing does miles from there or he may already be tending another doe, he might be back right before daylight to head to bed or he may not return for days. Too many variables for me to wrap my head around this theory and how to apply it to my hunting strategy...

Great pics and interesting for sure.