Leonard Lee Rue III wrote with unparalleled authority on white-tailed deer, becoming Deer & Deer Hunting’s first major contributing editor in 1977. Over the years, he penned thousands of articles and “Rue’s Views” columns on deer and deer hunting, as well as 31 books on wildlife and photography. He recently passed away on Nov. 4, 2022, at age 96. Below is one of his Rue’s Views articles from the October 2012 issue of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine.
Q: During last year’s rut, my wife and I drove by the largest park in the state. We were surprised to see a buck breeding a doe out in one of the farm fields on the outskirts of the park. I was even more surprised to see that the buck didn’t have a large rack. From a distance, I guessed that he had no more than six points. That’s contrary to what I’ve ever been told about deer breeding. I’ve always been told that the dominant bucks do the breeding and that buck definitely was not a big, dominant buck. Or was he? Was he doing the breeding because there were no bigger bucks in the area to do the job?
— T.L., Vineland, Ohio
A: Being the dominant buck gives a buck the first crack at estrous does, but it does not give him exclusive rights to all the does.
The peak of the breeding season for deer here in New Jersey is from about Nov. 9 to Nov. 21. This breeding period is short because does’ estrous cycles are synchronized so that most of the fawns will be born about the same time. Synchronized breeding and births mean there will be more fawns born than the predators can kill. This is called swamping.
Because of the synchronization of the estrous period, more does come into estrus than the dominant buck can breed. The dominant buck will get on the trail of a pre-estrous doe at least 24 hours before she comes into estrus, and he will stay with her and breed her about six times during her 28-hour estrous period. He will then stay with her for at least another 12 hours. That last 12 hours is to make sure that some other buck doesn’t contribute his genetics to the mix.
With that much time devoted to tending just one doe, a dominant buck may only have the chance to breed with five or six does in any one season.
Therefore, there are always going to be a number of does that will be bred by some of the lesser bucks. That does not mean that the does will be bred by inferior bucks. It just means that the bucks doing the breeding will not have grown old enough, or large enough to be dominant.
If the genes of these younger bucks are from good stock, the genes they pass on through the doe will be as good those of a dominant whitetail.
Q: All the while I was growing up, baiting for deer was illegal. If you discovered where some hunter was baiting, you really didn’t think much of him. Today, baiting is legal here, and I understand why the Game Department has changed its mind after so many years of being against baiting. Our deer herd has gotten too large and we don’t have as many hunters as we used to have to keep the herd more in balance with its range. This new situation has created quite an uproar among members of my gun club. Some guys are in favor of baiting while the rest of them condemn those of us who do it. How much difference is there in planting food plots for deer and then hunting over them or putting out bait?
— T.L., Ringwood, N.J.
A: Those who have read my columns for years know that I have always recommended that bowhunters should seek out oak ridges — preferably white oak if possible — during the latter part of September because that is where the deer are going to be feeding. When I bowhunted in October, my favorite stand was in an old apple orchard because deer love fallen apples. Could it be said that I was using bait?
I see no difference in hunting the edge of a farmer’s field, planting food plots to attract deer, or putting out a bait pile … with the possible exception that a bait pile does concentrate deer to a specific spot.
Baiting doesn’t guarantee a shot any more than the others. In fact, heavily hunted deer will usually visit a food pile only after dark.
A drawback to baiting is that it concentrates deer, which could help spread disease. Meanwhile, an advantage to baiting is that it does help some deer survive a hard winter.
So, I personally neither condemn nor advocate the use of bait piles for hunting deer. It is a choice each individual has to make on his own.
