For as excited as both deer and hunters get for the rut, the rut is actually a living hell on mature bucks. We repeatedly tout tight buck:doe ratio benefits for hunting, but we next to never address what those tight ratios put those same deer through. As we are about to explore, rut stress is a truly big deal, despite next to no one talking about it.
This is Chapter 11 of Steve Bartylla’s free online book, Understanding Mature Bucks.
Today, let’s look deeper at rut stress and some myths. In fact, let’s start right off with the myth, since I risk stepping on some toes with it.
In my personal experience, this entire idea that skewed sex ratios and immature bucks breeding does being “unhealthy” is 100% pure junk science, nothing more or less than that. For one, as we’re about to get into, the rut is by far the most stressful and dangerous time of year for mature bucks. Even in the far north, the rut is the most stressful period of the year, more so than even harsh winters. As mentioned in a previous post, Mr. Big is going to lose an average of 25–30% body weight during the rut. Think about what a 300-pound buck has to do to lose 75–90 pounds in less than two months. Now, add a true buck brawl or two into the mix. The result is significantly higher natural mortality rates amongst bucks than does.
Forgive me for not remembering the numbers, but a sprawling high fence in Texas did a study 15-ish years back, where they tracked the percentage of bucks that make it to just 5.5 years of age without any hunting pressure at all. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but it was under 50%. Over half the bucks died before their 5th birthday, merely due to the struggles of their lives — mainly the rut! At the same time, under the same conditions, the majority of the does live significantly longer lives. Skewed sex ratios are natural and they are skewed in areas without any hunting pressure at all.
What is true is that tight sex ratios, combined with higher deer numbers, makes for easier and generally more exciting rut hunting. What’s not remotely true is that scenario is either natural, as just covered, or remotely healthy.
The stress levels Mr. Big endures in the rut are pretty directly correlated with the amount and quality of competing bucks. The higher the density of competition and tighter the sex ratios the more precious energies Mr. Big is likely to have to spend searching for, chasing and then defending estrous does. At the same time, the more and harder he will no doubt have to fight his competition.
Here’s the bad joke in all of this. Supposedly, having sex with more does is harder on Mr. Big than running and fighting even more. Remember, all the running and fighting in skewed ratios result in Mr. Big losing 25–30% body weight in less than two months. Now, tighten those ratios and you put that on steroids, right along with increased rutting related fatalities. I’ve lived and seen it firsthand several times myself.
If you believe nothing else I’ve ever said or wrote, please believe that tight ratios do indeed generally result in more thrilling hunts (the bucks are running themselves literally to death, increasing their sighting rates, along with being over the top suckers for calling and rattling), but they transform the rut from being very hard on Mr. Big into making it a living hell on him. The percentage of bucks I see die from rut-related deaths in tight ratios are WAY higher than in skewed populations, and they’re surprisingly high even in them. As I keep repeating, the rut is extremely hard on mature bucks, and tightening sex ratios puts that on steroids.
If you doubt me, ask yourself a simple question. If given the choice between doing less work to have more sex, or running and fighting more to have less sex, which do you think would be harder on you physically? Why in the world does anyone ever believe the opposite would be true for Mr. Big?!
I’m NOT suggesting there’s anything wrong with striving to tighten ratios to create more thrilling hunts. For those controlling enough ground to pull it off, that’s 100% your choice. Just don’t make the mistake of believing any of those that tell you creating tight sex ratios is healthy or natural. That’s pure baloney.
I went off on this tangent for those striving to manage their deer numbers and ratios. Tight ratios aren’t doing the resident deer any favors at all. In fact, they’re jacking both the buck and doe stress levels through the roof, which will be seen in decreased body weights, reduced overall health and smaller antler sizes, to name a few. There’s a good reason that most all surviving mature bucks’ racks are broken to heck after the rut in tight sex ratio settings. It’s because they just survived their own personal version of hell.
If you want to try to quantify that, just try breaking a tine off a 2.5-year-old’s shed. Then, imagine the force required to snap a main beam on a 5.5-year-old!
I fear I’m struggling to somehow put to words the stress the rut places on Mr. Big. Heck, he’ll make over 200 scrapes and another 200+ rubs, on average, over the rut alone. Add in drastically increased movements, fighting, an incredible amount of posturing and even the act of breeding, which may not be anywhere near as draining as fighting and chasing does, but still burns extra calories. Add it all up and, even in the northland where winter has a serious bite, the rut is by far the most stressful phase of the year for Mr. Big.
Read Chapter 1: Whitetail Tendencies
Read Chapter 2: Whitetail Home Ranges
Read Chapter 3: How Deer Use Core Areas
Read Chapter 4: When Core Areas Shift
Read Chapter 5: Seasonal Shifts
Read Chapter 6: Family Group Dominance
Read Chapter 7: Male Dominance
Read Chapter 8: Deer Population Dynamics
Read Chapter 9: Deciphering Deer Breeding Phases
Read Chapter 10: Big Deer Breeding Behavior
