A mature whitetail buck’s drive for dominance never ends. There is no question that a buck’s aggressiveness peaks in November in the North. However, when the rut ends fighting does not. It has been my experience that during December and early January just as many injuries and broken antlers occur as in November. A case […]
Tag: Late Season
Alsheimer: Bucks Still Rub After Breeding is Done
By the end of December northern bucks have pretty much lost interest in does, so their desire to breed is a thing of the past. One rutting behavior that is tough for bucks to turn off is rubbing. In spite of decreased testosterone levels bucks will make rubs until they cast their antlers. However, the […]
Alsheimer: Late-Season Hunting as Simple as Finding the Food
By mid-December the landowner who has the food has the deer. With November’s rut history bucks have had enough time to recover from the rigors of the rut. It’s now time for them to replace fat reserves lost in the rut. In heavily forested regions of the country, browse from maple, oak, ash, basswood and […]
Alsheimer: ‘Second Rut’ Offers Second Chance at Bucks
In fine-tuned deer herds, the majority of breeding will be over by the time December’s recovery period is in full swing. However, on good whitetail range where the herd is healthy and the fawns of the season are large enough, some December breeding will occur. In my area of western New York, many doe fawns […]