Rutting Bucks and where they bed?

[Autumn Ninja]

On several occassions I have seen does work a scrape outside of a buck bedding area that is obviously the buscks scrape and bed very close to the scrape as if waiting for the buck to return.

I have seen this many times also.

I think the word "chase" is to figurative. Maybe rephrase with "make themselves available" or "frequent a bucks core area"...

That sounds much better Ed.....I think some may have the image of a doe chasing a buck around the woods, lol.

Another twist; I have had many people tell me they urinated in scrapes and bucks and does have visited the scrape afterward.

I have never seen or heard of this working with mature bucks, only the 2 and 3yr olds respond to this from what ive seen and read.

Many studies have been done over the years on the subject of breeding. One that stands out to me is, the number of does a buck can breed in a year.

On avg. a buck can/will breed 3-4 does a year.....the most recorded in a study was 7. keep in mind that some of these does are breed by multiple bucks. Its not that uncommon for a doe to have twins from two different bucks.
The studies show that the 5+yr olds participate very little and the 2-3yr olds are running wild....yet they avg. breeding the same number of does in the end.

I think they place themselves and sign in strategic locations to maximize there efforts. After 4-5 years of playing the breeding game, they learn they can only breed "X" number of does each year regardless of effort.

[ryanm]

I broke out my Eberhart dvd's the other night since his focus is hunting the rut in pressured areas. In scouting he looks for secure primary scape areas close to buck bedding and often has gotten his opportunities to shoot the animals he has between 11am and 2 pm.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[headgear]

Put out a mock scrape in the back yard, same results as Hodag, more does sniffing around than bucks. A couple of dinks did refresh it for me.

[BCam]

I always thought the reason a buck makes a scrape was actually for the does to mark their avaiiability? Thats just what i was told when i was younger and i hadn't really heard different and my experiences were consistent with this, so i thought it was true. I also never researched it or thought much into it until seeing these threads either...interesting

Regardless, I always see doe tracks in scrapes and have often witnessed them peeing in them, mock or real. Sometimes i see them rub their faces on the licking branches but not near as much as peeing in the scrape itself..

[Hunter74]

[ Post made via Android ] [/quote]
I have personally arrowed 3 bucks that were 5.5, 5.5, 6.5 that were chasing does. But the majority of the mature bucks I have killed during the rut were not chasing does. The majority of the bigger bucks that friends and club members have killed were not chasing a doe.[/quote] I don't have nearly enough of my own experience with this to say what I really think. I have seen several years ago what I thought were old bucks out cruising for or following does. However over the last 5 years I haven't seen this at all just 3 1/2 or younger doing it. I'm just curious where any of these old bucks shot near there bedding area or within what you believe to be there core area they feel safe in?

[ Post made via Android ]