extremely early rut or immature deer ??

[RAMAMOE]

Hi All:
I live in northern Ontario..A co-worker got some pics of a young buck mounting a doe last week AUGUST 25..I know up here we had an early spring and a long summer . does this mean we are going to have an early fall..Is this buck just rehearsing for the big fall show . Is this kind of activity normal..I have been hunting 30 years and never seen or heard of this kind of rutting behavior so early..any comments would be appreciated . I am hoping to get the pics and will post soon
thanks
stay safe in your stands buckle up

[hunter7558]

That a guy being a guy.... .....it must have been to immature deer messing around.... (experimenting)

[sumner4991]

Bucks are ready all year long . . .it's that doe that has issues.

[See4miles]

The photoperiod (lenght of day and daylight) controls the rut and the testosterone levels in all bucks. This little guy is doing something farmers see quite often with cattle, I think the term is called "Bulling" Cows (females) try to mount cows (other females) and young calves try to mount their mothers. Deer do the same thing. A biologist could give you a real explaination but that young buck was not in rut.

[sumner4991]

Check this out . . .

"North of Florida, rut behavior of males is highly synchronized and triggered by the shortening day- lengths in late fall. However, in Florida and other southern latitudes(such as Texas and Venezuela), breeding is not as synchronized and occurs in all months. The timing of rut differs by region within the state of Florida and may also differ from one year to the next within the same region. Rut in the Nassau, Duval counties' area usually occurs from October through January. The onset of rut in the Panhandle is commonly between a month or two later than that in the northeast. Breeding in south Florida occurs year-round with a peak of rut activity from June through November. Key deer rut occurs from September through December"

Here's the link . . . http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw121

I knew the bucks were ready all year long!

[Pydpiper]

I was cutting trails and shooting lanes last week and came across a fresh scrape line, one in particular caught my attention, t had a frog sitting on moist soil. I reached in with my machete and took a sample, it reeked of pee! (the soil not the frog)
The scrape line was a surprise on it's own so I emailed a friend that has a substantial amount more experience than I do. He said the scrapes are normal but being peed on already wasn't.
Dealing with wild animals full time I can definitely say that they have all been out of character this year, litter sizes have been larger, and certain stages that I have learned to count on have also changed, but most fell a few weeks behind, not ahead.
I think it is going to be a very interesting deer season, and I look forward to every second of it.
If I knew what to expect, I probably wouldn't enjoy it.

[crazyfarmer]

as said, they do that all year long but everyone seldom seems it.. doe mount doe and bucks mount bucks LOL.. just like cattle

you would be amazed what animals do we seldom see all year:)

[Cossack]

Just boys being boys. I've seen a 2 month old fawn try to mount his sister. then his mom; he paid for that
BTW scrapes are made by both genders Scrapes are the FaceBook of the species, where they check to see who'se in town.The ones the bucks make during the rut are just much more numerous and pronounced.

[catcher]

I also found a scrape on Thursday. Which I thought was odd. ...... Maybe the little guy was just practicing practice makes best.

[See4miles]

Summer,
I stand corrected, and I learned something today. Up here in the Northern part of the continent, the rut is controlled by the photoperiod. I also understand that there is a little "lee-way" within that as well.

[gerald strine]

as said, they do that all year long but everyone seldom seems it.. doe mount doe and bucks mount bucks LOL.. just like cattle

you would be amazed what animals do we seldom see all year:)

I was hunting the November riffle season one year when I had a couple of deer come in that I thought were all does after identifying them, well after browsing a few minuets one of the deer mounts the other one and starts going at it I put my scope on that deer and no matter how hard I tried I could not grow antlers on any of those deer.

[See4miles]

It was probably a button buck. I witnessed this very thing last November right in the front yard of my cabin at 3 in the morning. Game biologists do confirm this. In an area with a lopsided buck to doe ratio (more does than bucks), when the peak of the rut is on, the bucks cannot keep up with demand, so even the little guys get in on the action. That's why the MI DNR claims most does get bred, even in high buck-kill areas, because they know the little guys are actually capable.