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An ability to adapt to the encroachment of man and modern management policies have made the white-tailed deer the most plentiful and widespread of all big-game animals in North America. Loss of habitat and the gradual urbanization of rural areas have forced the whitetail to mingle with mankind. Although, many deer coexist alongside livestock and in city parks, they are still whitetail subject to the same primeval dictates that drive them to forage for food, collect in herds and mate in cyclical patterns.
Native Americans believed that deer movements were affected by the moon, wind and rain, and it turns out they were half right. Current studies indicate that deer activity is indeed driven by temperature, moon phases and even barometric pressure. Still, the most consistent variables are daylight and the tilt of the earth's axis, which triggers the seasons as well as the annual cycle of antler growth, rutting and mating.
Whitetails exist in a matriarchal society and bucks live separately from does and their offspring until the breeding cycle begins. Bucks will linger with their does for part of the winter, but basically, once mating season is over, they return to their self-centered, solitary activities. Even when bucks are with a herd they do not lead. Instead, an old doe leads the herd in habitual patterns along the same trails, day after day, altering the route and destination only because of weather conditions, the availability of food or interference from man through hunting pressure or encroachment into their habitat.
A major factor in the behavior patterns of the whitetail is habitat and food sources. When food becomes scarce and during harsh winters, deer seek out food wherever they can find it, which may mean the city park, golf course or the local garden club's prized rose garden. When a plentiful supply of good food is available, whitetail restrict their movements to about one square mile. Although rutting bucks will forsake their normal patterns and travel in a widespread area in search of receptive does, the whitetail do not have even a limited migration pattern. Whitetails stay close to the area where they were born for their entire lives. They are an edge species that generally inhabit forested land and spend a great deal of time along the forest edge and brushy areas from the southern edge of Canada's coniferous forests to the southern U.S. and northern Mexico.
Deer are largely nocturnal, choosing to move about under the cloak of darkness, but not exclusively. With the exception of breeding season, eating is their prime motivator. To maintain a healthy weight, deer need about 10 to 12 pounds of food each day. By preference, they start to feed around 4:30 p.m. each day. When food is plentiful they can fill their bellies in less than an hour, but having bountiful options to choose from, deer tend to be fussier and select only the choicest tidbits. This tendency toward snacking on hors d' oeuvres causes them to walk along slowly, nibbling only the most delicate and desirable herbs and shoots of tender plants.
A whitetail's diet will vary widely depending on the season as well as the area of the country they inhabit. These browsers have a wide variety of preferred food sources that include red maple, white acorns, white cedar, dogwood, apples, sweet fern, witch hazel, oak, sumac, willow, wintergreen, hemlock, fir, arborvitae, snowberry, greenbrier, bearberry, Oregon-grape and pine. Cultivated crops are a strong attractant for deer as well, and fields of corn, alfalfa, clover, soybeans, rye, cabbage, trefoil, lespedeza and winter wheat are a strong draw. An ideal area for deer would be the edge of a forest bordered with a corn, alfalfa, clover or other cultivated crop.
Once the deer have satisfied their hunger, they seek out a place of safety to chew their cud. Since darkness has fallen by the time they finish this process, they generally rest until early morning. Around dawn they rise again and feed until around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m., when they return to their bedding area to spend the daylight hours chewing their cud. During the daylight hours, deer often prefer to bed down on ridges. When the sun warms the earth, thermal currents rise and carry the scent of everything approaching their concealed position. Placing a stand between sources of food and known bedding areas is a common tactic that is very productive with proper pre-season scouting.
A common myth about whitetails is that when startled they run until they get to the next county. When deer are surprised, they will run frantically, stopping a short distance away. After stopping, they turn to look back and see if they are being chased. Once they determine that they are not being followed, they will attempt to circle back and return to their favored bedding or feeding area. Does are very mechanical in this habit, while bucks are subject to being distracted by scents on the wind, such as a doe in estrus.
During the months of December and January all bucks lose their antlers. Between January and April a buck has only pedicels on his head, where the new antlers will grow. All summer long, the antlers grow rapidly, encased in a network of blood vessels that nourish growth called "velvet." During this period, bucks are very protective of these soft and delicate growths, opting for a quiet life until fall. Around September, in most areas, the antlers have reached full size and the blood vessels dry up and start to fall off or shed.
During the shedding season, bucks seek out young saplings to rub their antlers on and hasten the process. This period also serves to strengthen the buck's neck muscles, swelled with engorged blood, as they spar and rub against trees in mock battles, preparing to test themselves against all rivals. Keep in mind that a buck in rut fears nothing. When scouting, unarmed, in the fall, remember that a rutting buck will challenge anyone or anything it encounters. This is the only time of year that deer may be dangerous to man.
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Bucks paw shallow depressions in the dirt, called a scrape, where they urinate and sometimes ejaculate. Once the scrape is prepared, they roll in this curious mixture of moist earth, coating themselves with this "buck bouquet," and they're off to create another. Once their scrapes are established, bucks will travel their circuit of "babe magnets" until they find an interested doe that has located their scrape and is lingering for attention. A doe's estrous cycle normally starts in November, again, depending on the region of the country they inhabit. Their heat cycle will peak for approximately 30 hours. If the doe isn't successfully bred in that period, she will come back into heat 28 days later. It is not uncommon for a doe to cycle as many as three times before conception, which accounts for many late-season fawns.
While does willingly mate with several bucks, the latter aren't into sharing and that's when the fights start. Rattling is an effective technique during this period, as bucks also appear to enjoy watching as well as participating. Deer can live up to seven or eight years, but most bucks are killed within a year or two. Big mature bucks make up a very small percentage of a population, with 4-5 year old bucks representing only about 4 percent.
Fawns arrive after a gestation period of 200 to 205 days. Does deliver a single fawn the first time and twins thereafter. Mothering does are reclusive, tending their offspring through the summer, and the cycle continues.
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