Spikes and Buttons breeding

Joined
Feb 3, 2014
Messages
1,724
Location
Boundary Co. Idaho
I am NOT a whitetail junky or fanatic. But I do shoot them and hunt them. Wanted to ask a general question. This north Idaho and eastern Washington.

I live rural and have 10-15 deer in the yard nightly. We have some funky genetics. Lots of right sides are under developed or melted. And it's on many bucks. Not like an isolated injury causing deformities. Several have f'd up rights.

The most aggressive bucks running the does.....don't even have visible antlers. Had a button chasing deer all over for hours. I would guess he's breeding them?

Same with a melted horn spike. He's pushing does all week.

Wasn't until last night we had a Gagger buck mixed in. He wasn't pushing anyone around. He was lurking outside the group. He showed up out of nowhere. Never say him until three days ago.

Hunting northern Idaho last night. I've seen two shooter bucks in two weeks. I couldn't get on either of them. Here and gone over 1000 yards in a few minutes. Never stopped. Same spot yesterday I saw 4 different bucks. Two were spikes...tongues hanging out their mouths and does' mouths. The other two cruising and pushing were forks.

Do these bucks get to breed? Or is there a Gagger hanging out somewhere kicking their ass before they can mount a doe?

I obviously know about zero on true rut cycles....only third week of November in my area....shit gets real
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,580
Location
Orlando
Any buck a doe will stand still for will mount a doe.

It is all the same genetics - that little spike might be a big 10 pt in 4 years. Plus the does provide 50% of the genetics too.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2018
Messages
475
Location
South Carolina
What's a gagger?

I thought that meant something else.

I've seen much younger bucks chasing does, can't say that I've seen a button head do it, but definitely spikes and fork horns.
 
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