Last week, I saw 3 bucks. With antlers. In mid-March. Here's the best part: also last week, I planded about 30 pines that were about 4' tall. Today, I noticed two of them rubbed. Not just a little bit, top-killed. Fawns are being born, now. This ain't right.:confused2:
Wow that is strange. We have a very late rut here, well into feb sometimes, maybe even later. I have seen small spotted fawns many times in Oct, Nov... But don't think I've ever seen any buck rubbing at this time of year???:confused2:
In Pa. most of the bucks have dropped their antlers by now, i`ve never heard of anything like that before. Thanks for sharing that info.
it aint just you. thursday feb 28th i seen an 8 with nice set and he had both sides still. a friend of mine came by to pick up his mount yesterday. said he seen one last week with one side still. i figured they be growing back by now. the new racks???oooh:
Deer have a 200 day gestation and fawns keep their spots for about 90 days. I've seen fawns with spots as late as the first week of November. I've noticed this the last few years. I think deer breed much later than was thought. I always thought most all were bred by mid December. Last antlers I saw around here were shed the first week of March.
I just took a little walk, and found 2 more pines rubbed pretty good (and picked up my first tick of the season). A friend of mine reported seeing rubs on his property, 25 miles east of here, as well. The presence of antlers this late is unusual, but not off the scale. Rubbing is something else, altogether. I've always understood rubbing to be a reproductive/agressive behavior, tied to elevated levels of testosterone...maybe the dropping of antlers is dependent on lowered testosterone. Dunno. The rut last year was VERY subdued...few scrapes and rubs, not many deer seen, no bucks chasing does. Something has skewed the calander around here...interesting, and puzzling.
That's weird Dave! My buddies trail camera is still getting pics of a nice 8 point not 30 miles from ya.
