SCOUTING FOR DEER

I set up so I could get a better view of the area I saw two different bucks work some trees overhanging branches  and paw the ground by them. On the morning I took these pictures I saw an interesting new development. It was still early and while there was enough daylight to take a picture it was too dim to get cleared pictures. That said, it is what it is and what happened is what is what counts.

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A doe came to a tree with reachable lower  limbs and chewed, licked and pulled them with her mouth. While this was occurring a buck walked up a few yards from the doe.

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Once done, the doe walked away from the tree she had marked. The buck ambled along near her.

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The doe walked along slowly and the buck followed her a ways.

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Then the buck reversed directions and walked back toward the tree the doe had worked. He smelt around on the ground and in the grass.

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He pawed the ground here and urinated.

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The buck followed suit and licked, pulled and bit the same overhanging branches the doe had worked.

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He spent the greater part of a minute marking the tree with.

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Meanwhile, a doe watched him from 60 yards away. I took her picture, thinking the buck might show interest in her.

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And when I looked back at the buck he had finished his marking project and had moved on.

Here’s what happened this morning: this is the first doe I’ve witnessed marking the limbs of a tree where a scrape was. This is how the rut begins. And there will be a lot more of it, by both does and bucks, as more and more of them become interested in places where they can meet up.