November 15, 2006
Breeding peak?
My buddy Dale Harless shot this buck this week with a muzzleloader in Bedford County. This is a great buck, but what makes it really special is that Dale was hunting on national forest land when he killed it. There are big deer on public land, but you have to be patient. Well, Dale didn't. He actually heard this thing as he was walking in to his stand. So he set up there and a few minutes later the buck showed up.
In my previous entry I wondered if the chase was on. As I think about it more, I actually wonder if the chase is actually over.
Here's the deal. Embryonic data has shown that the peak of Virginia's whitetail breeding season is the middle of November. That's today. That buck in the previous entry was actually seen breeding a doe before David Boush was able to get a shot.
The past few days the bucks my friends and I have been seeing haven't really been chasing does. That made me wonder if the rut was still getting rolling. But we also weren't seeing as many bucks as during the first week of November.
So, what I think is happening is a bunch of bucks are holed up with does in tight cover. The bucks we're seeing are between girlfriends, so to speak. Maybe they're not running around because they're already worn out.
This could bode well for next week, the first week of the general firearms season. As more does get bred this week, the supply of unbred does will diminish. So the bucks may have to start working harder again.
I don't know if this is right. But it makes sense, doesn't it?
I hunted for about two hours yesterday evening and saw only one deer, a doe. And it was being chased by a stray dog.
I'm not hunting today or tomorrow, which is OK considering the rain we're expecting. I'm going to try to hit it Friday.
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