Naturalist's Corner - The Glory Days of Bucks

Welcome to our guest naturalist, Pamela Miller, a Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer and member of the Frontenac State Park Association (FSPA). Pamela is also a wickedly good fungi-finder (I am in awe of her skills ), a fabulous writer and the editor of the FSPA's wonderful monthly newsletters. This timely post from the FSPA's October 2024 newsletter on what's going on with bucks at this time of the year is reprinted with permission.  Enjoy!

A buck (8-point? 7-point?). Look at that overthick neck!
We’re guessing he’s been busy lately. / Photo by Earl Bye

It’s been a while since we wrote about the animal we see almost daily in the park, and which we sometimes take for granted – the white-tailed deer. About one million of them live in Minnesota (and we know, we KNOW, thousands have invaded your garden when they’re not out darting in front of your car).

We’ve written about the white-tailed deer’s gestation, birth and early lives, adding cute fawn pictures to charm you into forgetting about that little business with those night-visiting deer and every single one of your hostas and vegetable and fruit tree blossoms (yeah, sorry, man).

This time of year brings the other end of the life cycle for many deer – in particular, bucks.

Minnesota’s deer-hunting culture remains strong – a good thing, since it keeps deer herd numbers to a manageable level so starvation and disease don’t call the shots.

But now, just a few weeks before the November deer-hunting season begins, fascinating and sometimes seemingly whacko things are happening to the bucks we’ve watched grow from fawns to yearlings to heavy-headed goofballs whose days, in many cases, are numbered. What’s going on with them?

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, by late October, bucks are in the rut and notably aggressive, sparring with other bucks, hapless trees, and whatever else gets in the way of their testosterone-addled vision (that could be you, Mabel – don’t be sidling up to handsome, staggering bucks this time of year with your fancy little cell phone camera).

Love-hungry bucks scrape the ground with their front hooves and mark it with their aromatic urine; wallow in mud or dust to share their (surely very attractive to someone, something, somewhere, not you or me, Mabel) scent, and compulsively rub their antlers on tree trunks to build up their neck muscles, stake their territory and announce their breeding availability to does. They drool and curl their upper lips when near a doe in estrus.

Meanwhile, also this time of year, you’ll see large groups of deer move into farm fields and roadside meadows and farm fields, almost fearless in their incessant grazing, as they fatten up for the coming winter. But bucks aren’t usually with them. In late October and November, bucks travel solo and in broader ranges, and eat and sleep less. They have one job, well, maybe many jobs that are part of that one job, if you know what we mean, and we think you do, and they’re hopelessly devoted to it.

Glory days! Enjoy, staggering bucks, because November is coming.

And it’ll soon be time for you, non-addled human hikers, to don your bright orange wear. Here’s information about this fall’s deer-hunting seasons.

These guys likely aren’t too happy to see each other, or the photographer,
or anything that isn’t a doe in estrus. Bucks become fierce, aggressive rivals
during the autumnal rut. / Photo by Steve Dietz

If you enjoyed this month's column, I highly recommend subscribing to the Frontenac State Park Association monthly newsletter . It is full of lively nature articles, events at the park, poetry and photos that invite you to step out and learn about our natural world.