Ask The Biologist

Whitetails don’t always follow our neat little timetables.

QUESTION: I was on a turkey hunt in central Florida last spring, and I swear I saw a hard-antlered buck chasing does. I thought the rut was in the fall. Is this possible, or was something else going on? And why didn’t this buck shed its antlers?

ANSWER: Timing of the rut tends to be more synchronous in northern latitudes where there are selective pressures at work. Most breeding occurs at the optimum time for birth the following spring. If fawns are born too early, there will not be enough food for does to nurse their newborns. If they’re born too late, they will not have achieved sufficient growth to survive the winter. As you move south, those selective pressures become less important.

In a sub-tropical climate like Florida’s, fawns could be born well outside this optimum time window and still survive. In an average year that might not be the case, but nature is always pushing the envelope.

Putting a Hoof Down: Why do does stomp at danger? Find Out The Answer!