Interesting white tail behavior

[hickslawns]

Pretty interesting. This is the "Broken Beam" buck on a farm i am hunting. Pictures started around 0012 at picture 277 and ended at 0212 picture 630.

Over 300pics of this dude. Spent about 2min checking the area and then bedded. Shortly after, a short tined 10pt he runs with came in to the scene. Broken Beam never got up. His eyes never closed, his ears continually moved. Other than reaching back to lick or scratch, he didn't move. Had the occasional turn of the head in different directions, but never got up. At the 2hr mark, he got up, stretched, shook like a dog, and walked off. In later pictures, it appears the wind picked up and it had started to rain. Coons triggering the camera helped clue me in. Might be the reason he moved, or maybe he was just done bedding. Pretty cool series of pictures to watch.

You have got to love observing the behavior of a buck!

 

[RedCloud]

Man that short tine 10 is a bully lol. Go over and start trying to fight while the big guy is trying to sleep lol.

Pretty cool pics. Thanks for posting them up buddy.

 

[Riverdude]

Great photos, good luck with him.

 

[tuffshot]

Rattle

 

[hickslawns]

Man that short tine 10 is a bully lol. Go over and start trying to fight while the big guy is trying to sleep lol.

Pretty cool pics. Thanks for posting them up buddy.

Not an expert here, but if I had to guess the Broken Beam buck is the dominant one. He didn't even get up.

My buddy has an opinion that most big bucks run in two. He thinks they do the majority of the year, even through the rut when they are not off with a doe. He thinks they watch each other's back. In the last two years I have gotten much better trail camera pictures than the first year I ran them. I am starting to think he might be correct. The more pictures I get of buck pairs, it seems it is always the same couple bucks that run together. Anyone else have input or opinion on this? This is one of the reasons I posted it up. I would love to hear more input on your experiences.

Tuffshot? You have some whitetail wisdom. Have you seen it in your years of hunting them?

I am a sponge for knowledge about whitetails, and specifically mature ones. I would love it if we all learned a little bit from me posting something like this on the boards. Isn't that the reason we keep logging onto TOO? lol

 

[Gern186]

Phil, I think you are on to something.... My experience has shown that big bucks will run together this time of year, but I think they branch out and go their separate ways in about 2 more weeks when their testosterone kicks in and they can't stand to be around each other any more.....

Remember those 2 locked monsters from over here I posted last year? Well, those bucks ran together all summer and into late September/ early October, then they got into a knock down drag out fight and killed each other. The year before last, that giant 10 was with my avatar buck the night I missed from the ground in the cornfield in late september.

 

[tuffshot]

I'm wondering if he is injuried or sick?
In the 5th picture the standing buck pushed pretty hard while lifting the back leg and that should have gotten
more of a responce.

 

[jagermeister]

Interesting pics for sure. I don't know that I've ever gotten buck pairs on the trail camera after the first couple weeks of October. That is, unless they were on the trail of a doe or something... and then they're not really together, it's just one further behind on the trail. It's an interesting theory that your buddy has, Phil. But the whitetail is one of the most studied animals out there... and all you ever read about is how bucks can't stand each other once the testosterone levels increase. Not saying anybody's wrong here... It's just hard to go against a few decades worth of research.

 

[hickslawns]

Chad- You and I ate lunch with the guy I am referring to. He is not an internet forum guy, but a hardcore deer hunter. On his farm last year we had a pair and sometimes a trio running together. Those two weren't seen together much during the rut, but by mid December on they were inseparable. I am thinking he is onto something and the older they get the more the hang together. It is like a mutual respect and trust thing. It would help explain why some of them make it so long. Hard enough to fool one mature buck, let alone two. It is like Greg and Jesse, hang together before and after the season but part ways during the rut. rotflmao

 

[hickslawns]

I'm wondering if he is injuried or sick?
In the 5th picture the standing buck pushed pretty hard while lifting the back leg and that should have gotten
more of a responce.

I suppose it is possible, but I have pictures of him from velvet until now and he hasn't shown me anything out of the ordinary. Totally possible I missed something though. Here are several different views. I have over 350 pics of him just in this series plus several more on another camera card on the same property.

 

[Fluteman]

Phil, I have three bucks that have been running together for three years now. Short Tine Ten, Claw, and Big Sixx have been homies since day one. Last year, they stayed together clear up through October, then split up. Claw disappeared, but I continued to get pics of STT and Big Sixx together clear through Feburary when I pulled my cams. The year before, I have video of all three of them together at one time or another, and this year they are still together. I will say that Big Sixx seems to be a bit of a loaner than the other two.