Early November. This is the period of the rut when things get surreal.
When traffic started to pick up, the doe and buck sought some temporary cover in the tall, landscaping grass. As it is with doe so often, she suddenly bolted out of the grass and high-tailed it out of the area for another quirky little island of cover basically in the middle of another field - also out in the open and next to traffic. Right behind her was the eager 8 point.
When bucks show up in the strangest of places - in broad daylight.
Drawn by the lust to breed, bucks shadow does in heat, where ever it may take them.
Not unlike a dutiful guy tending his girl all the way to a woman's store at the mall.
The price we pay for love.
I noticed this buck tailing a doe in front of WMU's School of Engineering at daybreak on the 8th. It's possible the doe was grazing there for breakfast and got trapped by the sudden traffic of the day, or perhaps the buck had corralled her there for a private little tryst, away from other competing bucks.
The hunchbacked buck below was little threat because of a crippling wound from a previous year. It was a sad sight to see him limping around, driven by his own lust, hoping to get in on the action. He was a fine 10 point at one time and I'm sure quite a player when it came to the does. He was always a step behind the dominant but would limp away with little more than a stern look.
When traffic started to pick up, the doe and buck sought some temporary cover in the tall, landscaping grass. As it is with doe so often, she suddenly bolted out of the grass and high-tailed it out of the area for another quirky little island of cover basically in the middle of another field - also out in the open and next to traffic. Right behind her was the eager 8 point.
