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Yes, deer will travel in bachelor groups until the Fall rut.
Maybe elk do the same? Last month in Colorado, every early in the morning, I saw about 6 bull elk moseying along. I was even able to see the flattened grass where they had bed down the night before, a cosy group.
Yep, elk and deer do form bachelor groups post antler drop as that serves to establish a pecking order of sorts to cut down on damage done to each other during the rut which involves some figthing among suitors for the affection of the does.
while the antlers are growing, they are composed of viable tissue that will easily bleed if damaged, scraped. almost like cutting yourself shaving where the amount of blood seems inconsistent with the injury.
Not unusual to see several bucks during the offseason. sometimes a yearling buck hangs with the does.
It is amazing to consider that elk, deer and moose can accumulate so much calcium in such a short time to form massive antlers which then drop off as the process begins again.
Looking for dropped antlers in the late winter/spring is a form of cheap entertainment.
Yep, elk and deer do form bachelor groups post antler drop as that serves to establish a pecking order of sorts to cut down on damage done to each other during the rut which involves some figthing among suitors for the affection of the does.
while the antlers are growing, they are composed of viable tissue that will easily bleed if damaged, scraped. almost like cutting yourself shaving where the amount of blood seems inconsistent with the injury.
Not unusual to see several bucks during the offseason. sometimes a yearling buck hangs with the does.
It is amazing to consider that elk, deer and moose can accumulate so much calcium in such a short time to form massive antlers which then drop off as the process begins again.
Looking for dropped antlers in the late winter/spring is a form of cheap entertainment.
Every time we have a clambake I crush the shells with a sledge hammer while they are in a sack. I then dump this crushed calcium by the edge of our small pond. Our female ducks and wild turkeys love to eat these crushed shells – I have not seen any deer eat the shells. It is obvious that female laying ducks and turkeys know that they need calcium for egg production. Crushed clam shells are also good in the garden soil for the tomato plants.
As far as bucks hanging together – I have seen them band together in the rut. I have some old picture of a ten and a nine pointer foraging outside my house. With the familiar group I have seen bucks practice sparing – but not seriously trying to hurt each other. My feeling is that bucks form familiar groups – everybody knows their place. The problems arise when a new buck strays into their territory and wants to challenge the leader – that is when it gets serious.
For sure, both before and after the rut. After the rut, during the hard winter months, banding together in small bachelor herds serves another very practical purpose; mutual defense agains predators. Bull elk usually keep their racks until early spring, and for wolves to attack a group of fit bull elk is extremely dangerous and almost certain to fail, and the wise wolves know this, although they will probe and attempt to find some weakness. If any have ever viewed the excellent documentary film "Christmas in Yellowstone", there is a fimed scene of this situation, a failed wolf attempt on what appears to be seven bull elk.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
Every time we have a clambake I crush the shells with a sledge hammer while they are in a sack. I then dump this crushed calcium by the edge of our small pond. Our female ducks and wild turkeys love to eat these crushed shells – I have not seen any deer eat the shells. It is obvious that female laying ducks and turkeys know that they need calcium for egg production. Crushed clam shells are also good in the garden soil for the tomato plants.
As far as bucks hanging together – I have seen them band together in the rut. I have some old picture of a ten and a nine pointer foraging outside my house. With the familiar group I have seen bucks practice sparing – but not seriously trying to hurt each other. My feeling is that bucks form familiar groups – everybody knows their place. The problems arise when a new buck strays into their territory and wants to challenge the leader – that is when it gets serious.
That's probably a component, but crushed clamshells make ideal gizzard grit as well.
what a bizarre occurance, freaky, I laughed real loud......probably because the video guy was so funny too...I'm glad no-one was hurt, as I'm seen other videos where it wasn't near nice.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNGGbozilko
That's probably a component, but crushed clamshells make ideal gizzard grit as well.
Actually I thought over your comment. Our male ducks and the male wild turkeys do not go running after egg shells and crushed clam shells. It is only the females and usually during the height of their laying season. I think that they know that their bodies need the calcium. If gizzard grit is a component of this need both males and females would crave the same thing.
It has been some time since I looked at the ingredients in the deer mineral licks. I am pretty confident that calcium would be one of the ingredients. Female deer would not have the same need for calcium as laying ducks or turkeys. Male deer would have that need to grow their antlers.
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