Nice pics. Sparring? No. Showing dominance? Yes. Bucks are sparring in full velvet in July is like saying the rut is in full swing when you see a fork chasing a doe on October 22.
According to this guy it is playful sparring. Its just them screwing around getting the pecking order figured out. Sparring
Lol.....show me where he posted a pic of bucks "sparring" in velvet or where he mentions them doing it in July.
"These tussles are not totally meaningless though, the bucks are felling each other out for their strengths and weaknesses, as well as getting some 'formal training' for upcoming brawls that will have much more meaning. So tell me how those three bucks were not doing this? Sure sounds like the same activity to me.
Show me where these bucks are "tussling." Sparring is the act of lockin antlers and pushing each other around a bit. Not a full blown fight, just a little pushing. Bucks don't lock antlers and push each other around while in velvet, just like they weren't locking antlers in the pics. I get that we're excited for deer season to get here, but pretending something is happening now that doesn't happen until later isn't going to get the season here faster.
OK. Now let me ask you a question. Someone posts these four pictures of hard antlered deer taken on Oct 31. Same exact everything except the date is changed and they have hard antlers. What would you say they are doing then? Are you looking at the pictures with an open mind or are you looking at the calendar?
You HAVE to look at the calendar (and the full blown soft sensitive antlers in velvet) when discussing this subject. But, just to amuse you, if they were hard horned then maybe the last one could be considered sparring (or about to spar) if they were locked.
