Jeff I don't know, but this is how it happen. Oct 14th 2005 I had 4 1.5 bucks working my way, a BB showed up and they all were picking on him. It was like watching a group of bullies picking on a littler kid, but the little kid liked it so he would not leave. About 15 mins later a nice 120'' 8 showed up, he postured to the group of 1.5 years olds, they all left. The BB stayed and the mature buck started to run him off. He would chase him off the bb would come right back. This went on for about 15 mins until I got the bright idea to call the BB over to me. I was about 40 yds from them. I doe grunted and here comes the BB, and the mature buck was right on his tail. I shot him at 7 yds. I don't know why and I have yet to see it again, but that day, that buck did not want that BB around.
It was really close to what a buck looks like when they are dogging a doe. Head was down a bit and the buck was in an agrressive posture. He was grunting at him also. From what I could gather, he did not want that BB in his area.
He would chase him off 30-40 yds, out of the CRP field. The mature buck would return, soon after the BB would return. I called the BB over to me he went passed me about 30 yds. The buck followed, I was 40 yds away. He would have went the extra 30 yds IMO, he ran into my arrow
I don't think there is any question that young bucks are dispersed from their "birthing" grounds by some means involving the interaction of other deer, whether that be their mother or more dominant bucks in their area. Having said that, I suspect the "means" may vary from area to area, dictated by overall deer population, doe/buck ratio, terrain and habitiat, etc.. It is VERY common in my area to see a bigger doe, an assumed 1.5yo doe, a 1.5yo buck and one or two fawns all run together just prior to the beginning of the season and even the first month of the season. Sometimes it is 1 doe, two fawns and two 1.5 yo bucks all running together. While obviously I don't 100% know, I am comfortable in my assessment that this the mature doe's new fawns and last years fawns that reunited with her after last year's rut. However, these 1.5 yo bucks are not seen running with them as the rut approaches and in many cases not seen again at all. So whether it is the doe, more dominant bucks or just their desire as a young buck , they do disperse prior to this years rut. The main point of distinction I am making, based on my observations, is that in at least many cases, this disbursement does not happen in the Spring but rather early Fall. FWIW.
Germ - I saw this myself in 07. That buck I entered into the contest was doing the same exact thing. I even made a post about it to see if anyone else had seen it, and got no response at all. This buck had the ears back in an aggressive posture, hair on his back standing up, and was doing that stiff legged walk you see on TV. He stumbled into my set and I shot him at less than 10 yards as the button buck watched......lol.
Sorry for missing your post, but that is same thing I saw. Jack I do not see 1.5 year olds at all running with family groups here. I see pretty much all bucks until the pre rut starts to kick in. I have 1200 pictures now with either bucks or does, but never together. I seldom see them together until later in Oct. Is that just a numbers game? I have about 11-15 DPSM here. What are you and Jeff running?
According to a Game Dept stats we are in a 20-25 DPSM area, but we have had such an explosion in deer numbers here in the last 10 years, I think the number has got to be more like 30-40DPSM. I can also tell you that while I don't know what the "official" Game Dept Stats are in regard to doe:buck ratio is, but I know it is very healthy. My current sighting ratio this year is 1.14:1.0 so we have lots of bucks, albeit the majority of them are 1.5yo's.
Those doctored pics may have been some of the funniest things I've seen on here Here are some links regarding buck dispersal http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=482&q=162690&pp=12&n=1 http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=465&q=171146&pp=12&n=1 http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=465&q=152771
GMMAT: I kind of, after reading it again, short changed the article some [should have cited the source, anyhow] Here is the following paragraph, which if i'm understanding you correctly will answer your question(s): Source: http://www.deerhunting.ws/buttonbucks.htm
