Video: 19 Fascinating Deer Behaviors Explained

October 9, 2024 By: Kip Adams

White-tailed deer are fascinating animals. Wildlife enthusiasts pursue deer with rifles, bows, cameras and more. Their beauty and grace are well known, and much has been written about super cool deer facts like antler growth patterns and their ability to see 18 times greater than us in low light situations. However, whitetails have other traits and behaviors that aren’t as well known or at least not as well understood by many who share my passion for them. 

We worked with our partners at the Bearded Buck in Pennsylvania to capture footage of some of the most interesting and fascinating deer behaviors a hunter can witness. In our newest video seen above, I explain the biology and science behind what you’re seeing, giving you a glimpse into the amazing lives of whitetails, including fawns, does and bucks. Keep reading below to learn more about several aspects of deer behavior.

More Than a Tail Color

White-tailed deer are named for the color on the underside of their tail. However, the white coloring also includes the entire rump and belly, and deer see very well in this area of the color spectrum. When a deer’s tail is down in a relaxed position it conceals the vast majority of white coloration. However, when they are alarmed, a raised tail provides a clear signal for other deer to see and a beacon to follow when fleeing from danger, especially in low light situations. 

Mother of the Year

Fawns are born at an approximately 50:50 sex ratio, and whitetail fawns are hiders. After birth, they nurse and then hide alone. The doe sends them off to select their own bedding site. In doing so, she ensures a predator can’t follow her scent to the fawn(s). Fawns do have scent, that’s how their mother identifies them, but they have less scent than adults so it’s more difficult for coyotes, bobcats, bears and other predators to locate them. The mother generally visits three to four times per day to feed and nurse them. She goes to the general area where she left them and calls. Fawns respond by standing and running to their mother. After approximately one month, fawns start spending much more of the day with their mother.

Feeding is an interesting time as there’s much more going on than simply an exchange of milk. During the first couple weeks of life, fawns are unable to urinate or defecate on their own. This likely evolved at least partly as an anti-predation strategy. Thus, while the fawn is nursing, the doe licks its genital region. This causes the fawn to urinate and defecate. The doe then consumes the urine and feces to remove the scent from predatory noses and as a health precaution. Some research suggests this allows the doe to detect bacteria present in the fawn’s body, which allows her to develop antibodies to fight it, and she feeds these antibodies to the fawn in subsequent nursings. How awesome is that!

Dispersal

Fawns that survive to their first birthday are next faced with dispersal. For bucks, 50 to 70% are forced from their birth area by their mothers when they’re 12 to 18 months old. Yearling does disperse at much reduced rates. Most bucks will disperse one to five miles. About 25 percent of these will disperse in the spring at fawning, and 75% will disperse in the fall during the rut. Some research suggests yearling bucks won’t disperse if they’re orphaned, and some research suggests roads alter dispersal distance and direction. While conducting research for the University of Georgia, Jim Stickles radio-collared a 3½-year-old buck that only crossed a two-lane road bordering his home range a few times over a five-month period from June through October.

Doe Behavior

Does are social animals that spend much of the year in groups with other related individuals. However, that all goes out the window when fawns start hitting the ground in spring. Does become very territorial and drive others – last year’s fawns, other does and even bucks away from the area. Dominant does get the best fawning habitat and does at the bottom of the pecking order get the least desirable areas. That’s one reason it’s important for deer managers to have high-quality fawning habitat dispersed across the landscape.

Buck Behavior

Bucks generally remain in bachelor groups from the end of winter until just after velvet shedding in the fall. Sparring is a behavior where two bucks hook their antlers together and push against each other. Sparring typically occurs from just before velvet shedding until just prior to the peak of the breeding season. Since bucks cannot see their own antlers they push them against other antlers to see how they compare. This helps bucks develop a well-established pecking order prior to the rut. Often, subordinate bucks lick the face and forehead of the dominate buck prior to or following a sparring match. This helps ensure their identity and place in the pecking order.

Dominance Fights

As the breeding season approaches, aggression levels elevate, and bucks progress from sparring to fighting. Dominance fights typically occur during or just after the peak breeding season. They generally occur between bucks 3½ years and older, and the confrontation is typically over a doe. These can be violent and vigorous confrontations, sometimes causing injury or death for one or both bucks. Interestingly, fights are often between individuals that do not know each other, and therefore did not have the opportunity to spar and establish their rank in the pecking order prior to the breeding season.

Rubbing

Bucks rub their antlers on trees, poles, fence posts, or whatever is available to remove their velvet and advertise themselves via their forehead gland. Rubbing peaks during pre-rut and maintains at a high level through the breeding season. Dominant bucks may express social or physical superiority while advertising to does. Large mature bucks may rub large trees, and these rubs seem to be special signposts which are revisited each year (see photo of powerline pole in southcentral Kansas. It was the only “tree” around and was rubbed by numerous bucks annually).

Scraping

Scraping is also a signpost behavior. It typically peaks just before the period of peak breeding and involves a sequence of behaviors. First a buck will mark an overhanging branch, and he may also rub his preorbital gland or forehead gland on the branch. Next, the buck will paw away the litter below the overhanging branch creating a shallow depression in the exposed soil, and he will urinate in the pawed area. This may be normal urination or rub-urination where he urinates over his tarsal glands while rubbing them together. We often think of scrapes as places to hunt or photograph bucks but does visit scrapes regularly to see who is in the neighborhood and even advertise their own presence. Also, research shows about 85% of scrape use occurs outside of legal shooting hours, so a better hunting strategy is often to setup between bedding cover and scrapes and catch deer going to or coming from these signposts.

Whitetails are amazing in so many ways. From white tails to mother of the year qualities to communication methods, it’s no wonder more hunters pursue whitetails than any other game animal, and why more hunters join NDA each year. If you want to help ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting join the National Deer Association today.

About Kip Adams:

Kip Adams of Knoxville, Pennsylvania, is a certified wildlife biologist and NDA's Chief Conservation Officer. He has a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fisheries science from Penn State University and a master's in wildlife from the University of New Hampshire. He's also a certified taxidermist. Before joining NDA, Kip was the deer and bear biologist for the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department. Kip and his wife Amy have a daughter, Katie, and a son, Bo.