Chuck from Live in ga hunt in illinois asks,
Hey bill will a mature doe take a tending mature buck back to where she feels safe say her daytime bedding spot or will the mature buck try and move a mature doe into a spot that he thinks he can manage her time so he can breed her in private and or defend his breeding rights from other suitors. Or will he just breed her when and wherever she stops snd let’s him breed her. Basically what I’m trying to figure out is will the doe work her way back to her daily bedding area with mature buck in tow. I’ve got a slammer of a buck that came through an area that I know does bed on this end of this narrow ridge between two fields that both have corn this year. One farmer to the south will have his corn out and the other farmer to the north will be late getting his out more that likely just because he’s always late in that field when it’s corn. The does go back in to bed well before daylight and it’s so narrow not sure if I could get in there and hang a stand that close to her much less get in there to get in the stand. You’d just about have to stay in stand all night with a northwest wind. Looking for some advice if you don’t get bored reading this. Thanks for your time chuck
Bill responds,
Topic: Where Bucks Breed Does:
I was hunting this buck when I finally got lucky and crossed paths with him on November 10 in a small opening near a doe bedding area. I can’t say for sure where most bucks breed does. I think the majority of them breed wherever the doe stops and let’s the buck mount her. However, some do seem to favor areas away from the larger areas of cover. After all these years I have not seen a common tendency that I would bet on regarding where the breeding takes place.
Chuck,
I don’t think there is one answer to this as I have seen it happen all sorts of ways. I have seen bucks breed does where ever the doe stood for them. I have also seen them move the doe out into open ground away from other bucks.
It seems to me that the older the buck, more likely he is to move the doe away from other bucks so he can spend “quality time” with her over a day or more. In my experience, it is usually the younger bucks that seem to push the issue.
I also think some of this is related to the doe. Maybe the older does tend to know it is best to get away from the bigger cover. I don’t see the older bucks herding the does into those places as much as I see them following the does.
So with all that in mind, I think the doe bedding areas are at their best in late October and early November and after that it is a crap shoot. After the does start to come into estrus, it gets pretty tough to guess where the buck you are hunting will be. He will be with a hot doe, but where? I wish I knew.
During the middle of November I still hunt around doe bedding areas, but it goes pretty dead. I try other stuff then too. It really is just pure luck at this point if you cross paths with him on the hoof looking for another doe. Things pick back up again after the breeding starts to drop off around November 20, if your season is still open. In your case in IL, some years there is a window there for bowhunting.
I would focus on being in funnels as close to the doe bedding areas as you can get without spooking any deer the last five days of October and the first 10 days of November and figure you have done about all you can. Good luck. (10/4/22)
