This glorious time of the year has finally arrived! In my neck of the woods, one month after the opening of the Archery Deer season comes the General Deer season. During a bit more than two months (and observing some local county-specific restrictions), hunters in Texas get to try and fill their freezers and decorate their walls going after male white tail deer using all legal methods.
Does get a bit of respite after bowhunters went at them and before Muzzleloader season kicks in in January for a couple of weeks: their harvest is limited to four days of Thanksgiving to the following Sunday during the General season. While these ladies get to not worry as much about hunter, their time and energy will be spent running away from pushy bucks relentlessly pursuing them.
I was lucky to see many deer while hunting. While the does usually fall into two simple categories of being with fawn(s) or without, the rut-addled bucks have shown a few more common traits that could help predict their behavior during the General Season. There are certainly some exceptions to these categories below and perhaps these categories change or vary across North America, but here is what I found out about the main types of Texas white tail bucks after spending many seasons in the field.
Mr. Popular
I am sure you know this one, or that you could describe it to a “T”. This buck is the first on the list, because Mr. Popular is the mental image almost every hunter thinks of when asked about a shooter or trophy buck. Over 3.5 years old (hopefully a bit more), with well-developed antlers, and a healthy body showing it is living in its prime years, this guy is the deer version of that handsome jock that got all the favorable attention from ladies in high school, with the same hormonal profile.
Mr. Popular seems to be everywhere (though never quite in a good spot for a clear shot), running after any doe and grunting at or picking fights with other lesser bucks (so he thinks). He spent the pre-rut scraping, marking its territory, getting fat and planning his mating season. Invariably, every year, his plans get thrown out of the window when testosterone invites itself into the picture. Mr. Popular, so careful during Archery Season, will now run around for does, regardless of elementary caution, forgetting to eat and, often, pay no attention whatsoever to that weird patch of blazing orange that doesn’t look anything like a doe.
Hoping fences, crossing roads, running around with its noggin’ held high, he will pursue does every single minute he can, and it will show at the end of the season, when his ripped musculature will show below his skin, all fat being burned from his mating shenanigans. Trail cameras will let you know that Mr. Popular has been there, but he will go where the does are.
This buck is the most likely to end up in the freezer of a discriminant hunter. During the rut, Mr. Popular has only one goal, and it seems that while his safety habits are still there, they are overridden by the hormones, and will increase the hunter’s margin of error significantly.
To harvest Mr. Popular, count on the does. This is where it gets complicated. These ladies, already quite paranoid, are even more on edge when Mr. Popular is after them. Their eyes and ears are your enemy. While Mr. Popular could bump into you while looking at a doe, the doe will see you from further away than normal. Avoid detection from the does, and you may be in a good spot for Mr. Popular. Also, if you see a doe running away and looking back over her shoulder, there’s a good chance Mr. Popular will soon emerge after her. Play your cards rights, be patient, and use the does.
The Fanboi
The Fanboi is an interesting and rather helpful buck. Typically, it has either poorly developed, atypical or misshapen antlers, and it seems to realize this. The Fanboi is not a bad-looking deer, but he is insecure, and will quite often orbit or hang out with Mr. Popular (again, a common sight in high school). Many hunters will admit being disappointed with the rack of the Fanboi, while being secretly happy they ran into him on the very last day of the season and filled their tag and freezer thanks to him.
From my observations, the Fanboi isn’t as much after the does as Mr. Popular, but seems to observe and take notes from him. Though they will not pass an occasion to get close to a doe, they will not do that while their mentor is around. Instead, they seem to be the kind that is happy for him, and thinks that one day, they will be the successful one (“but not this year – my antlers need another tine”).
While nobody hunting for meat will (nor should) pass a Fanboi buck, a lot of hunters will wait for the end of the season before risking a tag on them rather than a buck with nicer antlers. Where Fanboi comes in handy is that he indicates with an almost 100% certainty the proximity of the local Mr. Popular. See Fanboi, and set up for Mr. Popular.
On one blistering cold day as they rarely, but sometimes happen in Texas, I was hunting a dear friend’s pecan orchard. He had very generously allowed me to take one of the surprisingly many Mr. Populars that chose his property as their haunt that year. My friend had showed me trail cam pictures of his satellite buck, a Fanboi we nicknamed “Dweeby Buck”, for his distinctive Steve-Urkelesque essence. As the many hours spent in the frigid temperatures finally ushered me to my truck, I saw Dweeby Buck pop his head out of a thicket 120 yards away. I flopped on my belly on the spot, and decided to wait the 15 minutes it would take for my hands to finally fall off.
Mr. Popular, followed by Dweeby Buck lagging 40 paces behind, emerged from the woods beelining towards three does that I could swear I saw rolling their eyes. That day was Dweeby Buck’s day. A Hornady SST through the lungs at 173 yards foiled Mr. Popular’s plan, and Dweeby Buck got the doe. That made me genuinely happy for him and I gave him a mental high five and some thanks for his unwitting help.
The Spike (a.k.a. The Silent Assassin)
Spike bucks are a polarizing topic. Hunters prioritizing nice racks will steer away from “11” pointers (one-one, get it?), though they taste the same. Meat hunters will take Spikes with the same interest as more well-endowed heads, with the feeling of helping the other bucks. For people not acquainted with the nuances of antlers, unbranched antlers will not properly interlock with an opponent’s rack during a fight and can inflict dangerous or deadly injuries to the other buck.
For that reason, many landowners will ask the spikes to be shot before one can harvest any other buck, and some hunter will themselves prioritize these guys over better rack, to rid them of the gene pool for the coming seasons. In Texas, deer with at least one unbranched antler have a separate category with certain rules about them.
I will never pass an opportunity to take a Spike, unless it is a young little guy that is not mature enough to get into fights (I never regretted this, as some grew beautiful sets of antlers and perpetuated a good lineage the following years). I have seen and harvested bucks that bore the marks of lost fights with spikes. Through no fault of their own, these guys are dangerous.
Other bucks seem to know this or quickly cotton on. Whether it is because their antlers do not look as virile as branched racks or because the other bucks stay away from them, 9 Spikes out of 10 are a fully accepted members of a gaggle of does. Pull your binocs out when you see a small herd of does. There might be a chance that a Spike (sometimes more!) is among them. Mind the does when you take your shot – make sure there are none behind the spike.
The Sly One
Ha! I like this one. The Sly One is the clever and patient type of buck. It can take pretty much any shape or form, with great racks or odious protuberances, he doesn’t care. What gets him the ladies isn’t his looks, but his brains. The Sly buck takes advantage of the mistakes of Mr. Popular. Much like some humans late at night at a bar, the Sly One knows when to take opportunities, and for him, there seems to be many as he is not discriminant.
Unlike the Fanboi, he does not orbit nor admire Mr. Popular. He usually stands clear from him, too far for Mr. Popular to leave his targeted does and take his aggression on him. The Sly One relies on patience and fortunate circumstances. Lying in wait for Mr. Popular to get in a fight or take off after a willing doe, Sly will quickly and surreptitiously come out of hiding and mate with a nearby doe. I have seen Sly Ones climb on a doe right after Mr. Popular who was too wobbly and satisfied to do anything about it. Generally, he is a successful fellow, and comes at a time when the doe’s reticence has been whittled down, or his more subtle approach gains their favor.
When it comes to hunting, the Sly Ones are what I consider unexpected gifts. It is rare to spot them before they rush into view after the object of their interest. If you are hunting on a property where certain bucks are off limits, despair not, fellow hunter, for the Sly One may jump out of the bush and give you a perfect broadside when you are not expecting it the least.
It happened to that friend of mine I previously mentioned. A Sly One came running at a doe while the local alpha went to fight a challenger. My friend let him to what he came for with the doe before sending him to the Great Beyond as he hopped off. He told me the buck took the bullet unfazed and did not seem to notice what had just happened to him. You bet.
The old wise one
This is a special buck. After a full and exciting life, he is retired. His rack isn’t what it once was, but has the familiar look of many local bucks, as he is the progenitor of many over the seasons. Gone are his thick neck and full brisket. Well, maybe not gone, but swapped for a nice deer belly. The Old Wise One is, well, old and wise. A buck does not grow old without a good amount of luck and wisdom.
As he enters the dusk of his life, this buck has a distinguished air. Many scars may be found around his face and neck. He may prefer certain types of food, easier to eat with his missing teeth. His gait is slower than the other deer, and he seems less careful, less hurried. He seems to know that the day that the coyotes will finally catch up with him is nearing. He basks in the early morning sun after a brisk night longer than the other deer – his bones need to warm up a bit more before he stands up. Or, perhaps, he knows that we only have this many sunrises.
An Old Wise buck has a presence that is hard to describe. As hunters, we recognize the effort and work it took the old fellow to live that long. A lot of us feel compelled to let Grand Papa buck find its own end rather than harvesting him and his handful of weeks left. As we let Old Wise buck walk away, it feels like the woods close up him, his essence ready to dissipate and remain part of this beautiful part of the world where we got to just sit and enjoy the miracle of Life that day.
Some landowners may ask us to take the Old Timer. As bittersweet as this is, one may take comfort in knowing that a swift unexpected death from a well-aimed shot may save him the distress of a predator attack. Regardless, if you are the one to take that shot successfully, you will have the feeling of embracing an old friend saying your Adieu at the train station before sending him off to a long journey. At least, this is how I felt when I found the 9-year-old Fallow buck a friend had generously directed me to shoot. This beautiful old beast, fallen from a cross canyon shot with my 450 Bushmaster holds a special place in my memories.
The Legendary Rack
This is the last, and rarest of all these buck types. This is the type of bucks that dreams are made of. The terrestrial version of the White Whale. These Legendary bucks exist, and account for the most extreme type of buck fever, well above 104°F. They sometimes show up in magazines or on the internet. Their size is uncommon. Their Antlers deserve a capital “A”. There are not enough fingers to count the tines and projections of their majestic crowns (note: I am talking of naturally born legendary deer, not the mutants generated in high fence Island of Dr. Moreau ranches).
Many have seen such deer, but few have had the fortune to harvest one. They always stand too far away, or behind an obstacle. They disappear as fast as they appeared. There is something unsettling about these exceptional bucks. I saw two. One was off limit in that Pecan Orchard I mentioned earlier, the other was walking by the side of the road in Gillespie County, its rack so large and heavy that his hind legs were barely touching the ground behind him. It requires a lot of self-control to keep your eyes on the road when such an encounter happens!
It is common knowledge that these legendary beasts only make one mistake every season, and it only lasts a few seconds. To harvest a Legendary Buck, the hunter either needs a divine amount of luck, or spend all hours of the season afield after his quarry, like an obsessed, rifle-toting landlubber Captain Ahab, waiting for that mistake.
My dear friend at the Pecan Orchard had that luck. One early morning that he had to work rather than hunt, he barely passed his orchard’s gate when a doe trotted in front of his vehicle, looking back at a Legendary Buck in tow. Neither noticed the running truck stopped 40 yards away, nor my friend slithering out of it with his .30-06. He was able to steady himself enough to take his shot, and the Legendary Buck fell where it stood. Several years later, I still need to see the pictures to believe it.
The cherry one the cake? A Sly One was waiting behind the big buck and hopped on the doe as my friend was tagging his harvest, both unfazed. Looks like testosterone makes everybody dumb, deer and humans alike.
Last words
As you sit in your blind, in your tree stand or clamber around stalking the woods in the hopes of filling your tag(s), look at the deer. Which one will you see? Which one will you harvest or let walk? As I am checking the last detail of my equipment before heading to the field, I wish you, fellow hunter, a wonderful General Season, a freezer full for you and your family and many memories to share around the campfire. Happy hunting!