Ruttin' buck...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

Tuesday, 6:21 PM - With the girls’ cross country season over and our church haunted house outreach completed, I finally felt like I had an evening to relax. Sitting on the back patio under a slowly fading, calm and cloudless azure dusk, and comfortably enjoying a short-sleeve seventy-three degrees, my eye was drawn to a break in the wood line at the back of my property to see a doe running in the meadow. Heading to the left (westbound), another deer, this one a decent young buck, was close in tow. About 45 seconds later, almost comically, the doe runs back by heading the opposite direction… and he is chasing right behind her again! I run inside and grab my camera. Sure enough, within just a few moments, she runs by again, this time right to left, and he follows behind panting. You could almost hear her shout, "Leave me alone!" I managed to raise my camera and fire a burst of shots as he passed the clearing. Not the greatest photo, but a rack of antlers a bit larger than those I typically see in our neighborhood is discernible. 
 
With it being so warm lately (continued record high temperatures for this time of year), and being a tad early in the breeding season, I was surprised to see this young buck rutting already. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, “the timing of the rut, or breeding season, for white-tailed deer varies locally, especially in southern climates like Georgia’s. During the rut, the desire to breed causes deer to become more active compared to the rest of the year. Bucks move more and become less secretive.”  The Georgia rut map indicates the peak deer movement time in Clarke County is November 10 to 16. This guy is getting a head start!

​Athens, Georgia

Sunrise 7:53 AM, Sunset 6:40 PM 
​High 79°.
Waxing crescent moon, 4% illumination.