Ask The Biologist

She Didn’t Do It

She Didn’t Do It

By Bob Humphrey

We’re still learning about how whitetails interact with scrapes.

QUESTION: Does the hot doe ever pee in a scrape to let the buck know she is ready? – Scotty W.

ANSWER: It was once widely thought that bucks opened scrapes as an invitation to does, and that the does would then urinate in the scrape to announce they are ready and willing to breed.

While you can never say “never” when it comes to whitetails, that notion has been largely dispelled. There’s little evidence of does urinating in scrapes at all. Once they come into estrus, bucks typically have no trouble finding them, and the does are probably too busy avoiding bucks until they are ready to accept a suitor.

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Copyright 2024 by Buckmasters, Ltd.

Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd