CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 255 



the shadows. After sundown, these larger bucks came out and fed 

 in the open meadows along with the other deer. Thus, it was found 

 by repeated observations that these old bucks were the first deer to 

 leave the meadows in the morning, as well as the last individuals to 

 come out into the open meadows in the evenings. 



From "sign" and tracks left in the snow, it is evident that most 

 of the mating takes place at night. The mating that occurs in the day- 

 time is more likely to take place during the morning and evening hours 

 than during the middle of the day. 



During the rutting season I have followed mule deer about for 

 days at a time in freshly-fallen snow, and have found that the normal 

 mating practice is as follows: The most virile bucks are those that are 

 just reaching maturity. Such bucks may, in some cases, be threcT 

 pointers, although the majority have acquired the fourth tine or point 

 to each antler. My field studies of deer in Yosemite and in the Sequoia 

 region, which have extended over a number of breeding seasons, have 

 shown that in each season 90 per cent of the effective mating was 

 accomplished by such dominant bucks. The usual procedure is as 

 follows: As soon as their antlers become hardened and are freed of 

 velvet, the bucks stage a series of combats which demonstrate which 

 bucks are dominant and which are the weaker individuals. Through 

 such elimination contests, a practical understanding is reached among 

 all the bucks as to which is superior, and each buck learns his proper 

 place. In most instances, the weaker bucks give way to their superiors 

 whenever they appear on the scene. 



The oestrum period in female deer varies, so that all the does are 

 not ready to mate at the same time. When the pre-oestrum period 

 is reached by a doe, she is singled out and closely followed by one of 

 the dominant bucks until she is ready to mate. This "running" of does 

 by bucks may extend from two to five days and is often confused with 

 actual mating, which takes place subsequently as the final chapter in 

 the mating episode. Mating having been accomplished, the "herd" 

 buck hunts up a new doe and runs at her side until she is ready to mate. 

 The actual breeding period thus covers at least two months, November 

 15 to January 15, but in the majority of cases mating takes place 

 early in December. 



BATTLES BETWEEN BUCKS 



In Yosemite Valley in the afternoon of January 30, 1929, I wit- 

 nessed a sharp fight between two large bucks which, by my watch, 

 lasted 12 minutes, when there was a brief pause of two minutes, after 

 which the fight was continued for another five minutes. The battle 

 began at 3.50 and ended nineteen minutes later, at 4.09 o'clock. At the 

 start, one buck was grazing out in the edge of a meadow with three 

 does. The other larger buck came out of the timber where he had been 

 sleeping during the middle of the day, crossed over and began sniffing 

 around the does. This was the immediate cause for combat. The heads 

 of both bucks went down at the same instant, and they came together 

 with a sharp clash that could be distinctly heard 60 yards distant. 

 There was a vigorous tussle from the start. Both bucks were old four- 

 pointers and had evidently been in many previous bouts, so that each 

 knew all tricks of the game. After the first brisk clash of antlers, the 



