Early rut action?

Young bucks spar over a scrape

12/21/2015

      I am seeing a lot of scrapes in our woods and have been since late November. I have eight cameras spread around the property, mostly all watching active scrapes.  What I find interesting is that what I see mostly working these scrapes is one and two year old bucks. The occasional buck that appears three years old will breeze by but almost never do I see an older buck working a scrape, especially at this point.
       We also saw several small bucks pushing does on a greenfield Saturday afternoon.  What we witnessed seemed more like a mid January day than a mid December day.  There is little doubt that much of this has to do with the younger age structure of bucks are working to establish the pecking order of their generation.  The older bucks are well suited in their dominance and they will stay out of the fray until the action really heats up.
        I tend not to believe that the actual rut varies much from year to year.  Sometimes I, as a hunter, get a clearer look at it than in other years, based on the days I get to hunt and the weather that greets me on those days.  What I do know is different this year is that the scrapes appeared early in the fall and most have been tended regularly since then.  I did not see that last season.  

Scrape action