It’s 34° outside on a December morning. There is a slight wind in my face. I am all set in my Millenium ladder stand with my Hunter Safety System Harness attached, and I have both my Browning gun and Elite Bow ready to put some meat in the freezer.
As the sun gives off it’s first light, I hear some leaves crackling out in front of me. During this time of year you never know how the deer activity will be and if the bucks are on the move looking for does in estrous. Suddenly out of the woods appears a buck. He’s about a 2 year old deer and one side of his rack is busted off. He has 4 points on one side and he is broke off at his G2 on the other side. I watched patiently as he fed on acorns with caution under a water oak.
About ten minutes later a group of 4 does and a yearling come walking in behind my stand. The lead doe has her tail up giving me a clue that she could be in heat. They are stopped dead in their tracks making eye contact with the buck in front of me. As I sit motionless with lots of wandering eyeballs, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I slowly ease my head and notice that its another buck. He is also about 2 or 2 1/2 years old sporting 8 scorable points just outside his ears. He is fastly approaching the group of does on a mission. The does immediately take off behind me and the young eight is right on their heels.
The buck out in front of me makes a bee-line towards the deer. The young eight stops dead in his tracks and watches as the other buck runs at him. Both of the deer’s ears are pinned back and they began to walk in a counter clockwise circle. I am trying to get my camera on them but I can’t get a visual. At this point I am thinking the dominant buck is going to run the other one off. But to my surprise, they lock up and “survival of the fittest” kicks in. Since I can’t get my camera on them and am afraid I wouldn’t get any footage, I quickly pull out my cell phone and start recording. The footage is not the best, but you can still hear their antlers crash and the terrain get torn up.
Because I am hunting Florida, this is a rare sight to see. This was a first time experience for me to see two bucks go at it. I went home with an empty truck bed that December morning but I did leave with an experience that was most certainly, unforgetable.