Bob sent this series of cam photos from Eastern Maryland taken about midnight on December 27, 2014. They confirm that in most parts of the nation whitetails do some breeding from mid-October through December/January.
The majority of the breeding takes place in early to mid-November, during the “peak rut,” and that is when most of the adult does are impregnated. But if a doe is not impregnated then, she’ll recycle into estrus some 28 days later, during a “late rut” that typically occurs in early December.
These pictures prove that there is a “third rut,” or at least some final sporadic breeding going on in late December. An adult doe that is somehow not impregnated during her first and second cycles will come into estrus a third time. And there is something else. By late December, some of the doe fawns that were born back in June are big and healthy enough to breed now…that is quite possibly what you see in these pictures.
The whitetail world is fascinating, and the more you learn about it the better hunter you will be.
Just wanted to add that a mature whitetail doe will cycle up to 7 times during a complete breeding “season”, thus ensuring that she’ll breed sooner, or later…hopefully sooner, for the fawn(s) sake.
I witnessed something similar on the morning of Dec 26th in western Maryland.
I watched a huge bodied 8 pt chase a doe around in circles for about 15 minutes, less than 100 yards from my treestand. Only problem was that I don’t have permission to shoot on that side of the fence. It appeared to be a doe fawn he was chasing because he was more than double her size.
sounds like there was a definite 3rd rut in Maryland, which is not nearly as noticeable as the 2nd rut…. pretty sure fawns coming in was a big reason for it