White-Tailed Deer: Understanding Characteristics and Behavior for Better Hunts

However, Texas is home to the largest population of white-tailed deer in the U.S. So, if you live in the state or plan to travel there for a hunt, you have a good chance of a successful whitetail hunt this season!

Success in hunting requires a combination of skill, scouting for the best spots to hunt, and knowledge. To tag out each season, a hunter must understand how deer behave and apply strategies and techniques to outsmart bucks simply doing what bucks do.

While we stop short of saying one must "become" the deer to understand and hunt it, we will recommend learning everything you can about white-tailed deer behavior to improve your hunting success. So, today, let's look at some characteristics and behaviors of whitetails!

White-Tailed Deer Characteristics

Males, also known as bucks, can weigh between 130 and 300 pounds, while the smaller females, known as does, weigh between 90 and 200 pounds. However, Southern deer are typically smaller than those of the same species found farther North.

Only bucks have antlers, growing them annually in the summer and into early fall and shedding them each winter. The antlers are branched and primarily used for competition between males during the breeding season, or what we call "the rut."

The deer's summer coat is short and wiry reddish-brown, later transitioning in the fall to a gray-brown winter coat made up of longer guard hairs and a soft, lofty underfur that provides insulation from the cold.

And, of course, the whitetail's namesake is the long, white tail they raise when startled to signal danger.

Where You'll Find Whitetail

Hunters can find whitetail in a variety of habitats, including swamps, forests, grasslands, and even in some suburban areas. Forests with dense undergrowth provide cover and forage, while meadows and ag fields offer grazing opportunities.

Whitetails like to live life on the literal edge, and  I've had the best luck locating deer near the edges and transitions of these habitats. 

The Map feature of HuntWise is a key tool that has helped me identify these transitional areas. I use it to locate potential ambush points where the deer move from food and water to bedding cover or vice versa.

One of the highlights of this feature is the ability to change map type. I regularly view satellite images taken during different times of year to see the predominant vegetation type, then switch to the topographical features to identify historically wet areas and terrain contours that white-tailed deer may use as travel corridors.

I am looking for areas where slightly higher elevation cedars change into lower elevations of oaks and pecan or points and cuts on a hillside that offer a path of least resistance for travel and can obscure the view from predators.

When Are They Out and About?

Deer are crepuscular, most active around dawn and dusk, feeding on leaves, fruit, grass, and nuts. These times of day are when white-tailed deer are most visible and are your best chance of catching one off guard when on their feet.

White-tailed deer are also ruminants, so when they are not active, they spend a large portion of the day bedded down, chewing the regurgitated plant material they foraged earlier in the day to maximize its caloric potential.

Don't discount an all-day sit, though. I've seen plenty of deer midday, either cruising for receptive does during the rut or headed to get a drink in the heat of the day.

Seasonal Transitions and Communication

Later in the fall, as whitetail males transition from their summer behavioral patterns and prepare for the rut, they will begin to shed the velvet from their antlers and break off from their male-only bachelor groups. They will begin marking their territories by creating rubs on small trees and scrapes in the dirt. Scrapes can usually be found under low-hanging branches.

Deer use these communal signposts to communicate who has been in the area by urinating in the freshly exposed earth. 

Scrapes and rub lines show the travel path of bucks and can be a great location to hunt as bucks will return time and time again to freshen the scrape with their scent, especially after a recent rain. Adding the rub and scrape markers on your HuntWise map is a good way to visualize these paths of travel year over year and how they may change.

Deer also communicate with each other through body language and vocalizations.

A whitetail can show others in the herd nearby, as well as you, the hunter, that they are relaxed if they are flicking their tail and head down, feeding only sporadically and looking up for signs of danger. They can also show others that they are on high alert with their ears and head at attention and the white underside of their tail upright and exposed.

They may also stomp to get a possible threat to move to be more easily identified. When spooked, deer may also make a loud snorting noise to notify other deer in the area that danger is near. Bucks may make a snort-wheeze to other males as a challenge during the breeding season.

They Can Smell You Coming

With a better sense of smell than a bloodhound, a white-tailed deer's nose is their best defense. Hunters must be careful about the direction their scent drifts in the wind.

I always recommend hunting with the wind to your face or at least blowing away from the area you believe deer will be. Crosswinds are my favorite, as deer believe they have the advantage and will move more confidently, but they can't beat physics. 

Get Out In the Field to Learn More About Whitetail

Spending time afield offers the opportunity for a profound connection with nature. That connection is why I hunt – and the more I hunt, the more I learn about the game I pursue.

In the intricate relationship between predator and prey, we, as hunters, rely on this knowledge to be successful in the pursuit of the iconic white-tailed deer.

We hope these insights into deer behavior help you understand them better and improve your hunting success this season! Make the most of what you learn from sounds and scrapes in your hunting areas by using HuntWise to mark what you see and hear.

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