Some girls are easy, and some play hard to get. This is a fact all teenage young men come to realize early in their courting life. Those that are easy, tend to be the ones we do not bring home to meet our parents. Those who are a little hard to get prove to be more of the type we move into the “marrying quadrant” of our dating and love graph. But in the world of the whitetail deer, it is a bit different. In fact it is very different. Seldom does a boy bring a girl home to meet the parents. On the contrary. In the world of the whitetail deer, it is a plain fact that all does are hussies. And none would prove to be the type that mama would approve of in the least.
In fact if truth be known, few does ever really meet the father of their children. She lures him into her lair, mesmerized by her beauty and advances, the buck enters her bedroom as a willing and hopeful lover. She has a brief interlude and off they go in separate directions never to cross paths again. No names exchanged, no number given out for future dates. No the life of the doe is one of loneliness. Filled with fleeting love and adoration. A life where she lures men into her web, only to cast them aside once copulation is complete. Leaving the poor buck to wander aimlessly looking for love in other places.
Their encounter may last a few seconds or stretch into a few hours, but seldom does she lead him on much longer. Preferring to seek other suitors, she tosses him away as soon as she is finished with him. No sir, monogamy is not in the cards for doe deer. Their passion is fleeting, and loyalty is, well, nonexistent. This makes life difficult for the buck. He seeks her out, hoping for approval, yearning for acceptance. Posturing, posing and luring her into a relationship he yearns for only to be cast aside as soon as the mating is complete. After this, he seems to lose focus for several hours, making him vulnerable. He wanders without purpose, looking for love in another’s eyes. During this time he is very vulnerable to the hunter’s gun. He is so hurt by being discarded so soon after the relationship began he loses all sense of safety and concern for himself. His heart is broken and his self-pity guides him into dangerous situations, many of which he never escapes from.
Yes, the truth is that all does are hussies, and a hunter looking to take a mature buck, better focus on these incredulous girls who use the bucks for their own pleasure only to move on as soon as possible to look for love in other places. Heartbroken bucks are easiest to kill. While they are nursing their broken heart, they let their guard down and it is then, that many commit suicide as they intentionally, for what seems like no reason, walk right into the open and throw themselves into harm’s way in an attempt to end their heartache.
Hunters who bag such a heartbroken buck, feel proud of their accomplishment, when the truth is, he couldn’t face the hard truth, that once again he had been replaced. So when you hold your trophy and smile for the camera, do so with the knowledge that your skill was probably trumped by the heartbreak caused by some doe that would not share her heart with the king of the woods.
