First of all, it's been a while since I posted. Hi to all . . . Here's my question. I shot a 5-pointer about a month ago, at the deer camp I belong to in thenortheastern Adirondacks. When I shot him (1 shot, dropped him in his tracks from 30 yards), he was travelling with four does, who led him along. His neck wasn't swollen, whichseems to indicate that maybe he was young enough so that he didn't start rutting . . . or would the presence of enough bigger bucks intimidate the younger ones to the point that they wouldn't come into rut? I figure that this buck, which dressed at 109 pounds, was a year-and-a-half old, and the meat was (and still is) tender. One of the best-eating deer I've ever come across.

Two weeks after I shot that one, my camp got another buck off of that hill, this one being anine-point, 175-pound dressed monster.To repeat the question, could his presence in the area been enough to keep those smaller, youngerbucksfrom coming into rut?

If this question has been discussed and answered already, it's been a while since I've been in here, as I stated in the opening paragraph.