Scott - I glassed a lot last summer, and saw quite few yearling bucks in velvetpushing each other around several times. It had to be pretty early, b/c I distinctly remember watching a particular group of deer in a field where I had to look "over" a wideswath of corn, and into an isolated soybean patch. Once the corn gets too high, you can't see back into the corner where the deer come out in the evenings... So, it had to be around this time last year...Either way, their racks were still awfully soft, and I was surprised to see them rough-housing like that.

Weird, because I logged a lot of time looking at a couple nicer bucks that sometimes showed up and grazedwith the group,and they seemed to avoid the tussle - disinterested in all the pushing and shoving. More of a youngster thing.

My guess is that the yearlings spend their late summer pigging out on greenery andestablishingthe beginnings of a"pecking order."