Mating strategies of male mammals are influenced by the spatial distribution and reproductive synchrony of females ( Emlen and Oring 1977 Clutton-Brock 1989). Our results provide the first fine-scale description of ungulate mate-searching behavior and how spatial memory may be important for acquiring mating opportunities in species that rove for mates.īreeding season, GPS radiocollar, mate search strategy, movement, Odocoileus virginianus, periodicity, rut, white-tailed deer One-year-old males may not have exerted high effort, whereas most 2 year olds used a different strategy because of competition or lack of experience. However, most 2 year-old males exhibited Levy walks, an efficient search strategy when resources are rare. During peak rut, 1 year olds had the lowest movement rates and rates were similar in 2- and ≥ 3-year-old males. Because estrus is ~24h, males may revisit focal areas to assess female receptiveness. Most males had ≥ 2 small focal areas (18–33 ha) which were revisited every 20–28h. During rut, movement rates increased but most males used a small portion (26–34%) of their home ranges.
We fitted 102 males with GPS collars across 5 breeding seasons in South Texas. Because females typically have small home-range sizes and exhibit site fidelity, we predicted males would spend time in small focal areas containing females during rut. Male white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) are assumed to search widely for females in estrus but the rut (2–4 weeks) and estrus (1–2 days) are short and males would benefit by having a strategy to locate mates. How males locate mates is not well understood. In species where defense of females or resources attractive to females is not an option, males search for mates.
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