Locked Down Drives Me Crazy
Whitetail Deer
Don't know where it came from, don't care, but when hearing the term, "Locked Down" when a buck's tending a doe in estrus drives me crazy!!!... They are not locked down, a buck will follow that hot doe wherever she leads him... They are not stagnet, they are mobile and don't confine to one spot... He doesn't lock her down or contain her, she leads him like a puppy dog, she has the control...
Through the years have always refered to this with buddies as "Hooked Up"... "Just seen a big buck hooked up with a doe"... We never say "Seen a buck locked down with a doe"...
Guy on a date doesn't lock down the girl, he hooks up with a chic...8^) They "Hook Up"
Football receivers hook up with the quarterback, they don't lock down...8^)
Guess it's one of my pet peeves, the term needs changed...8^)))
I disagree. But, only in terminology. I got permission to hunt a new area this year. It’s my dream. 500 acres with scattered wood lots, and lots of brushy ravines and fence rows. All set in grassland. Closet thing I’ll ever get to actually hunting an area that mimics perfect habitat for whitetail deer. Plus, I get to glass!!!!
I’ve watched bucks push does into those brushy and wooded areas for the last week. They run them and cut them like quarter horses.
Each doe finally complied and starts to one of these areas. As soon as she does, every buck, young and old would stop digging her and walk slowly upto and stand guard over her brushy retreat. When they all finally bedded, every buck who had won the show, would bed a few yards away. And stay there until a more dominant buck cane along and caused trouble with the bedded suitor.
To me that’s locked down. Not hooked up. But, that’s just me. :^)
Well growing up i never seen my dogs on lock down. Damn sure seen them hung up a time or 3.
Knowing me what ever a guy calls it I'll be out there chasing the big whitetails.
A buck doesn't have to travel far to find a hot doe right now. The 15th is the peak here in Iowa when the most does are in estrus.
I think lock down is a suitable term. The buck isn’t in lock-down, the doe is. He won’t let her out of his sight, tries to corner her, and follows her every step. She’s effectively his prisoner. It’s also a very frustrating situation for hunting. Patterns, feeding, all out the window. Your resident buck may vanish or a buck that’s not from your area suddenly appears. We’re definitely in that period right now. All my deer patterns have gone to hell.
Dont know what you call it, but bucks definitely push hot does into strange places sometimes. Ive watched them do it. Like said above, its like watching a good cutting horse work.
I watched a buck try to mount a doe in a picked bean field last weekend. She mule kicked him in the face. He was still standing there with his head hanging when it got dark. I think she hurt him pretty bad.
Hunt every day and the issue goes away. Ha!
I'm in the lockdown camp. And they do it for that reason. They try and pull a doe into an area other bucks won't easily find her, then lock her down there. See it all the time.
Yes, lockdown is real. Tell me about the time you saw a buck just standing by a patch of briars completely unaware of his surroundings not moving. And then you see a doe bedded in there. He won’t let her out of his sight and stays right on her. They don’t move anywhere. He controls what they do….the doe, does not.
We used to always call it "tending" but I can see that locked down is pretty accurate for what is going on.
I see cagey bucks segregate does and keep them in the middle of large sections with perhaps a ditch or fence row. I’ve seen two pairs. A buck and a doe. Two times this week. Bedded a minimum 1/2 mile from any trees. Glassing barren looking Fields with a fence row or ditch a 1/2 mile or mile out. Is a good way to find your “Locked down buck”. One of them is usually visible even when bedded.
I've also seen dominant bucks push does into certain areas and definitely control where they go. I think "locked down" is appropriate on those instances. The times I see a buck "hooked up" with a doe and following her around I believe she's not quite ready yet and/or it's a young buck.
I'm with you OP. We use the same term "hooked up" & when not we say Cruising.. Yesterday (11-16) I had this guy, alone, looking, Cruising around in N.E. Ia & my son an hour away in N.W. Il. had a minimum P&Y cruising just out of range while he was in stand. No one has seen "locked down"(haha) in our Hoods.
I think "locked on" is more appropriate, at least with mule deer. I've watched my target buck locked on to the same old split-eared doe for 2 days in a row. The doe stayed near her regular doe group, only with the buck's nose up her backside most of the time. Apparently, he got the job done because he was locked on to a different doe in the same herd this morning. Mule deer are a little different in this respect. They tend to rut more like elk. Usually, a dominant buck will join a herd, and go from doe to doe as they become hot. Meanwhile, the smaller bucks circle the herd from a distance, like satellite bulls, or they go wandering off looking for love in different places.
Matt
You can use whatever term you want but when a doe is in estrus her movements are controlled by the buck that is going to breed her. And they are not moving far if at all. He simply wont let her.
I did an all day sit this past Tuesday and a 3.5 year old buck had a doe pinned down in a tree top 40 yards from me when it broke daylight. When I left my stand at dark they had not moved more than 100 yards all day. She tried to break free a few times that day but he would cut her off every time and push her right back into a pile of brush or tree top. By doing this it eliminates her escape routes. During the day that 3.5 year old buck ran off 4 other bucks that tried to steal her from him.
I think it's an appropriate term.
“Hooked up” may work for you, but with my wife, I’m “locked down”………for the last 40 years ! ;-)
I think you all are giving deer way too much credit as if bucks will actually think like humans. They don't pick out a secret spot to push a hot doe to. There is no bedroom. He just wants her to stop running so he can breed her as he can't do it while she is running or while she is laying down. He is also trying to prevent another buck from breeding her when she is ready so keeping her away from other bucks makes natural sense. That's it. She wants to get away and he wants her to stop and breed. It's nothing more than that.
Lockdown, hooked up, they all work. However, most bucks are killed in KS during archery season in the middle of November. This is right when "lockdown" or "hook up" occurs. Why is that? Also, if you go out in the middle of November and don't see a buck it is not because of "lockdown." There are many many reasons why that could occur. A buck is typically with a doe in estrous for only about 24 hours then he is on to the next one. He has to move in order to find the next hot date with a babe.
Right now, is the best time to be in the woods. Any single day in November (in the Midwest) is the best time. Sure, some target bucks could be hold up breeding for a day or so but tomorrow is the day he walks by you.
Locked down, locked up, knocked up, knocked down…. I don’t care I just wish he would show back up.
RIT, wish he'd show up at my place!!
Seems like most of the time I see a buck tending, hooked up or locked down, the buck has the doe in the middle of a wide open field.
That’s because you can‘t see them doing it in the thicket because you can see them in a thicket lol;)
I have watched bucks lead does out into the middle of nowhere to breed them. Stand guard over them for hours. I definitely agree with the term locked down.
Saw a keeper buck laying next to a doe in cut beans 80 yds off a blacktop road at 0800 today. Went by again at 330 pm and they we in a waterway 40 yds from previous location I call that lockdown
I’m in southwest Kansas and the big bucks are pushing does into wide open areas , devoid of cover and not frequently used by deer at other times. They can easily fend off rival bucks and it’s hard to predict where you could set up for them……
Matte, you didn't see a buck "lead the doe"
Regardless of what you call it just because some bucks might happen to be controlling the movements of some does doesn't mean that other bucks aren't out cruising looking for a doe. The difference is, instead of every buck in the woods being on their feet looking for does, a certain percentage are already occupied with a doe and are not covering much ground.
ROUGH COUNTRY, I've seen that too in Kansas where the bucks push the does out into the wide open.
Bowhunter09, is a "keeper buck" a buck that you don't throw back after you catch it? ;-)
Terms that irritate me. Smoked em...... Jacked up.... Stud.... Freezer queen..... slick head... What are you, or I am ,,,running ,,, really irrates me for some reason.
Locked down, not so much, or actually not at all
Here is a pic of a 2.5 year old one horned 4pt. that has a doe locked down. The does head is just visible to the right hand side of the bush. I first noticed these 2 at about 9 a.m. yesterday. I took this pic 22 hours later.
They didn't leave my barnyard at all yesterday. I was within 100 yards of them several times while doing chores and my presence never bothered them. With them still being here this morning they probably didn't move much if at all during the night.
As you can see in the pic and as I mentioned in an earlier thread bucks like to pin the does against an obstacle in order to eliminate her escape routes and to prevent other bucks from approaching her.
Is Thornton your photographer? ;-)
I remember the term tending, and I prefer it. I like that term because it doesn't conjure up the image of a buck bedded next to a doe in a thicket wherein neither deer moves for days. Tending incorporates close proximity with some movement that is part of a deer's normal daily routine.
I definitely see less deer and less "rutting behavior" after the first two weeks of November (Kentucky) but every once in a while...here comes a nice buck on the prowl for a new girlfriend. It's always worth being out there in November.
lol love that term "Keeper buck" I'm gonna steal it!
The phrase that really annoys me is pet peeve
They're still "hooked up" to me...8^)))
Perhaps you get hooked up with a girl in the beginning but soon after she's got you under lock & key,or on a leash,or worse of all your pussy whooped
Forgot to add - Like others here, back in the day preferred the term "tending" on paper which was old school before the "lock down" craze people, but as said when talking amongst hunting buddies, we always used hooked up, that was just the way it is/was...
Don't think you'll read locked down in any of Rothhaar's or Wensel's books...
Bearman, You are right wrong word. Pushed the doe, she didnt want to go where he wanted her to go, he made her go there.
Wrong. Bucks will chase for days/weeks prior to a doe coming into heat. Many times the big bucks will just hang out or follow behind at distance and let the youngsters do the "cutting". When a doe is ready the bucks can smell it and many times there will be an "orgy" of sorts. She will bed in a finger, a brush pile, a fence row, etc and be available for up to three days. During that time she may be bred by as many as a half dozen bucks or more.... multiple times. Does often have fawns fathered by different sires when having multiple fawns. Non-yearling does often have 2-3 fawns with 2 being the norm. I have observed this activity many times. Three years ago I watched six bucks stay on a doe for three days, and during daylight they never left her. They stood and bedded/bred her for three days and I never saw any one if them move more than twenty yards over the course of three days. This was behind my house. During the rut there was a "honey hole" patch of three acres of timber in the middle of a ninty-acre open field and every year many bucks would push does into a small area behind the lake and they would stay with her as long as she was receptive. Watched this for seventeen years until I sold the place. I have seen this activity (or non-activity :-) many times. For forty plus years I have ate and slept "deer", getting up early to watch them before work, sitting on edges and fields after work with glass, and hunting them several months a year. The "lockdown" happens, but it varies in locale and intensity... and it doesn't happen all at once in every patch of timber in every venue. In Missouri, for example, the majority (majority, not all) of does are bred on Nov fifteenth year in and year out... no matter the moon, the weather, etc. This has been determined by fetal studies of deceased dies. The remainder are bred the few days prior and after, discounting anomolies. If a doe isn't bred during the primary rut she will cycle back in 28 days later, then 28 days after that if not bred. Many yearlings come in during that second rut in Dec. Thus the reason we see younger and spotted fawns the following season.
Happen to run across this video today and thought of this thread from last year so brought it back to the top...
This guy's observation is the same as I... They don't "Lock Down" for days, they "Hook Up" and he goes on to find the next hot chic...8^)))
"An observation of deer breeding on my property: Myth of the Lockdown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-Ntp4MxRk
One of the most entertaining mornings in the woods I've had in long time happened a few weeks ago. The biggest buck iv seen this season bred a doe in front of me right at first light, then left, the doe bedded down, shortly after the 2nd biggest buck I've seen this season came in & bedded beside her. Over the next 4 hours I watched that buck run off 7 more smaller bucks. Finally at 10:00 the doe moved off with the buck in tow behind her.
Locked down, hooked up, WHATEVER. A buck is gonna stay with a hot doe until she allows him to breed her, then he's off to the next one.
The doe is controlling the situation.
Do you realize that is an old muzzleloading term referring to the lock on the firearm
Hunters in days of old used to say I’m gonna put the lock down on that buck just before they pull the trigger
So I guess you could say if you don’t want to deal with DEER in lockdown, you need to put the lock down on one and kill it before that phase of the rut kicks in patterns go to hell
Hopefully a broader understanding of the origination of the term helps you Remove it from your list of pet peeves.
Every situation is unique. I killed a stud of a buck in 2016 where the doe was clearly controlling the situation and lead this buck out to a field where he normally wouldn’t have. You could see he was extremely nervous and uncomfortable, but he would not let that doe out of his sight. Then I’ve had the bucks that corner does and are really aggressive in keeping them in a spot. Like everything, every situation is unique, as each buck and each doe have personalities….there are no absolute rules. But generally speaking, when a buck is on a hot doe, he will stay with her until he’s confident his job has been completed and that’s about the only general rule I’d feel comfortable making.
During the rut when the peak estrus is going on, this causes a shift for sure, so I don’t mind assigning somewhat of a name to it, but it’s also a time I love being on stand. Just try and catch them between does
Locked down lol .. run that doe off and you will see how locked down he is
M.pauls In my post above that location is on the saltwater marsh, a small gut about 75 yards wide that comes into the woods. I have a ladder stand on the edge in a cedar tree.
That 2nd buck cought me moving ,,,,,he 100% knew I was there & except for when running the smaller bucks off , ,,he never took his eyes off of me, but wasn't leaving that doe for anything. Guaranteed I'll never kill that buck from that stand unless another hot doe brings him there.
Lockdown should be about over by now in most areas ;)
I never use the term locked DOWN. I will use the term “locked ON”...............as in the buck was locked ON the doe and everywhere she went, the buck followed.
I usually use the term “tending” when the buck is not quite as intent and is more “casually” following her. Might be from a further distance and not focused on her every move, but still following and keeping track of her.
It’s just slang. I say holler you say canyon. Who cares?
To the OP.
I get it. Honestly. And there’s a huge list that most of don’t like also.
Smoked him Drilled him Caddy whack
At least we all can agree, there is a period where there is zero movement. Call it what you want, it’s a free country.
Keep hunting
Hooked up. Locked down. Who cares?
I call the period right before the doe finally stands for the buck, the “just friends” stage….
What happens to the "locked down" buck when a bigger more aggressive buck comes along? Does he remain “locked down” or does he look elsewhere for a receptive doe? I know I’ve seen more than one buck following a doe around, are they all “locked down”? Limited whitetail experience but wondering about these issues?
There really isn't a "lockdown" period with Mule deer, in my experience. They breed much more like elk. When the timing is right, the breeder bucks suddenly show up and compete for the doe groups. The dominate buck will usually allow a younger buck to tag along during the rut, but he will run off any bucks that he perceives as competition. As the individual does become hot, the dominate buck will definitely focus his attention on them, but they rarely separate from the herd.
It's been an unusually protracted rut this year. I'm watching breeding activity as I type this. One of the 6 does is obviously hot. The dominate buck is busy fending off 4 lesser bucks, while keeping an eye on his hot doe. When the does decide to move, the whole party moves with them.
Usually the rut is winding down at this time of year, but it seems to have intensified the last few days. If it continues, the big bucks will get slaughtered in the late rifle season, which starts Friday, because they are so visible and not as cautious as normal.
Matt
I call it "Honeymooners";0)
Bob….depends on a lot of different factors. He may hang around on the fringe like a satellite bull elk, or challenge the bigger buck again, or may leave to search for another receptive doe. I’ve seen dominant bucks bedded near a bedded doe he’s tending, and there will be multiple smaller satellite bucks hanging around the pair. If one gets too close, he may snort/wheeze at them, and that may be enough to get them to back off. Sometimes he’ll get up all bristled up, posturing and that may do it, or he may have to chase one off a little ways. Here in the midwest, oftentimes, a buck will push a receptive doe way out in the middle of a wide open picked grain field or an isolated fence row, trying to get away from all the harassment of subordinate bucks.
To the OP.
I get it. Honestly. And there’s a huge list that most of don’t like also.
Smoked him Drilled him Caddy whack
At least we all can agree, there is a period where there is zero movement. Call it what you want, it’s a free country.
Keep hunting
"At least we all can agree, there is a period where there is zero movement. Call it what you want, it’s a free country. "
I don't agree unless you are talking about a few hours of bedding which they do everyday anyway.
TREESTANDWOLF - "At least we all can agree, there is a period where there is zero movement"
Nope TREESTANDWOLF, I totally disagree, I'm with Aspen Ghost and that was the whole point of this thread, even though they are in the actual breeding phase, estrus doe isolated with a buck or bucks, they are not stagnant, they move... They might lay down for a few daylight hours as deer do during midday, but they get up and move, its just not the same routine movement from feeding source to bedding area back and forth... Some hunters think because they don't see the same type movement they are locked down... No, those guys are just not in the right location... So hence, "lock down" is a myth as the video describes... They "hook up" for a few hours maybe a day or so to breed then the bucks move on looking for another hottie...
GG - "The dominate buck is busy fending off 4 lesser bucks, while keeping an eye on his hot doe. When the does decide to move, the whole party moves with them"
Yeah, I actually filmed a big mature 6x6 guarding a doe from either 3 or 4 (can't remember) lesser bucks all day long, then eventually the mature buck mounted the doe and the lesser bucks swarming around and went ape sh!t... This was in an open area where I could watch and film... This whole period happened from around noonish to about dark and they traveled at least 200 - 300 yards... Matter of fact this happened on the same date as today, November 30th... I remember that because the following Monday was the first day of our gun season that year and I never seen that buck again after that day... This was back in the day of Sony Mini8 camcorders... If I knew or had a way to convert it to one of today's video formats I would and post it here... It was incredible action... Also have Mini8 video of a nice mature buck breeding a doe on November 4th in the same area, it may have been the same year but don't remember...
I don't know about "lockdown", but where I hunt on the prairie, both whitetail and mule deer does will lead a buck away from the river bottoms where the deer concentrate, and way out into the prairie into random places, sometimes miles away. They'll stay there during her cycle, then the bucks return to the river bottoms to find other receptive does. Biologists call this "sequestering".
All the whitetails do this, and we try to keep track of them by glassing. They are easy to spot out there in the grasslands, standing over a bedded doe or watching her eat like he's in a trance.
Not all muleys do it, but some do, and the mature buck will leave the herd with a doe for a day or two, then return to try to hook back up if the herd hasn't been spooked. While they are sequestered out there in the Great Beyond they will lock onto the doe and stand like a statue while she beds or eats.
According to WDFG biologists, blacktails do this as well.
I documented all this with tons of photos and narrative day-to-day in my live hunts here on Bowsite. I don't particularly like hunting either species during this peak breeding time because it can be like many of the mature bucks disappear, and I see herds of does with no buck, or a couple dinks taking over (temporarily). But it's also a good time to decoy in travel corridors when the bucks come back looking for does. This is also a good time to rattle.
As far as peeves, I cringe when I hear about someone "harvesting" an animal. Corn is harvested. We kill animals, and we aren't fooling anyone by pretending to soften it.
Locked down, locked up or locked on doesn’t bother me. But when someone uses the term “DOMINATE” (as in “dominate” buck) I cringe a little. But then I was raised by an English teacher and corrected whenever I used improper grammar. ;-)
Jaquomo - "does will lead a buck away from the river bottoms where the deer concentrate, and way out into the prairie into random places, sometimes miles away"
Yeah, I can see that and totally agree the doe leads the buck to where she goes... Have seen bucks try to cut her off or even try to corral her, but eventually she gets to where SHE wants to go...
"Biologists call this "sequestering""
I like that one...8^)
I HARVESTED the DOMINATE buck that was LOCKED DOWN with a doe today. Does that about cover it for everyone? ;-)
Seriously, The term locked down is just describing a time when a buck is staying with a doe and not moving much if at all. Doesn't matter who's leading who around, or where they decide to camp out. The fact is that neither one of them is going to move too much for a period of time, thus hunters just aren't going to see much activity from that buck until he decides to leave her and find another (usually in the dark of night).
It's the ones that decide to switch it up and find another doe during daylight that we sit in a tree all day waiting for...Because he's not "locked down" any longer.
Urrr, I give up.... Again, hadn't read whitetail bowhunting legends Rothhaar nor the Wensel's writings of the term, so whomever coined the term wrong, must be from the younger generation and I'm to old to change...8^) Nobody put deer in a room and locked them down, they'll hooked up "sequestered" moving around... Deer are individuals and even if it is only a couple hundred yards they are still moving around... Read one of Rothhaar's chapters where he knew of a big buck isolated with a doe in a small patch of cover and not one time did he mentioned they were locked down... If I remember right, he waited them out that day and eventually they broke out of the cover... If Roger would have used the term, maybe I would have accepted it...8^)
'Locked down' is a term overused by guys that can't see over the next hill that there are 5 bucks that aren't "locked down". This one this evening was hooked up with a doe and spent quite a bit of energy chasing off smaller bucks.
Thornton - "This one this evening was hooked up with a doe"
8^))) I like it...8^)
https://youtu.be/MCgkIKUzRPo?si=07KM7w5_SKcEGzaB
A prime example of lockdown on our place. I'm sure the neighbors thought the bucks were on "lockdown" in some secluded spot. (it's on old video, so be patient with the wording and lack of quality)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdTTvvKEmos
Or maybe another example of "lockdown"... Why travel when you can do it yourself?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhbYLW5INTU
Or how about this one for locked-down? He breed her several times, took a quick nap, then left.
I'd seen that first video before... Yeah, they sure looked locked down to a small isolated area to me...8^)))
Mule deer don't always "sequester". I've seen many does get bred with the entire herd all around them. I've also seen them sequester, like Lou described, but it's usually a lesser buck that follows a doe when she wanders off from the herd.
Every situation is different. Around here we have herds that range from 3 animals to as many as 20 or more. I routinely see the same herds in the same general areas. The largest bucks usually hang with the largest herds during the rut. That way they don't have to work so hard to find receptive does. The smaller herds usually draw the juvenile bucks who end up traveling miles to find the next receptive doe.
At least that's my observations from living in mule deer country for 25 years.
Matt
Only limited experience with mulies, but doesn't the mule deer bucks try to herd does into a harem like bull elk and reason they don't scrape like whitetails?
Zbone, mule deer bucks don't really "herd does into a harem". They seek out and join exiting herds when the timing is right. I've had the same herd of about 10 does and 4 fawns on my place since September. Different bucks have come and gone (I killed one of them), but the herd has remained the same.
Matt
Thanks GG, interesting.... Kinda like the 7 neighborhood resident whitetails behind my house... The 3 mature does and their fawns I practically named seeing them almost daily throughout all seasons of the year until November when a few bucks come cruising through, then the crazy running, chasing and hook ups...8^) Fun to watch...
Found a photo of the 6x6 I spoke of above hooked up with a hot doe and guarding her from lesser bucks... Correction on the date, it was November 29th, and not the 30th...
2 days ago I was quail hunting on my farm and encountered a 130"s buck locked down with a doe under a cedar and a young satellite buck in tow. They didn't bolt until the dogs and I were 40 yards away.
This 2-year old 8-point has been hooked up with this doe fawn at least the past 24 hours now, second night they showed up together, no other deer around... She looks pretty exhausted, I'd suspect there'll be a fawn in about 200 days...8^)
He's back this morning without his young mate... "Honeymoon hook up" must be over, seems it only lasted a day...8^)
He's out moving kinda late at 9:30 AM, hope he goes and beds down back there in the cover so somebody don't blast him, we have a 2-day statewide gun season today and tomorrow, wish him luck...
