That's what certain Indian tribes called the annual rutting period of the local whitetails. It's not a bad description, actually, of the three or four week peak mating season of our most plentiful native deer.

Last week we mentioned a few mysteries about whitetails' reproductive rituals. Now we'll examine some things we do know. We know that the timing of the rut varies with latitude. For example, the annual mating festivities in the South Texas Brush Country begin about one month later than in the Hill Country.

In my library are more than 100 books on hunting whitetail deer, including all the most significant volumes back to the very first one in 1881, the classic "The Still Hunter" by Van Dyke. Many of these are good reading, if only to observe how American hunters' understanding of deer behavior has evolved during these 125 years.

Territorial dominance, female favors, just plain aggression - the rut could be what you wait for.

The big buck was restless that frosty, clear morning in south Texas. He wandered purposelessly here and there through the mesquite brush, just after the last sunrise he would ever see. Although his flanks were hollow, he did not feel hunger, and his nibbling at the browse was only reflexive. His swollen neck and the moist, black hock glands on his hind legs told the story—he was a whitetail at the peak of his rutting urge.