Rack color varies from white to brownish. A white rack can result from the blood enriched velvet drying rapidly and not causing a stain from frequent rubbing. A brown stain may result when the velvet dries slowly and the rubbing causes a stain. Many claim the brown stain occurs when deer rub certain types of trees and shrubs. Possibly, the coloration is affected by heredity.
Deer are heedless of danger during the rut.
Their necks begin to swell. When two bucks meet there is at least a sparring if not an all out clashing of antlers. Sometimes bucks lock their antlers and die of stress and starvation if they do not get unlocked. Most of the time a sparring match, consisting of eye or body movements, determines the dominant male. In Maryland, 15-20 percent of bucks survive the first year.