Some weird buck activity with a SURPRISE

[35-acre]

I have a Cell-Link on my trail camera. One morning I woke up to the following series of photos, which I thought were really oddball behavior. I numbered the pics based on the date/time from the camera (they were screen shots form my cell phone):

#1 & #2 2:23 Is he sniffing a raccoon? A porcupine?
#3 & #4 3:45 Makes a rub and then lays down - except if you look at the times, he is on his feet the next minute (weird).
But the time is an hour later so maybe he was bedded and then got back up, made a rub and walked around?

 

[35-acre]

Then it stays weird.

#8 - 4:29 he's peeing or bedded again and getting up?
#8 - 4:29 But the twist - look what he was sniffing originally? It wasn't a raccoon or porcupine - it was another buck!

 

[scott44]

Cool sequence of pics, maybe part of a bachalor group and trying to show his dominance over the other or maybe he just doesn't like him.

 

[BenA]

Really cool! What made you put a camera there? Was it acorns dropping or beds?

 

[Rit]

I would call that 100% completely normal whitetail buck behavior. I get photos of bucks all the time laying in a scrape that they just urinated in moments before. I often get photos in early October of bucks sparring in a scrape only to being licking each other 5 minutes later or bedding next to each other.

 

[Rit]

 

[35-acre]

Really cool! What made you put a camera there? Was it acorns dropping or beds?

Ben,
I'ts just a saddle area. I honestly haven't been in there since August when I put the camera up. I was curious to know if deer were traveling through there. I was getting some regular photos of a decent buck (for my area) traveling around 2 o'clock - 4 o'clock on a fairly regular basis throughout late August and mid-September. I haven't gotten him on camera in a while.