Matt, my son and I hunt 2 different properties with 2 different ruts. Property#1 has a late Nov thru early dec rut and is vast hardwood mountains with a medium low deer density. We never see any bucks with busted up racks. Property #2 has a mid dec to early jan rut and has a medium high deer density and we see busted up mature bucks every year. I would have it would have been the opposite. Are there any studies or thoughts on why one property has this and the other doesn't? Your thoughts?

Better age structure?

Buck to doe ratio would be closer on property 2 in my opinion.

Usually in higher deer density areas, and especially those with somewhat equal sex ratios and age structure that contains a decent proportion of mature deer, competition is greater for receptive does, resources are fought for with more intensity, and bucks come in contact with each other more often.

I thought we had too many doe deer on property #2, but that's comes from hunter observation. Maybe we keep seeing the same doe groups. Thanks.

You could still have a large number of deer, so long as the buck to doe ratio was close, and still see the competition Mbrock is talking about. I had a lease that had a large number of deer, and the ratio was good. When the rut kicked in, there was a lot of competition even though there was a large number of does on the property.