• Myth No. 4: Scrapes are great places to hunt during the rut.

Bucks actually make and check scrapes one to three weeks ahead of the rut as a communication method -- sort of like checking in at the corner bar or burger joint. Once the rut arrives, they’re busy checking doe areas and searching for the first females coming into estrus. Then, when they start to find ready mates, they’re too busy hanging out with and breeding them to bother checking scrapes.

It’s true that a week or two after the major breeding is done, bucks will once again start visiting and freshening scrapes while searching for the odd doe that wasn’t serviced or trying to make contact for the secondary rut, which will start up in another week or two.

• Myth No. 5: A buck grows its biggest rack at 3 or 4 years of age.

That may be the case for captive deer whose growth is unnaturally accelerated with heavy rations of high-protein supplemental food, but for deer in the wild, 5 to 7 years is the age when a buck grows its largest set of antlers.

You don’t have to take my word for that -- just look at some of the bucks Mike Biggs profiles in his fabulous book, The Whitetail Chronicles (Jumpin’ Buck Enterprises, 1-800-433-2102).

The practical side of the coin is that encountering a 5- or 6-year-old mossy-horned buck in most places on either public or heavily-hunted private land is a rarity, so you have to factor that into the equation. In most situations, if you can nail a 3- or 4-year-old, you’re doing better than most other hunters in the woods. Just realize that it’s not the true monster he really could be if he made it through another year or two.

• Myth No. 6: The oldest, biggest bucks have the largest home ranges.

In fact, younger bucks have bigger home ranges. Old bucks seem to sense that to travel widely about makes them vulnerable; they also have the stature to claim the best territory as their turf -- and when they command the best habitat, they need less of it.

Certainly, large old bucks range far abroad during the rut, but that’s breeding travel, which takes them out of the core home range in which they spend most of the year. Subordinate yearlings are relegated to larger but poorer-quality home ranges that require more rambling around if they’re to find sufficient food and cover.

• Myth No. 7: Protein isn’t important in a buck’s diet until it starts to grow antlers in March or April.

Like all living creatures, deer need protein year ‘round; it’s a vital amino acid required for life. To grow the best set of antlers, a buck should have all its protein needs adequately met at least a month before the new rack starts to grow. Thus, whatever combination of food a buck is eating should add up to 16 percent or more protein.

Protein levels in many types of foods that deer consume -- clovers, lablab, soybeans, alfalfa and brassicas, for example -- exceed that mark, but must be averaged with other, lower-protein foods that they eat -- such as browse or corn -- to produce a level of 16 percent or higher for optimum health and antler growth.

• Myth No. 8: Urinating near your stand will scare bucks away.