Four bucks were spotted near the intersection of Highway 20 and Midway Boulevard last week, two of them locking antlers despite the rutting season having recently ended.

Bucks often joust by locking antlers to establish dominance over competition during breeding season, which lasts from about November through December. However, according to Ralph Downes, an officer with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is not uncommon to see them dueling in the off season.

“Hey man, if you still have antlers on your head, you gotta do something with them,” Downes said.

Bucks often play, spar and do “what guys do,” he said.

Even when no other bucks are around, Downes said he sometimes sees them duking it out with a tree, locking with the branches.

Bucks on Whidbey will soon lose their antlers, from now until about March. One of the four seen on Wednesday had already shed one.

Once bucks drop their antlers, sometimes they will butt heads as if they still have them, Downes said.

Whidbey Island has a healthy population of Columbian black-tailed deer, a subspecies of mule deer.

A study conducted by a graduate student with the help of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated the deer population on Whidbey to be 2,744, with six deer every square kilometer. Central Whidbey counted the most deer, with 10.5 deer per square kilometer, while the South End counted about four and the North End has five.