2012 rut activity, what did you witness?

[Dkirch]

Well Mr. Charles A. Had best 5 best days to be in the woods this year starting on oct 31st. With seeking phase peaking and chasing starting. had tending peaking at nov 12-13th. I know these are his estimates and I respect the mans knowledge.......I am just curious what others have experienced. I saw a 120" 8 point dogging a doe on 11/19, and a MONSTER dogging a doe along the thruway in Syracuse on 11/20 at 2pm in a fairly developed area. Secondly a buddy in ADKs shot a basket 8 point yesterday hot on a does trail grunting like crazy. Also, I have a lot of different bucks cruising on my cams in 5J (foot of adirondacks) around the 19th. However, I also saw a pic of a mature 10 pt (150 class) mounting a doe on 10/31 and she was standing for him. So I'm pretty confused as to when the rut did peak. Can a doe come into estrus on 10/31 and others not until mid November. Do the majority of doe come into peak estrus around the same time and how many days can this last or how many days can it take for other doe to come into estrus as well...... Is it 3-4 days or 2 weeks???

Can't wait to hear everyone's input!!!

[retired2hunt]

The majoRity of the does do come into estrus the same time so I think that would be the peak. But some come earlier and some come later. My buddy shot a 140 ten point dogging a doe the middle of October this year. Last January I shot a9 pt that came in on a hot doe that was first being chased by a 4 pt. you never know my hunting group saw lots of big boys up on their feet around Halloween to about the 9th with some good chasing also but the majority of the chasing was observed the second and third week of Nov and slowed by thanksgiving. I did observe a nice eight pt and a spike together just feeding on thanksgiving morning. They fed about 75yds from me for 40minutes

[First-light]

Honestly for me I saw chasing as early as Oct 17th and it continued right through Nov 22nd. I think it is impossible to nail down a 1 week period that would be best. Keep a log for your area and go on that for years of experience.

One thing I know, you gotta be in the woods to experience it!

[Dkirch]

Exactly what I figured, great info and gotta be in the woods to win it : )

[greensider]

i havnt spent much time in the woods this year but i was in the tioga area opening weekend and there were more bucks chasing than ive ever seen in a whole lot of years of hunting

[G-Man]

If you have a fairly close buck to doe ratio the rut is short and sweet if your there when it happens, if you have a lot of doe it can be long and drawn out putting a lot of pressure on the bucks. This year seeking seemed to hit nov 1- 5th, with the most tending/chasing nov 12-22. this was in 9w on fairly well managed private land.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I saw alot of seeking activity the tail end of October to the first week of November, I even saw some chasing then. The scrapes in my area started being hit heavily then as well. I started seeing the bucks singling out does the first and second week of November and that continued right up to last Sunday when I saw the last one singled out. The last rut activity I have seen was the buck I shot on Wednesday afternoon, which came out to check a doe or two that had come into the pasture I was watching. The scrapes are not being hit much right now, but I am still seeing lots of rubs popping up and being refreshed. My buck had a ton of wood shavings in the burs of his antlers and the fur on his head. This was all in 8H

[landtracdeerhunter]

I'll post after it's over.

[accman]

They're still chasing after em. The one 7pt I shot on 11/25 was looking for some does, and teamed up with them on the ridge. Wind made them disoriented, but they are still in the rut phase. The early part of the rut, all the way through to Thanksgiving was a heavy rutting phase with all the small bucks, going nuts. Didn't see too many of the big boys around. Now, they're running around too, hot and heavy, and to think of it, it's really pretty late in the month.

[NYbuck50]

In the tree, i saw several small bucks chasing around nov 1st.. even rattled in my first buck ever, nov 5th a small 6 point that i didnt shoot, but was very cool none the less, a buddy shot him out of the same set opening of gun. Nov 13th, my wife took a 10 minute video of a 7 and a big 9 in our neighborhood near Syracuse university battle it out for a hot doe, who subsequently ran the winner into rush hour traffic( all deer survived).

[genesee_mohican]

I spent at least 10 days in the woods from dawn till dusk and saw this rutting activity:

Oct 28th: 6 bucks with a doe, grunting, snort wheezing, with the biggest one doing his best to keep the others away. 3 were mature bucks in the 120 range.

Nov 5th: 6 miles away, 3 mature bucks doing the same dance.

Nov 6th, hard chasing and grunting by a mature buck with a 1.5

That was it for me. And once gun season starts....all bets are off on seeing rutting activity as deer are bedded most of the day unless pushed out.

[josephmrtn]

I saw alot of seeking activity the tail end of October to the first week of November, I even saw some chasing then. The scrapes in my area started being hit heavily then as well. I started seeing the bucks singling out does the first and second week of November and that continued right up to last Sunday when I saw the last one singled out. The last rut activity I have seen was the buck I shot on Wednesday afternoon, which came out to check a doe or two that had come into the pasture I was watching. The scrapes are not being hit much right now, but I am still seeing lots of rubs popping up and being refreshed. My buck had a ton of wood shavings in the burs of his antlers and the fur on his head. This was all in 8H

mine did too! mine was bedded (<<< i think) in a brushy patch (approx 100 yrds wide) w a doe, the doe ran out one side he ran out the other and boom i took im