The rut this year the way I see it

[nybuckboy]

I don't know about your area of the state but here in southern Oneida county it seems to be our first estrous happened around the middle of November. I say this because I saw bucks chasing in the early part of the month. On the 8th still in bow season, heard and saw a big buck tending a doe followed by 4 other bucks. On the 16th I heard and saw a buck tending a doe and another buck following a few minutes behind. Since then I have seen 12 doe and no bucks with them at all so I presume the big bucks are locked down with other does. So expect the 2nd estrous to be around the time of muzzle loader. Does anyone else see it this way?

Edited November 28, 2013 by nybuckboy

[silent death]

My buck i got was in rut had scrapes everywhere that was november 8th.. but seen scrapes 2 weeks prior to

[verminater71]

the past few years the rut has been a joke, I saw a picture on  11/25 of two mature 10 points bedded together with no does around

 

mature bucks don't tolerate each other when it's breeding season, things are changing and I can't figure it out

 

I hunt 7H,  7J and 7R

[blackradio]

Haven't seen any chasing this year but saw a lot the past 2 years.

[phade]

The heaviest chasing I saw was on Nov. 2 with multiple aggressive mature bucks moving on the does.

[wooly]

Most rut action I saw this year was from 11/6-11/9.

The last couple days I've gotten a few night time vids of different  bucks chasing doe and hitting scrapes again.

[Taylormike]

Hey All:  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

The rut is a difficult thing to understand or put sum up if you will.  Three main phases:  Seeking, Chasing, and Tending. 

 

If you believe in moon phase as I do heavily this year would put us in a very late rut.  Second Full moon after Autumn Equinox 17th.  Well, I hut bow very hard - two weeks straight, I saw few rubs no scrapes.  Did have some nice buck movement, I would say I hit seeking phase.  We definitely were not in full blown rut.  I believe chasing phase was about a week or so ago and we currently are in Tending aka, Breeding phase.  The breeding phase is by far the hardest time to hunt and most frustrating.  The bucks are tending does, continually breeding them 24-48 hrs and sometimes they won't move 100 yards.  Keep in mind, nothing will stop rut in general but the two main culprits to slow it is the weather and human pressure.  These deer will stay bedded and will be pushed nocturnal extremely fast. 

 

Rut was late this year!

 

Next year the heart of rut should fall around veterans day....

 

Like I said, this is what I believe and my opinion.  I respect everyone's opinion and experience.

 

Thanks!

[azhuntress]

Here in 9R I saw the most action on October 16 where 5 bucks were chasing one doe

around all over the place. Other than that (and I was out almost every single day) I

saw bucks cruising through but none were following a doe. It was a very disappointing

rut phase for me this year.

[Meat Manager]

Witnessed almost zero rutt activity this bow season...got my archery buck on a rub line coming in on estrous wicks Nov 3, his neck was swollen but he was my fourth deer taken in archery and none smelled of tarsal and they didn't have stained hocks.

Once gun season opened the fawns got dispersed and both doe I took in the past 2 weeks did have stained hocks.

+1 that the late rutt coupled with a mild bow/harsh gun season and tons of mast and standing corn made for reduced sightings of any kind including rutt activity sightings.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited November 29, 2013 by Meat Manager

[DanceswithSkunks]

The rut occurs the same time every year. Moon phase has absolutely nothing to do with it's timing. When buck shed their velvet in late August early September their testicles descend in to their scrotum and they are ready to breed. Mother nature keeps the family jewels tucked away safe until it's time. Breeding is determined by the female, ie doe. Sound familiar? As the photo period decreases buck produce more testosterone where as doe produce melanin.  When a doe's level of melanin reaches a certain level she comes in to estrous. Not all doe come in to estrous at the same time. Young of the year, doe fawns won't enter estrous until they obtain a body weight of 80 pounds.

 

In Pennsylvania records have been kept for decades involving fetus studies of road killed doe. The fetus are aged and conception date is determined. In Pennsylvania the peek of breeding occurs between November 2nd and November 9th. It hasn't changed in decades despite what date the moon is full.

 

The time period I see the most buck activity during shooting hours is the 3rd and 4th week of October. The buck are ready and few if any doe are respective. This is when buck will be scent checking doe. As a buck's level of testosterone increases he will become more aggressive in his search. Once doe begin to enter estrous a buck will hole up with them for 24 - 36 hours breeding her every time she stands up. This usually takes place in a secluded thicket but I have seen buck lay with doe in small patches of trees out in the middle of an ag field. 

 

There are five phases of the rut.

 

1 Rut preparation. Rublines, territorial scrapes, and sparring with other buck.

 

2: Seek phase. Actively looking for a doe in estrous.

 

3. Chase phase. Running a doe that is in estrous or soon will be, to separate her from her fawn{s} and other deer.

 

4 Breeding. self explanatory

 

5 Post Rut. Conserving energy and focusing on food to regain body weight lost during the rut..

Edited November 29, 2013 by DanceswithSkunks

[Meat Manager]

The rut occurs the same time every year. Moon phase has absolutely nothing to do with it's timing. When buck shed their velvet in late August early September their testicles descend in to their scrotum and they are ready to breed. Mother nature keeps the family jewels tucked away safe until it's time. Breeding is determined by the female, ie doe. Sound familiar? As the photo period decreases buck produce more testosterone where as doe produce melanin. When a doe's level of melanin reaches a certain level she comes in to estrous. Not all doe come in to estrous at the same time. Young of the year, doe fawns won't enter estrous until they obtain a body weight of 80 pounds.

In Pennsylvania records have been kept for decades involving fetus studies of road killed doe. The fetus are aged and conception date is field.

There are five phases of the rut.

1 Rut preparation. Rublines, territorial scrapes, and sparring with other buck.

2: Seek phase. Actively looking for a doe in estrous.

3. Chase phase. Running a doe that is in estrous or soon will be, to separate her from her fawn{s} and other deer.

4 Breeding. self explanatory

5 Post Rut. Conserving energy and focusing on food to regain body weight lost during the rut..

That is a great study and most deer ecologists agree with that post to some degree.

However,

This is one place where I think people get confused between deer biology and deer behavior.

The biological process of actual breeding may not be effected by the moon or weather, meaning doe may indeed only be able to conceive on those particular days in Nov (and then 28 days later if not bred).

But that does not mean that the social behavior and non-reproductively-viable sex that is going on cannot vary in date according to other conditions...availability of food, weather or moon phase/location in particular.

Moreover what hunters refer to as the rutt is more about hunter daytime observations. So Charlie Alzheimer's predictions of late rut may mean that lunar conditions will make for better daytime buck sightings during the second breeding period, not that all doe are breeding late or randomly.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited November 29, 2013 by Meat Manager

[Jeremy K]

The rut occurs the same time every year. Moon phase has absolutely nothing to do with it's timing. When buck shed their velvet in late August early September their testicles descend in to their scrotum and they are ready to breed. Mother nature keeps the family jewels tucked away safe until it's time. Breeding is determined by the female, ie doe. Sound familiar? As the photo period decreases buck produce more testosterone where as doe produce melanin.  When a doe's level of melanin reaches a certain level she comes in to estrous. Not all doe come in to estrous at the same time. Young of the year, doe fawns won't enter estrous until they obtain a body weight of 80 pounds.

 

In Pennsylvania records have been kept for decades involving fetus studies of road killed doe. The fetus are aged and conception date is determined. In Pennsylvania the peek of breeding occurs between November 2nd and November 9th. It hasn't changed in decades despite what date the moon is full.

 

The time period I see the most buck activity during shooting hours is the 3rd and 4th week of October. The buck are ready and few if any doe are respective. This is when buck will be scent checking doe. As a buck's level of testosterone increases he will become more aggressive in his search. Once doe begin to enter estrous a buck will hole up with them for 24 - 36 hours breeding her every time she stands up. This usually takes place in a secluded thicket but I have seen buck lay with doe in small patches of trees out in the middle of an ag field. 

 

There are five phases of the rut.

 

1 Rut preparation. Rublines, territorial scrapes, and sparring with other buck.

 

2: Seek phase. Actively looking for a doe in estrous.

 

3. Chase phase. Running a doe that is in estrous or soon will be, to separate her from her fawn{s} and other deer.

 

4 Breeding. self explanatory

 

5 Post Rut. Conserving energy and focusing on food to regain body weight lost during the rut..

 

I don't disagree with your statement , i will admit that a lot of this stuff still confuses me . With that said , i'm not understanding how the activity will occur the same time every year if the weather is different from year to year , deer don't use calenders .

 

[Meat Manager]

I don't disagree with your statement , i will admit that a lot of this stuff still confuses me . With that said , i'm not understanding how the activity will occur the same time every year if the weather is different from year to year , deer don't use calenders .

Most animals internal calendars are influenced by solar photoperiod which is relatively stable from year to year. So when the sun is in a certain position the amount of light in the day is relative.

The other calendar of nature is the moon...and most menstraul/reproductive cycles in mammals follow that.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited November 29, 2013 by Meat Manager

[Jeremy K]

Ive heard about the solar cycles affecting animal behavior , probably since i started hunting .

[DanceswithSkunks]

Lunar cycles. Not solar.

[Five Seasons]

Last week of bow it started for me. Plenty of chasing prior though

[NFA-ADK]

I believe the lunar predictions are accurate in the Northern regions to a point, you do or you do not...  I also notice that on the Island we have a early rut but I believe this is in part due to the fact that LI deer do not have the severe winters the rest of the state has.  That being said I want to be in the woods from Nov 6 to as long as I can stay! (ADK) Regardless of what the moon phase is.  Next year this will match the lunar rut predictions with the 10th of November -17th being the prime rut according to the lunar calendar.

[Taylormike]

Dances,

 

You have a lot of knowlege on the subject matter.  You speak intelligently and lucidly on this topic.

 

However, I respectfully do not believe the rut occurs the same time each year.  Within a few weeks maybe, but not spot on year in and year out.

 

Aside from all the data and statistics that have been kept whether on a farm or fair chase its obvious in my area the rut does not happen at the same time.

 

I follow moon activity heavily and base the rut primarily on this.  I then monitor real-life evidence i.e., time put in the stand and game camera activity.  Bottom-line is nothing can replace time put in the stand. 

 

Matter of fact, in my neck of the woods, the deer/vehicle collisions were way down until very recent.  The woods seemed quiet early November.

 

Very Respectfully.....

Edited November 29, 2013 by Taylormike

[nybuckboy]

Saw 3 doe and I believe a button buck tagging along this moring. Then at noon coming out of the woods into a field I saw a decent buck running hard trying to turn the doe, more than just following or dogging but running hard, both of them. Then tonight at sunset 9 doe and not one buck with them.

[crappyice]

At this point, i feel more confident picking Lotto numbers then rut dates!

[Geno C]

wait, what rut?? 

[josephmrtn]

Hey All:  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

The rut is a difficult thing to understand or put sum up if you will.  Three main phases:  Seeking, Chasing, and Tending. 

 

If you believe in moon phase as I do heavily this year would put us in a very late rut.  Second Full moon after Autumn Equinox 17th.  Well, I hut bow very hard - two weeks straight, I saw few rubs no scrapes.  Did have some nice buck movement, I would say I hit seeking phase.  We definitely were not in full blown rut.  I believe chasing phase was about a week or so ago and we currently are in Tending aka, Breeding phase.  The breeding phase is by far the hardest time to hunt and most frustrating.  The bucks are tending does, continually breeding them 24-48 hrs and sometimes they won't move 100 yards.  Keep in mind, nothing will stop rut in general but the two main culprits to slow it is the weather and human pressure.  These deer will stay bedded and will be pushed nocturnal extremely fast. 

 

Rut was late this year!

 

Next year the heart of rut should fall around veterans day....

 

Like I said, this is what I believe and my opinion.  I respect everyone's opinion and experience.

 

Thanks!

thats what im fighting w right now!!!!!! deer drives are the way to go right now imo

[WNYBuckHunter]

In my area, the rut seemed to go off at around the same time it does every year. The little guys were getting ramped up at the tail end of October, the big guys started chasing in early November, but really got into it the last week of bow season, with it peaking around the 13th or 14th and trailing off for the most part, the first week of gun season. Since then, there has been some scent checking and such, waiting for the does to go into the second round of estrous.

I have come up with this based on field sightings, trail camera activity at scrapes, sightings from the road and local road kills.

[mt624]

Timing seems to be the same every year to me. I think weather and doe to buck ratio along with hunting pressure and crops affect how "visible" the activity appears to me, but the phases all seem consistent year to year within a couple calendar days.

[G-Man]

Seemed most activity was at night this year as it was so warm.. seeing single bucks now.with no does. And they are finally moving into standing corn with 10 inches of snow on ground.... bad weather (warm rainy) and super mast crop were much bigger factor in sightings this year than the rut was.;