Interested in how and what resource channels everyone uses to predict the rut and request time off work to hunt. Sent from my SM-G950U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Well there are so many factors that go into it from photo period to local weather conditions etc, etc. Anybody that claims to know the exact dates of peak rut is a liar trying to sell magazines.
Some good sources to research would be Charles Alsheimer for predicting the rut. I believe Charles has studied this more so than anyone I've ever heard of. The only problem is that if you're in the south it gets less accurate trying to pinpoint the rut via the moon. The higher north the more accurate. I'd also look into Adam Hayes moon guide. Not that it's all about the rut but if you're trying to pick days to hunt based off of movement this might be a good tool. However, that's all hearsay I have never used the moon guide but plan to this year as I'm in the same debacle. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
According to a local longtime deer farmer mating in Wi is from nov 11th to the 18th EVERY YEAR ! So I have always hunted around the 6th got bucks every year
Easy for me...second week of Nov, which is the last week of bow in PA. Has nothing to do with moon......I just Would Not be able to sit at work the last week. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
In KY the best time for rut activity is from an hour after dark till an hour before daylight. The time of year varies some but the first fact makes the answer to the second one far less important to me. It is so hot here 75% of the time in late Oct thru mid November that it's hard to get excited about planning rut hunting. I've burned so many Vac days on 70s and 80s during "Sweet November" that I don't even want to think about it. That's why I focus on September. If I don't kill one in September then I don't have a ton of confidence in success. A lot of years by the time we ever get into any cooler weather the gun season has been in and made things even worse. Anyway sorry for the Johnny Raincloud sob story. I hope you are in an area where weather is better and hitting the rut timing really pays off.
Yeah I know what you mean. Here in Arkansas I've hunted places where I saw more bucks chasing does in early-mid December than in November when the AGFC says they're rutting. I still look at harvest reports and try to get a grip on it but in the end it's very unpredictable in my neck of the woods. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Research going on in Oklahoma in part to gets handle on it. Peak for us, over the last 4 years has been right around november 12th Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Not much to predict , it happens every year. I've been hunting deer for about forty years. So I spend a lot of time in the woods and every year about the same time you begin to see activity come alive and at some point you see it trickle down.......... You won't find my two cents in a magazine, that's for sure.
Experience. I will typically see mature whitetails on their feet during the day starting October 30. This trend will continue as will other signs of increased daylight activity until Nov 15. My corn comes down the first week in Nov. I want to be out during that time.
Do you ever find it beneficial to hunt by standing corn? Sent from my SM-G950U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I don't typically hunt that way but have many pictures of mature bucks on the edge of standing corn during shooting hours.
I don't try to predict the rut but I know enough to hunt the 2 weeks before gun opener hard which is Nov 4th this year Usually they are chasing pretty good by the time gun rolls around. The two weeks before that opener is when I really start calling and rattling and they always seem to respond well.
The "Teens of November" every year. With all due respect to Charlie Alsheimer and Wayne Laroche for doing this study over many years, I just don't see any correlation with their predictions and my personal results and experiences.
The past few years I've been doing more archery than rifle and this is what I learned for the area I hunt. I've tried what the internet had to say about hunting the rut and the moon phases. So last year took the brother in-law up to hunt the "rut" for a week when it was supposed to be on. Seen little active some bucks but not like the year before and the ones I did see where locked down with does. We were going to hunt the "moon phase" this year but he changed job potions and had to change it to a week earlier now. So I start looking at web sights to see what I could learn. Came upon a sight and they said to hunt the "seeking stage" or commonly called pre rut. So I went back through all my trail cam pics to see when I had more pics of bucks and at what of day. Turns out for the past three years they're out and about the last week of Oct. "Halloween" to the first few days in Nov. and that's the dates we're going to hunt this year. So take a look at your trail cam pics from years gone by they may help you decide when to be out in the woods. By the way I hunt North Central Pennsylvania. Do your sport'n in Wharton.
I make my vacation request at least 6 months in advance. This year is Nov. 3rd through 12th. Next year will be the 2nd through 11th most likely. Might try to eek in 2 weeks if not overly busy and take 2nd through 18th
