I went out to Fort Chaffee for an evening hunt on one of the food plots and I saw 4 deer. Three of them were does and one was a buck and he was grunting and chasing them around the food plot. It was very entertaining even tho I couldn't get a shot off. I had noticed that there were some new scrapes in the area but I didn't expect to see that. Anyone else ever see them chasing this late?
We seem to always have a couple younger does come into estrous late...usually beginning of Jan., either they are yearlings or just didn't get bred earlier. Down south there are deer that may be in peak rut around this time and not late at all for them.
It just seems strange to me because down here in Arkansas the rut usually hits end of Oct to mid Nov.
Our first/main rut used to be end of Oct. - 1st week Nov. Now its hitting during 1st wk of rifle season(Nov. 15-) secondary is basically 3-4 weeks later though the main rut is seeming to not be as intense and more spread out in general lately...then very young does and some does that didn't take(get fertilized) come in to into estrous again in Jan. but its not really a rut - if a buck finds that scent he's gonna chase - prob'ly what you had going on...he was trying to figure out who was hot.
I am sure you are right. I know it's not the rut. This is definately the latest I have ever seen any chasing tho.
