Demon pep (my brother) and I went out and checked my trail cams the other day. There were almost 2000 pics after 2 weeks. We had a lot of does and fawns and a few decent bucks. What I did notice was that an area I made a scrape 2 years ago and used again last year with a licking branch was already being visited by both bucks and does. Not only were they there but they were licking the branch and rubbing their heads on it already. So my question to everyone is this. Do you think the rut may be really early this year even though we have had all of this heat? I am wondering if the fact that the turkey's had an extremely early mating season if it could have an affect on the deer rut. Let us know what you think and how the deer in your area have been acting.
I'm not sure if I'd be able to predict the rut coming in earlier, but I can predict it's going to be odd one with this drought. It would be nice if the deer hit full rut by lets say halloween weekend. we would all be so lucky to beat out the firearm seasons on the rut this year. the reason the Turkeys came in early was because of the long periods of 80 degree weather when its suppose to be in the 50's and 60's. If we have an early cold spell I think that will kick in the rut a little earlier, but a ton of people believe in the moon phase's as a guide to the rut. it would be interesting to see if that actually works this year.
The peak of the rut happens the same time every year. You would also be surprised how often bucks and doe's tend to scrapes. I've seen them do It year round via trail camera's. It's a communication thing I believe.
I agree with Schultzy that it occurs every year at the same time. The lunar cycle appears to have an effect on the does going into estrous, but the photoperiod (simply stated the hours the sun is in the sky) has more of an effect on getting those boys ramped up to begin breeding those does going into estrous. You will begin seeing the younger bucks running aorund like crazy the end of October, but the bigguns will not get going in full force until the first week or so of November here in the midwest. Watch the sides of the roads for dead deer to see when they are moving more....that is usually a decent indicator
Deer still use licking branches throughout the year...they just don't scrape beneath them until things start to heat up.
This year, I'm going to really hit the mock scrape thing hard. I've read too many good articles on it, several by a guy on here, to ignore it. I think they are a dynamite method of attracting deer, especially bucks. That said, the drought here in my area appears to have hit our acorn crop pretty hard. A lot of trees look empty. We've been hit hard by a lot of severe weather as well, blowing a lot of acorns onto the ground already. I'm expecting the deer to be concentrated more this year in areas of good food sources. Previous years, with a good acorn crop, the deer were scattered about everywhere. As for the rut. Same old, same old. When its on, its on. I don't worry too much about it. I know from the last week in October to the end of season, my butt is in a tree somewhere. I honestly think the rut makes hunters think too much about it. For me, its like this. The entire rut is dependent on one thing, does. If the does are on their feet moving, feeding, etc., you can bet the bucks aren't far behind them. So the weather is, in my opinion, more of a factor during the rut than anything. It's not like the rut stops if the weather is unusually warm, for instance, but it does curb deer movement. If the does are bedding early and not moving around much through the day, the bucks aren't moving far either. If we get a good cold snap, or the weather is normal for that time of year, the does are up and moving around and the bucks will be in tow. Hunt the does to find the bucks. Ever wonder why we typically don't see the monster bucks much until or right before the chase phase? Theyre not stupid, they know when its time to go. For me, find the does, their bedding areas. Sit tight until the last week in October, then start hunting close to these areas, particularly between two bedding areas. Sooner or later, the bucks will be there.
I'd like to see a colder and sustained winter this year, as last year winter was a bust. I think that may have also affected movement, time of day, etc. The rut is the rut, but hey, maybe deer also like to, uh, snuggle when its cold. I'm seeing less fawns in my backyard observatory than years past, maybe due to last years weather and this years drought. I don't have good data for the public land that I hunt, so I'm hoping this is a local phenomena.
Im going to go with charles alsheimer's predictions as i do every year. His predictions say the 10 best days are October 31- November 9.
Yes, the rut occurs same time each year. I am out on the Charlie Alsheimer theory. Another theory I heard about rut timing was the amount of sunny vs overcast days. If that theory has any truth,it will be a later rut since there have been far more sunny days than overcast. That being said.....2-3 days on either side of Rememberance Day is a great time to be in the woods.
^^^^^ Couldn't have said it any better. I'm hoping the acorn aren't as good this year and they hit the fields harder. Last season with no snow and plenty of acorns they barely touched the fields.
Happens the same time every year. Going on my 19th year of bowhunting and my favorite day of the year are the 10th-15th of November.
I know your a long way from Texas" where I'm at", but we went through a major dorught and hottest summer on record last year without it effecting our rut time. Y'all are getting a taste of what we had last year, this year. I did notice last year, that we were seeing the bucks and does hitting scrapes and licking branches earlier than they normally would but only around my food plots. Since natural food sources were burnt up and hard to find, I think the deer were marknig thier territory for food. I'm not sure, just my opinion.
I love hunting theory...need to get a good campfire going though. For IL this year...peak chasing I predict Nov 14th. My hunting and trailcam last year told me it was much later than most predicted...Thanksgiving week had a lot of daytime big buck movement. Late Oct until end of year is great hunting no matter what...but for peak chasing (mid-day movement) of big bucks I think most guys jump the gun for all day sits...I have always felt mid Nov much better than early Nov...like 12th - 16th...
