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Thread: The Rut CAN"T be on...

  1. #31
    Getting the hang of it

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    Any more updates on the rut? I would think things should be cooling off a bit now this late in November...

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  3. #32
    Leads by example

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    Over the years I've come to a few conclusions about the rut that may well be at odds with popular (mis)conceptions.

    There is a tendency, fueled by TV shows and outdoor writers, to "stopwatch" the rut into predictable on/off segments, and as far as this old hound is concerned, that's not how it works.

    It starts with understanding that not all does give birth within a few days of each other around the beginning of June. I've found newborn fawns in mid-May, and as late as the 20th of June - and I'm sure there are births before and after those dates. The point I'm trying to make is that even if first estrous happened exactly "x" number of days after birth in every doe (more on that in a minute), you'd still have about a five week breeding period.

    But estrous doesn't happen exactly "x" days after birth in very doe. Just like boys and girls, some young deer are going to reach maturity earlier than others. So, some of the does born in early to mid-May will come into estrous earlier than others, and the same thing happens to the does born later in June.

    To address the notion that there are only a few days of intense activity in and around Remembrance Day, and a bit of a resurgence in early December, that's not been my experience. About eight or ten years ago I shot a buck stuck tight to a doe on Hallowe'en, and the one I shot last year was hot-tailing a doe a week before Christmas.

    The "They're off" phrase is often thrown around - as if a starters' pistol full of hormones was fired into the air at a certain hour on a given date to start the Buck-on-Doe Sweepstake. When you think about it, we always say that the rut is in full swing when we start seeing bucks chasing does...but there is a danger with thinking that those sightings confirm the start of the rut...because we only see in daylight. A more accurate assessment would be that the daytime temperatures are (finally) sufficiently cool to permit the daytime continuation of breeding activity. In 2013 I saw a lot of intense activity in the first few days of rifle season because we had cracking cold temperatures. This year things didn't cool down until towards the end of the first week, so sightings of rutting activity were delayed - but I'd be willing to bet a good sum that there was a lot of hanky-panky going on in the bush and fields once the sun went down.


    And as far as the lament I'm hearing (again) this year, "there are no more big bucks", I have this to offer. First of all, that isn't my experience. My sightings and trail-cam photos tell a different story. However, it is quite understandable that mature buck mortality might have been higher in some areas. It was a long, cold winter that started around the first of November and didn't seem to relax it's grip at all until May. I saw a few big bucks in the early New Year that were already in very poor condition. Those that didn't have standing corn and/or loggers in the area would have had a really rough time making it...some of the wolf kills I found were certainly older bucks.

    So just like the sun comes up and the tides roll in, the rut takes place every year...with pretty much the same intensity. I think it's only the viewing times that change...some years have more matinees than others.
    I'm all for chopping government. I've even built a guillotine.

  4. #33
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    Timing of does in estrus if supposed to be determined by photoperiod (length of daylight), not age of deer - which (in theory) could synchronize this. Also - if you live in a house with a bunch of women - you'll have a bit of insight into this synchronousness.

    All that said - I'd agree that the rut and it's 'predictability' is much overhyped - but do you think a guy trying to sell his TV show is going to come out and say 'heading out hunting today...don't know what to expect'? Heck no - he wants to tell you he knows it's exactly 2 days, 3 hours and 42 minutes past the peak of the rut. There are enough other 'random factors' which affect deer behavior that make the predictability of the rut - well pretty hit and miss.

    As far as the 'shortage of big bucks' - I'm not seeing that this year. Still haven't got one yet though.. But something's leaving huge tracks at 4 different places I hunt.

    "So just like the sun comes up and the tides roll in, the rut takes place every year...with pretty much the same intensity. I think it's only the viewing times that change...some years have more matinees than others."

    About sums it up.
    Last edited by werner.reiche; November 27th, 2014 at 04:41 PM.

  5. #34
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    I think you got the right idea .are scrapes seem to have gone cold but I am still seeing bucks trailing does every night .are shotgun hunt starts on monday and every year the first week of December we push bush and always find bucks bedded in with the does ,if the breeding was done the bucks would be off on there own .looks like we are going to have a good hunt but we still have a lot of corn standing as the snow and rain really slowed down the harvest .Dutch

  6. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by werner.reiche View Post
    Timing of does in estrus if supposed to be determined by photoperiod (length of daylight....
    Yup. I've heard that too. And I'm not discounting it as a partial factor. But if that was entirely the case, it isn't very useful to explain why some does come into estrous a month or so later than others. I've arrived at the conclusion (perhaps wrongly) that photoperiodism has a greater effect on bucks.
    I'm all for chopping government. I've even built a guillotine.

  7. #36
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    So the moral of the story is get out there and wait it out!

  8. #37
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    Working around the yard yesterday , I saw an nice 8 pointer walking across the partially ploughed corn field approximately 200 yards away.
    I had time to get my binoculars and look him over closely and noticed the swollen neck and counted his 8 points, he was obviously trailing a doe in heat as he walked very slowly with his head down to the ground sniffing and periodically looking up , nice buck and from appearances the rut is still on.

  9. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ridger View Post
    So the moral of the story is get out there and wait it out!
    Yep....pretty much.

    And don't make noise, don't stink, and don't let 'em see you!
    I'm all for chopping government. I've even built a guillotine.

  10. #39
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    This site is informative:

    http://www.trmichels.com/RutDates.htm



    Rut activity chart for Minnesota (similar climate and latitude as much of Ontario):

    Last edited by Species8472; November 28th, 2014 at 07:22 PM.
    The wilderness is not a stadium where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, it is the cathedral where I worship.

  11. #40
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    trmicheals lol.....Havn't seen that name in a while. He used to be on ALL hunting forums....Could never figure out if he was just a troll or a informative guy,,,,,
    "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective."

    -Ted Nugent

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