Timing the Rut

[Rambo]

How do you time the rut? Around here, we listen to the morning traffic reports. When we hear of 5 or more deer/car collisions during the morning rush hour, we call in sick, grab our bows and hit the stands.

[Chromie]

I travel around my hunting ground every night on the way to work this time of year. I see them chasing and start hunting harder than before..

[thrillbilly]

The rut here is sporadic...fluctuating temperatures and such. I just hunt when I can bowseason and pretty much every day of rifle season.

[zlr101]

Here in PA bucks are just starting to break up but we already had snow next week 70degrees its been really goofy

[Archetype_wyo]

Here in Wyo the temps are usually always the same when the Whitetails go into the rut, about the 2nd week of November is full tilt rut for them. I can't count how many bucks were takin Thanksgiving morning by my pops.

[iflylow74]

To be honest, I never really know when the rut is on where I hunt up in the Ozarks. I just go as much as I can and hope to be there at the right time.

[oklahoma hunter]

in oklahoma the temp varies serverly from one day to the next....it can be 80 one day and 40 the next.........iv discoverd that the week we have between muzzleloader and rifle season is the perfect time to be in the woods

[skiking]

Around here, I don't pay much attention to weather when it comes to the rut. Using Nov 15 as a date to when it really heats up works really well for me.

[deerhuntertyler]

I'm hunting as much as posible so I don't really need to time the rut because it wont matter to me, eather I will already be out there or i can't be out there and there is nothing i can do about it. But I usually know when the rut is on or comeing from watching for scrapes and rubs while I'm walking to my deer stand and just if i see a buck trailing a doe.

[deadzero]

I have always got a bit of a laugh at this.

generally the rut will be in full swing by mid November, Give or take a week depending on how far north or south you are, but generally around 11-15 is the peake.

now for the fun part.
deer are only in a rut for 48 to 72 hours on a cycle (but they can cycle more than 4 times, some biologist say even up to 6 or 7 times in a season). but all deer do not come into rut at the same time. most are in rut by mid November, thats why it is refered to as the peake of the rut. But, they can come in a month or more before that time. if not bread, they will cycle again. what many don't know is using estrus scent earlier than peake is actually more effective, before the majority is ready to breed. the older bucks have been there before and they are more likely to react to the scent early, before it's put down everywhere later on my many more females all at once. think of a graph with a progressive upward slope that peakes on Nov. 15 and then progressivly falls off. this span from begining to end generally covers 2 months or a bit longer (8 to 10 weeks). some females are ready to breed in early October, but they are few. if you look at the different sizes of the yearling population in the fall you can see this. you will have very small yearlings that were born late spring (mom was bread late season) to much larger yearlings (mom was bread earlier than most others). thats why, do not be afraid to use estrus scents early, even a month or more before the peake rut. you may actually draw in one of the old big boys doing so. His hormone level may not be at peake yet, but he's been there before, and likely to come in to check things out if nothing else.

PS: Putting out bottled doe estrus scent at peake rut may not produce the best results since so many does are producing fresh scent. think of it this way, if you put a fresh hot cup of coffee at one corner of a room, and a cold cup of coffee made yesterday in another corner, which one is your nose going to lead you too?

[single shot]

Now - give or take a day or two you have 10 days from NOW, Nov. 5th weather doesn't matter except for time of day (or night that they move most). Trust me hunt the next 2 weeks for the peaks. Doesn't matter where just when. Hunt NOW!!!

[deadzero]

+1^^^

Bucks right now are running does nonstop. they will pass on food and sleep as much as possible at this time just to chase does. their judgement is clouded and they make mistakes that they normally wouldn't.

Hummm....kind of reminds me of my teenage years

[Rambo]

The rut is going full bore here, right now. Heading out in 1/2 hour. My buddies have already dropped some big ones.

[Archetype_wyo]

Jeese what a dog haha. We won't go white-tail huntin for a while yet unfortunately. Gotta get our elk first.