Central Interior cooler/wetter summer impacting animal behaviour?

[DnD]

xxxxyyyyzzzz

[wideopenthrottle]

sorry to hear you are having a cooler/wetter summer up there...opposite here in LML...but I also noticed a sense of fall in the air already...perhaps just all the dead (from the heat) vegetation smell after we got the first bit of rain a couple of weeks ago?

[Mulehahn]

Odd weather, nor anything else, will change the timing of the rut. It is based on the lunar cycle and gestation periods. But yes, it will definitely change animal behavior. If hunting in the southern part of the province in the early season I would be hunting where it is cooler, either up high or in creek bottoms. But then like you say, Prince George has the opposite. I was just in PG for the Long weekend and was amazed by the number of deer I saw out in the middle of the day. When I lived there 10 years ago I can saw very few deer out in the middle of the afternoon in August. This trip I drove like I do at dusk and dawn throughout the day after all the deer I saw. If I was out in the early season up there I would be out whenever I could. There would be no bad time.

On a side note, not sure if it was the areas I was in, or populations are recovering but I have not seen that many moose in a long time. It was good to see.

[Boner]

There was frost on the ground in my neighbourhood yesterday morning. A thick fog and frost that burned off by 8 am.

[Sofa King]

like above said, it won't bring the rut any earlier, but it will/should have them more energetic and moving.
until the cannons start blasting that is.

[TARCHER]

The photo period mainly dictates the rut. It doesn't change

[brian]

The rut is timed so the fawns and lactating mothers will be on the best range in spring to increase their chances of survival. It has nothing to do with weather in summer or fall. The weather can have an affect on migration. When the snow really starts flying high up it often signals the start of their migration to lower elevations. Obviously weather can also affect the quality of browse and what the deer are eating when. It will also affect mortality if the winter ahead is long and hard. Deer like cooler weather and may move around more in more sensible hours, but it won't touch the timing of the rut.

Man yeah I wish we had some of that wet cool weather, here on the island we have seen rain twice since the end of May. Things are getting really bad.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

Looking to the collective experience and knowledge of the board. Home for me is Prince George and local weather has been a mixed bag this summer. Lately temps have been lower than normal with more rain than usual. Overnight temps have been in the mid-single digit Celsius range of late. I've heard the comment from numerous sources, 'it feels like we're about a month ahead of schedule.' Aug 1 this year felt like Sept 1 usually does.

Would this have an influence on animal behavior? Early rut? Should one consider changing their tactics?

Come again?

yes hotter than normal June ... rainey July ... hasent hit single digits overnight much less mid single digits however

Typical El Nino year ... happens every 7

Rut wont change any ...
Hunt like you normally would

[HarryToolips]

Seems like we're a month or 3 weeks ahead of schedule for sure..

[M.Dean]

The rut is within a few days every year, it has to be, lets say the weather turned real cold in early Oct, and all the moose and elk and deer went into rut then, the calves, and fawns would be born a month or so earlier, and if it was a real cold, wet spring, most of them would die off and we'd have nothing to hunt! That's my take of it anyways.

[Ltbullken]

The amount and spectrum of available light in the fall triggers the rut. Weather won't change that. Rut timing is still the same but beahviour and habitat choice may change depending on weather.