The Rut

[GoatGuy]

Just out of curiosity what exactly is 'the rut'?????

What's your definition?

I get confused when folks are saying it hasn't quite started yet, it isn't cold enough etc......

Is it when most action is seen/heard?

When the males are responding to the call?

Most females are receptive?

[ARC]

For me, I base 'the rut' on deer behaviour. The big bucks actually start coming out into the open, chasing the does around, or walking with their noses to the ground. The does start acting funny, running around in circles away from bucks. When the majority of the deer start acting like this, I would say the rut is in full swing.

[todbartell]

I define the "rut" as when the males are chasing/accompanying the females, and trying to breed them, and are willing to fight for the right to breed them

[Mr. Dean]

what exactly is 'the rut'?

The time that Mr. Buck IS actually "getting some" or when Mrs. Doe is in season.

I consider the courting games that lead up to the event of "getting some", the pre-rut.

[Bigbuckadams]

Agree with Mr. Dean, the rut is the actual time when the does are being bred.

[Fisher-Dude]

I've always based the rut on the behaviour of the males. Rubbing, wandering, pissing, fighting, stinking, etc. The females are in estrus for a very short period of time. The males do their behaviour for 4 or 5 weeks.

Kinda like how One Sh*t chases women...he spends a lot of time chasing, but VERY LITTLE time with them. :biggrin:

[ratherbefishin]

I live in a rural area where I can observe deer[columbian blacktails] activety on a daily basis and have made the following observations.
*there appears to be increased buck activety around the end of september,which settles down
*there appears to be the main activety building from mid October peaking at the end of October
*there appears to be activety at the end of November,and even some the end of December
The main fawn crop appears to be the end of May,with the most being seen early June[presumably they don't move a lot and therefore aren't seen much in the first weeks]Right now I have twins in my yard that are very small, heavily spotted ,what I would have expected to have seen in July,while there are one or two they are quite a bit bigger then the main numbers.This diversity of size appears to validate the early ,main and late breeding periods

[dana]

I define the rut as the 4 or 5 days when the majority of the does are bred. There is rutting activity for much longer than that as the bucks breed the odd doe that comes in early and the odd doe that comes in late. But the 'peak' of the breeding only lasts a few days. And Goat, don't give me this BS that that happens in Oct. ;) You guys in Region 8 aren't even hunting when the 'majority' of the does are being bred. :)

[GoatGuy]

I define the rut as the 4 or 5 days when the majority of the does are bred. There is rutting activity for much longer than that as the bucks breed the odd doe that comes in early and the odd doe that comes in late. But the 'peak' of the breeding only lasts a few days. And Goat, don't give me this BS that that happens in Oct. ;) You guys in Region 8 aren't even hunting when the 'majority' of the does are being bred. :)

I wasn't trying to get into that but we can if you want! :) Besides, we both know it's at the end of Oct first couple days in Nov! :lol:

I'm actually trying to figure out what exactly folks believe the rut is.

Probably goes hand in hand with why there's so much contraversy with dates.

This whole idea about the rut being late/early not started, too warm, too cold, snow etc.,

Keep the replies coming

[Jelvis]

Have you ever seen a white face bull or range bull digging a rut with his legs a long rut and fairly wide in the earth thats where the term comes from a breeding spot a rut you can figure out why they do that without me having to say it. Another term are the deer "running yet", same thing, bucks chase deer, Estrus is the term for doe in heat, for the buck it is his reason for being, the epitome of maleness, virility OK In nov/dec a bucks thyroid, adrenal, and testicular glands all reach a peak of activity, weight and hormone production, Male Hormone Testosterone. Pre-Rut 0ctober 7th to rut,>> Oct 23 to Nov 3<<, then young does Nov 11 12 13 14 then missed does Nov 16 17 18 19 then every 28 days after does misses estrus. When you've hunted deer a lot in fall you will know this stuff by experience. Theres always going to be arguments and non belief whenever you state your experiences. So good luck get out there and observe. >>>>>>>>>>>> Jelly Roll< 100206 <<<<<<<<<<<<<

[dana]

Hey Jellystone Jelly Roll Jelvis,
Dude have you ever heard of a period. They'd really help us understand what it is you are trying to say. ;)

Goat,
What's there to discuss. I'm right. :)

[quadrakid]

as far as deer rut goes on quadra,i consider it to be the time period when bucks get stupid, fact is you don,t generally see too many bucks in daylight hours unless it is the "rut" then you will be driving down the road and see a nice 3point in the middle of an open field at noon,that,s the rut. just my 2 cents worth.

[Islandeer]

The 'rut' to me is any time after the bucks antlers have hardened off and they have their winter coats. They are ready for the big dance at this time. All of their behavior and of course the does short estrous cycle make up the sum of the 'rut'. Variables which effect the onset and duration of the rut include,weather,number of does,number of bucks,hours of daylight, and any combination of these factors and others that you guys know about. And like all hunting info, Nothing beats local knowledge.

[JMac]

Aside from September 1st.......... it's the most wonderful time of the year.....(just like the song). Look in the Trophy Deer of British Columbia book(s) by Rick Berreth and you'll find the bulk of the book bucks are taken during this period. Once when I was bored I added up all the dates (and averaged it out) in November to see what the best days when the big boys were taken both typical and nontypical. I believe it was November 16th or 19th. Good luck in your pursuits this November comrades!

[Jelvis]

JMac Those dates November 16th to 19th are exactly the same as here in reg 3 around Kamloops dead on the money, IMHO, thats when I and buddies nail the bigger bucks right on JMac good summary.

[dana]

Jelvis,
Didn't your granny ever teach you proper grammar? :)

[Will]

The "Rut" is usually when I choke and Take the first dink Buck I see....:lol:
At least that's how I see it:|

[Jelvis]

Dana hows it goin in Birch? waitin for your photo, any guesses on the best three days together for hunting in Nov?

[dana]

Jelvis,
Ain't no secrets to the best time to hunt in Nov. The entire month man. The entire month. Add the last 10 days of the season and you are in the ballpark. But.....if this year is a dry fall with no snow like they are predicting, November will be hell. All the deer will be scattered from the valley bottoms to the alpine, with most of the breeding taking place in the Rhodo jungles of the ESSF. El Nino means very very few big bucks will be harvested. Sorry to burst your bubble but that is the hard reality of a drought year like this year.

[JMac]

Hey Steve, as usual I took Nov 10 to Dec 5 off. Your burstin my bubble! LOL Honestly I couldn't agree with you more. I know you and your crew will still be hittin it hard as I will be also no matter what. Your right though. When the big snows don't come not many toads get snuffed. Honestly I've had better luck on the island in the rut if theres not much snow. As some of the migrators will hang back and rut in the alpine. Ya there scattered but at least up high they're more visible out in the openings. On the other hand those migrator mulies drive me nuts when it doesn't snow much. They'll stay up in the thick crap or they'll spread out on those big plateaus, where everything looks the same, and they're hard to find. If anyone can smack a toad it'll be you! Good luck!

[Jelvis]

Mule deer are used to migrating prior to the breeding season. Buck seeks cover on the fringe of herds, and comes out only in the cover of darkness. Also deer migrate in the dark. Also do most breeding in the dark. I hope you don't feel left out in the dark. In my area where I hunt deer, deer migrate snow, or no snow, they show up every year, some big ,some medium,some small. Halloween means there down in Reg 3:28, The reason deer move down also, the vegetation up high in the cold loses it's nutrition more, it's not just the snow depth that they come down. >>> Jelly Bean <<<100306

[dana]

Jelvis,
There are tons of bucks that don't comedown until the snow is ballsdeep or deeper. Does and young bucks head down snow or no snow, but you want a true monster in a year with no snow, you better be hunting those high elevation rhodo jungles in the late season, cause that is where those monsters will be.

[Jelvis]

Most mountains close to kammy from Little fort side back aren't too high, Little Caribou is 5869 feet, and thats the high point. Not like Grizzly mt 6557 ft, and Baldy at 7000 ft. Bonaparte Hills 5724 ft. The greatest daily activity for deer is in the fall, they feed longer, and more often, they move about more within thier ranges. the mule and blacktails shift ranges by migration, as you know. I learned it takes a foot of snow in a storm up top to get them moving down faster so why not hunt just above snow line into like you say knee deep on a man, that would be a work out for sure. I gauge snow when I look up on Greenstone mtn south of Kamloops, its 5884 ft. then I know where its at. I might try higher up this 06 season Stevie, like your saying, and like JMac, you guys know what deer huntings about. IMO 100306

[Bullmoose]

For moose and deer there are usually three "ruts", an early one, the main one and a follow up to catch the stragglers