Rut is still on

I usually see the rut peaking first week of Nov.
This year I just started seeing rutting deer in the last couple of days.
Large buck chasing does around the house at noon today.
Kicked up a large buck with a doe Monday morning on my walk.

Usually see this sort of stuff in the beginning of Nov., its about 1 1/2 weeks late it seems.

Gun season should have good results, good luck to all the WI gun hunters, Shoot them Does with extreme prejudice!

Rut runs right through the month of November here in northern Maine. I'd say peak breeding is going on right now and will dwindle soon but the bucks will cruise right through the end of the month.

I need it to be on just a few more days.

In NW WI I have been seen big bucks with does for about a week now. They are not aware of anything except the doe.

Seems late over here in the LaCrosse area as well. Might be good this weekend!

Moosetrot

I’ve been bow hunting in NW Wisconsin everyday since Nov1st, I concur that the tail end of the rut could carry into gun season. I had scrapes opened up in the fresh snow last night, typically abandoned by now.

Peak breeding is always around the 13-15 in the midwest. Every year.

I always figured from the fifteenth of October on, bucks were expanding their nightly excursions looking to locate local doe groups for the coming November festivities. I see pretty much the same thing every year here. Right around the last of November the bucks will make one last swing through looking to see if they've missed anything and then they're off to the yards. After that I won't see another deer track until May.

Just starting here

Deer are chasing is the areas I hunt right now. I love hunting the rut through the end of November/ early December. I like to hit a track and see where we go. Have some snow now here in the Tug.

What are you seeing down your way, Bruce? My daughters boyfriend saw a heavy framed eight pointer standing alongside a couple of does in a field last Saturday just before noon. I've seen one scrape, one rub, a couple piles of droppings and a few tracks. They leave little sign in this logged countryside.

Seen alot more rut sign south of here last week.Deer are just starting to chase here where I live.

Bucks are just started being around the does.

I'm north of you. I was in the woods yesterday afternoon and was hoping to have something come running by but I left deflated, as usual. I don't know if you saw this or not but he's running near my cabin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU_UChI7HKM

Nice one.

Yep. Year in/year out.
I'd say the 12_18th.
People see young bucks chasing and think, Wow, the "rut" is on.
My definition of the "rut" is when peak breeding is.
Most older bucks don't need to "chase" does.

Bucks will display rutting behavior as long as estrous does are available. I believe, northern whitetail ranges have a more abrupt photoperiod change, thus shortening the breeding window.
But there are a lot of factors that play into what type of rut you observe and experience, over harvested areas, skewed sex ratios, presence of mature bucks, etc. If you have young bucks running around with there tongue hanging out, you’re seeing a lot of deer and rut intensity but probably not a good sign of a healthy balanced herd.
A longer breeding season can have high mortality on bucks and diminish genetics.

Here along the Canadian border Nov 11 to 18 is the peak.

Its not that reliable. This year its off quite a bit...

I seen yesterday bucks still in bachelor groups.

Yes it is, it's the same every single year. People think that the little activity they see is representative of what's happening, but it's not. We only see a fraction of what goes on. Year in and year out, peak breeding is ALWAYS the same.

K

Around here, they normally break up some time in September and come back together when the rut dies down. I was surprised this year to see two mature bucks traveling together in mid October.



Did you ever follow Charles Alsheimer and his moon phase theory on predicting the timing of the rut? I followed him for a few years and he seemed to be on to something but then it seemed to fall apart.