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West TN rut

A lot of folks stop hunting after November. Big mistake.

While the rut might be winding down, those post-peak bucks get desperate.

Early December is a GREAT time to kill a buck, even in areas with a traditional November rut cycle.
Not on my place. We see a small peak of activity the first week of December, but after that, very little. I can count on one hand the number of bucks we've killed in December.
 
Not on my place. We see a small peak of activity the first week of December, but after that, very little. I can count on one hand the number of bucks we've killed in December.
Don't you guys peak around Nov 15?

If so you are about a week ahead of us and then I would think that would translate to week after Thanksgiving for you?
 
Don't you guys peak around Nov 15?

If so you are about a week ahead of us and then I would think that would translate to week after Thanksgiving for you?
Peak for us is Nov. 10-20. We will see a big surge of chasing Nov. 9-11, then again Nov. 17-20, and then things start to dwindle down. The surge of mature bucks hitting the scrapes one last time around Dec. 2-5 is generally the end. In fact, the mature bucks usually leave the area after that.
 
Peak for us is Nov. 10-20. We will see a big surge of chasing Nov. 9-11, then again Nov. 17-20, and then things start to dwindle down. The surge of mature bucks hitting the scrapes one last time around Dec. 2-5 is generally the end. In fact, the mature bucks usually leave the area after that.
We see a lot of activity about a week on either side of Nov 18, but our best week for a new, mature buck is Dec 2 - 7. Those 5 or so days we see a surge of what I figure is desperate bucks having left their breeding range out looking for those last few does.

Usually they are bucks we have never seen before, and sometimes it's turned out to be a buck that spent the entire fall range 3 miles away.
 
We see a lot of activity about a week on either side of Nov 18, but our best week for a new, mature buck is Dec 2 - 7. Those 5 or so days we see a surge of what I figure is desperate bucks having left their breeding range out looking for those last few does.

Usually they are bucks we have never seen before, and sometimes it's turned out to be a buck that spent the entire fall range 3 miles away.
For some odd reason, we are the earliest estrus in the area. It's been that way for a long time (I suspect because of our crazy adult sex ratio, which heavily favors bucks). Once estrus is over on our place, it's just starting in the surrounding area, so all the oldest bucks leave.
 

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