#2101664 - 10/07/10 08:45 AM
gestation and rut
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buckmaster
6 Point
Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 626
Loc: tennessee
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I have notice on trail camera photos from two different properties that are 5 miles apart that the fawns on one property are really big and have lost there spots weeks ago. However, on the other property the fawns are small and still have spots. Is this an indication that these two properties ruts are weeks apart? If so, should I hunt one property earlier than the other hopefully coinciding with its rut and hunt the other property later?
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#2101680 - 10/07/10 08:53 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: buckmaster]
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Good time Charlie
TnDeer Old Timer
12 Point
Registered: 10/08/99
Posts: 6539
Loc: Tazewell
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If a doe is not bred she will come back into heat 28 days later.
Also some of last years fawns were old enough to breed late,
I mean real late around christmas.
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Live every day as if it were your last
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#2101700 - 10/07/10 08:58 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: Good time Charlie]
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Goshen Valley Boy
4 Point
Registered: 09/08/09
Posts: 494
Loc: Indiana
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yep, secondary rut, probably.
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#2101703 - 10/07/10 09:00 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: buckmaster]
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tndrbstr
16 Point
Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 12157
Loc: knox co tn
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I would not think that 5 miles geographicly would make alot of differance in the timing of the rut..for some reason, which could be several, I would think that the herd dynamics and available nutrition would play more of a factor, if any at all,...posably more does are not being bred during the common first initial esterous cycle at one location than the other...or it could be the cameras are just not reflecting the absolute reality of either situation (which is more common than many want to believe imo)...just my thoughts on the matter... 
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#2101722 - 10/07/10 09:16 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: tndrbstr]
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JCDEERMAN
14 Point
Registered: 07/19/08
Posts: 7635
Loc: NASHVILLE, TN
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I would not think that 5 miles geographicly would make alot of differance in the timing of the rut.
It doesnt seem like it would. But actually, 5 miles geographically, there can be a fairly substantial difference in the timing of the rut. 5 miles down the road could easily be a week or 2 difference, though I suspect that it is probably due to the doe being bred late into her 2nd cycle. In reality, deer breed all throughout the year, just in very, very small percentages at certain times of the year. And higher percentages when they are supposed to 
But yes, I look at trailcam pictures of fawns to see "about" when I think they were bred (the mommas). Remember, their gestation period is around 200 days...backtrack that time period and you can come within a week or 2 of when the rut is in your area. I have looked at this for several years and it can get VERY interesting.
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In God we trust
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#2101776 - 10/07/10 09:47 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: Goshen Valley Boy]
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oldmanelrod
6 Point
Registered: 07/30/10
Posts: 534
Loc: TN/AL state line
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I hunt Lincoln CO and there depending on where you hunt there are two seperate primary ruts. NE part of the county tends to have primary rut 2nd-4th week of NOV and SW area the county has primary rut 4th week of NOV - 1st week DEC. Every year you see fawns earlier in the NE area vs the SW area of Lincoln CO.
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#2101779 - 10/07/10 09:50 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: Goshen Valley Boy]
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dmitchell28
8 Point
Registered: 08/16/06
Posts: 1283
Loc: Jamestown/Oneida
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I cant remember completely, but I think there are two types of hormones that kick in or it just might be testosterone period. But when the testosterone kicks in the antlers do be come hard and they are getting ready to breed, and in the late winter, testosterone drops and thats when the deer loses its antlers from the pedicle and as soon as it drops it starts to grow new ones. The deer has to turn off production of the testosterone to Centralize all its bodies efforts to producing antlers (this is why antlers are the quickest growing bone in the animal kingdom). This is not the complete scientific explanation, but I think I gave an alright overview..LOL
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#2102555 - 10/07/10 08:53 PM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: dmitchell28]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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I have seen areas just a few miles apart that have a rut a week to 10 days different, but not enough to see a major difference in fawn age.
However, as oldmanelrod mentioned, I have seen areas along the AL and MS border that appear to have two ruts--one linked to TN genetic and the other linked to Deep South genetics. I have a client along the MS border, and just across the border in the MS counties the rut peaks in early January, yet in the TN counties north of the border there is a normal late November rut. My client--just a few miles from the border--sees a peak of rutting activity at both times, around Thanksgiving and in early January.
This is not a 2nd or 3rd estrus cycle but an actual 1st peak of estrus at two very different times. I suspect this is due to the mixture of two very different genetic estrus timings.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#2102838 - 10/08/10 05:01 AM
Re: gestation and rut
[Re: BSK]
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Mike Belt
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/26/99
Posts: 16933
Loc: Lakeland, Tn.
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I can promise that 5 miles could possibly make a difference in the rut timing. I had 4000 acres leased in Hardeman County for several years. Our rut started within days from the same date every year. Another guy I knew not quite 5 miles down the road experienced the rut 7-10 days prior to us every year for the 10 years I hunted there.
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