2nd rut?

[gobblinfool]

I hunt a small farm off of exit 8 in Montgomery county....didn't seem normal....any guesses on a second rut, school is done on the 18th and was hoping I could sit on stand and see movement...your thoughts?

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Not sure if this is any help . I saw the Big Buck I've been watching for Sat. Chasing a doe. Benton county is a little ways off from U.

 

[benellivol]

I never saw the first rut this year but for the past 3 or 4 days I've seen a lot of buck acting really stupid and have seen very few does.

 

[Bone Collector]

I have always been told, the second rut will depend on the first rut. Any does that did not get bred or did not come into estrous the first time around will come in 28 days later. I have seen evidence that this is the case, so you should be fine. Plus if you're off work/school, there is no reason you should not hunt.

However my issue with this theory is if a doe didn't come n the first time, I don't think there is anyway to gauge when she will come in. I have always noticed on my place (Rutherford co) the rut occurs in Nov around the opener of Gun and then trail cam pics show daytime movement of bigger bucks then and then again about 28 days later... coincidence?

This year I saw chasing for the first time on the 23rd in the afternoon. I saw nothing to signify the rut had started before that. Since then, rubs showed, up and I have seen a few other chases and while I was at work on the 25th a nice 8 pt visited two f my stands in daylight and the cameras there got pics of him. If my calculation is right, the weekend of the 20th should be good for me to be there.

I still have does with fawns and doe fawns that I know have not come in. I also got a pic of a fawn in Nov. 1/2 covered in spots. So I know some have not come in, and obviously the doe that had that spotted fawn, must have been bred in January or maybe later, so i am holding out hope, that one of my bigger deer comes in looking for love.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

If we get some cold weather and it holds for say 10 days. We may see some more daytime movement. And with daytime movement we may see some trickle rut or late rut behaviour. Expect it to be a trickle or nothing at all depending on several factors.

My area(Humphreys county) it was on like donkey kong during the rut. I know there were a lot of deer taken in the surrounding farms around me. My son took two good bucks off my property and several cull bucks have been taken off my property by guests. The Knoxville boys (10 of them) seem to be tagged out or close to it on their 100 acre lease because gunshots are becoming fewer and further between. By now Its still a war zone over there.

I have yet to use a buck tag.. I have been playing by the 2 rule system as a experiment this year and plan on giving a full report at the end of the season on my thoughts on years previous vs holding out for a big one.

 

[Mike Belt]

Pillsb... I hope it works out for you but I don't see how a 2 buck limit versus a 3 buck limit would make any difference in holding out for a good buck. You either see him or you don't 1 season won't make much of a difference in the numbers of "shooter" bucks around.

Otherwise, about 28 days after a doe goes out of estrous and isn't bred she should re-enter estrous. Meanwhile any early born doe fawns may come in. I find it hard to believe that there isn't some breeding going on well past season's close everywhere.

 

[gobblinfool]

Thanks for the response.....just seemed weird I guess, part of that is I coach a rifle team at school....so didn't spend as much time in the woods as I normally would. Just seems as this year I "missed" it.....just hoping that my time off from 18DEC to the beginning of the school year will yield some daytime movement....

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Pillsb... I hope it works out for you but I don't see how a 2 buck limit versus a 3 buck limit would make any difference in holding out for a good buck. You either see him or you don't 1 season won't make much of a difference in the numbers of "shooter" bucks around.

Otherwise, about 28 days after a doe goes out of estrous and isn't bred she should re-enter estrous. Meanwhile any early born doe fawns may come in. I find it hard to believe that there isn't some breeding going on well past season's close everywhere.

This is a test season and only a test season. I'm playing the game. Going to see how it's going to end.


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[smalljawbasser]

Seems to me poor buck/doe ratios make "2nd rut" last longer.

On my small farm, we aren't hunting this year. I have one trail camera over a honey hole in between two bedding areas and close to plenty of hidden pasture. I'm basically the only little farm that isn't getting hunted hard (at least from the road) for a mile in any direction. The little honey hole has become quite the doe sink. 30 acres, and I've had as many as 7 does in one pic. I've had daylight pics of bucks from 3rd week of October through now, with new bucks constantly showing up. I've had two chases caught on camera. All summer through the end of October, I only had two yearling bucks on cam.

With all those does, there's no way there aren't some second heats, and it seems to be still going crazy because of it. I bet I continue to get bucks checking the honey hole all the way into January.

 

[Mike Belt]

Just a little something that doesn't jive with me...

A well balanced sexual and age ratio of bucks in a herd and many with advanced age is supposed to make the rut a more time lined event. I'm just not nor have I seen this over the last several years. With more older bucks in our herd every year I'm still seeing strung out rutting throughout the season.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Varies a lot by region, deer density, sex ratio etc methinks. We really don't see a distinct primary and secondary rut so much...it just seems to be one long breeding period so we hunt it as such. Every year folks get all excited about this week of muzzleloader or that week of rifle then feel they "missed it" as soon as those dates on the calendar have passed. As revealed through camera and hunter observation data on my farm, deer exhibit rutty behavior right through the end of the season. It can be as good (or better) in December than it was in November.

 

[Mike Belt]

I wouldn't argue that most of the breeding happens in a 2 week window but in Hardeman/Fayette/Shelby Counties there is consistent breeding into January.

 

[hitek7]

Pillsb... I hope it works out for you but I don't see how a 2 buck limit versus a 3 buck limit would make any difference in holding out for a good buck. You either see him or you don't 1 season won't make much of a difference in the numbers of "shooter" bucks around.

I have 4 good 3 year old bucks running around on our place that I know of. If all 4 make it to next year, this 1 season will make a pretty big difference in the number of "shooters" we have next year... I see what you are saying but the statement was a little vague.

As far as 2nd rut, not sure this year. Our rut seems to be pretty strung out this year or maybe it was really just running behind. I would say maybe the week before Christmas as second rut...?

 

[TboneD]

Close buck/doe ratio is supposed to make for a shorter and more evident rut, right? Well, I expect it does from what we've seen in unit L, on public land at least. Bucks killed last few years most all have a point knocked off and very few December sightings in the woods. Opening week of gun was a shooting gallery for guys on fields. Only a few shots heard Saturday morning, though. I'll continue to hunt some this month but don't expect to see much unless we get some real cold weather.


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[tree_ghost]

My data off of our farms in Rutherford Co showed that the rut occurred from the 14-21 with the peak being around the 19th I expect the third week of December to be a good time to kill a buck seeing as we still have fawns with does and our mature buck ratio is way down from previous years


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[Mike Belt]

hitek... I meant that this first season shouldn't make any difference during this season. I agree that beginning next year and over the course of the next few years we should begin to see an increase in opportunity. Just how much is anyone's guess but simple math says we should.

 

[hitek7]

hitek... I meant that this first season shouldn't make any difference during this season. I agree that beginning next year and over the course of the next few years we should begin to see an increase in opportunity. Just how much is anyone's guess but simple math says we should.

Gotcha.

 

[smalljawbasser]

Varies a lot by region, deer density, sex ratio etc methinks. We really don't see a distinct primary and secondary rut so much...it just seems to be one long breeding period so we hunt it as such. Every year folks get all excited about this week of muzzleloader or that week of rifle then feel they "missed it" as soon as those dates on the calendar have passed. As revealed through camera and hunter observation data on my farm, deer exhibit rutty behavior right through the end of the season. It can be as good (or better) in December than it was in November.

this is exactly what i'm seeing on my small farm this year.

 

[Winchester]

Pillsb... I hope it works out for you but I don't see how a 2 buck limit versus a 3 buck limit would make any difference in holding out for a good buck. You either see him or you don't 1 season won't make much of a difference in the numbers of "shooter" bucks around.

Exactly! The limit matters none to me as a buck is either big enough or hes not, until I'm out of tags!