all these rut threads

[Bone Collector]

got me thinking. I hear various reports yearly and the quote below from another thread, which i didn't want to hijack brought the question below the quote to mind.

not even close to over in lincoln. just now getting good

I hear this every year and I hunt a small piece of land in Giles County. Then when I get there, I see grouped up does and small bucks by themselves. Is the rut in Giles Co. that much different from Lincoln Co? as far as when it happens?

just for the record i have not been down there this year, but was planning on last weekend then changed my mind due to weather. Now the weather this weekend looks horrible, but I am going to go.

 

[Triple Hill]

havent even seen a doe in three days in lincoln co

 

[bowriter]

There are many factors that may influence what you SEE in terms of the rut. Groups of does and small bucks does not always mean the rut is over or has not started. However, it may well mean that. It may also mean the rut is at its' peak and the all the mature bucks have the hot does in seclusion.

On the other hand, the rut or the activity of the rut can vary greatly even within one county. Daytime temperature is a major factor in what we SEE in terms of activity.


The key to happy hunting is to go and quit worrying about the rut.

 

[woodsman87]

I think the "Rut" varies so much at different places. I have a spot in Lincoln Co. That they rut from about second week of Muzzle till aobut Thanksgiving. Then my place in Giles is from the tail end of Thanksgiving till about December 10th. In Limestone Co. AL, the county directly to the souch of Giles TN, they rut from about Dec. 1st till 17th. And that is in Northern Limestone Co. They rut in January south of Athens AL.
But the key is to just be out there. My rule of thumb is out of all the places I hunt is, "from opening day to last day, you just never know."

 

[LanceS4803]

havent even seen a doe in three days in lincoln co

I had a field with 6 does/yearlings on Sat afternoon, and jumped 2 groups of 3 later.
I haven't seen chasing in Lincoln (just north of Fayetteville), like I have in Giles, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

[Mike Belt]

When I had a Hardeman County lease yearly we saw the rut fall a week apart from another place that wasn't over 2.5 miles down the road. I suspect some type of invisible boundary line existed seperating the genetics dictating the timing of the rut.

 

[southernhunter]

I hunt Lincoln count and the only sign of the rut I have seen is a Buck standing by a bedded doe in a open field , this is a weird year on my place as all the doe's have seemed to disappear after opening morning , I did have a lot of new rubs and scrapes show up right around thanksgiving , but they have not been refreshed in the last 2 to4 days , I am thinking most of the rut was done at nite and it is really beginning to slow down now , just my thoughts .

 

[shopson]

If someone is hunting an area where a doe or does are in heat on the day they hunt and the action is great then the rut is on there. If someone else is hunting and sees no sign of rutting or even deer then they must be in "lockdown" or the rut is winding down or hasn't even started yet. It definately don't go county by county. A man just needs to be hunting and hope a doe is in heat in his area so he can say it's on!

 

[Mike Belt]

The rut may very well go area by area and those areas don't necessarily have to be very far apart. The rut can be 100% on in whatever area you're hunting and you still not see a deer either because you're in the wrong place or the temperature is to hot for daytime movement.

 

[BSK]

The rut may very well go area by area and those areas don't necessarily have to be very far apart. The rut can be 100% on in whatever area you're hunting and you still not see a deer either because you're in the wrong place or the temperature is to hot for daytime movement.

Exactly. When I see all these "Why didn't I see anything?" or "Why are the couple of deer I saw not acting rutty?" questions, I have to shake my head. Perhaps you're hunting the wrong area? Perhaps the paticular deer you saw isn't in estrus or doesn't have anything to chase that day. When calculating it out, even during the peak of breeding, only approximately 8% of does will be in estrus on a given day. That's not much. So even during peak breeding, your chances of seeing an estrus chase are low--less than 1 in 10 on a given day.

 

[BSK]

When I had a Hardeman County lease yearly we saw the rut fall a week apart from another place that wasn't over 2.5 miles down the road. I suspect some type of invisible boundary line existed seperating the genetics dictating the timing of the rut.

Yup. One of the great unanswered mysteries of local deer populations and their genetic timings.

 

[MUP]

I saw hands down the absolutely most chasing and rutting activity on opening day of rifle season this year ever in my life. Then, I was off all week to hunt and never saw but 2 does the entire week. And THEN, the next Sat it was on again with does skirting all over the ridges, only to have a buck come in at dark chasing a doe that I could't shoot.