Quailman said:OHVATN said:Quailman said:BSK said:Quailman said:5 of the last 6 bucks I've killed in TN (all mature) were killed in December. Based on the area of the state I hunt, it is a great time for having an opportunity at a mature buck.
That's fascinating information.
BSK, that's why I never get discouraged when November slips by and I haven't taken a buck yet. If my memory serves me correctly, the last 5 dates were December 1,5,8,11, and 25th (the first Christmas day I hunted in probably 15 years). If I could choose one weekend out of the entire season to hunt, it would be the first weekend in December. Now remember, I hunt in Grundy and Franklin counties, which are at a more southern latitude than where you primarily hunt, so this could be a factor as to why I tend to see a noticeable "peak" of the rut during late November/early December.
I also firmly believe that the first few days in December are so good in my area because the last few does are coming into estrus and mature bucks are having to move a great deal more to find them. Also, based on the fetal aging conducted by TWRA a few years ago, a large percentage of does in my part of the state were being bred in December and early January. As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine owns a large property in the mountainous region of Franklin County where some of this sampling took place. Many of the does were being bred the first week of January! Pretty amazing to see such a variance statewide.
I'm aware of the TWRA fetal aging study. If it's the one I think it is, I believe it was from 2011 and sampled Wayne, Larence, Giles, Lincoln, Franklin and Marion counties.
Were any similar studies done in other years for other TN counties, specifically middle TN and more specifically Hickman, Humphreys, Williamson and so on?
I've never seen any published studies that were conducted in other TN counties. The only one I know of is the one that took place in the 6 counties you mentioned. I have that information and will post it here when I have more time next week. There were a total of 60 does sampled (55 pregnant), with a mean conception date of December 9th.
The study can be found on the TWRA website, "For Hunters" page under the Big Game Report for 2011-2012 (I think it's those years). It's around page 23 or something that has the fetal age study for those 6 southern middle TN counties.
FWIW, I think TWRA is among the best of the state game and fish agencies in the country.