Rate the Rut- How many hunts

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Im reading the thread on the ruts strangeness some say its the best others not so....me ive seen 1 buck cruising on Nov 14.....the rut has been nonexistent.....but this year is my least time available to hunt....i think my perception of the rut is in direct correlation of the # of times hunted so guys if you would
1- Rate your rut 1-Great 2-Average 3-nonexistent/slow

2- Availability to hunt and have hunted 1-more than usual 2-same as every year 3- not as much as in recent years

For example mine would be 3 and 3

 

[Boone 58]

I hunt almost daily and always take vacation the first week of MZ and the Second week of Gun season and the rut has been weird.....more activity during MZ than gun season and traditionally our rut gets kicked in gear the last week of Nov. and the first week or two of Dec.......slow so far and recently non existent.....spent sat morning after thanksgiving in an area hot a week earlier and never saw a single deer for 6 hours! Go figure..............

 

[wsm]

Not sure how to rate it this year.

 

[bowhunter163]

My lease in Cumberland county was rocking during the week after opening weekend of muzzleloader . Missed a mature buck on that Sunday morning . Monday killed a 3 1/2 yr old that was chasing a doe with 2 other bucks . Saw a few other bucks cruising .

LBL the following weekend , nothing . I was on vacation from the 5th of November untill the 27th . So I got to hunt alot .

In Knox county it was nearly non existent , if I didn't watch it on my trail camera I wouldn't have believed it happened . Although I did see a 3 1/2 on his feet 3 days ago , I think he was jumped .

 

[redblood]

mine

2 and 3

 

[muddyboots]

1 and 1

 

[Shed Hunter]

1 for sure. I've seen more chasing this year than in the past two combine... And our rut just started up last week.

 

[BSK]

We've had someone hunting on my place almost every day since MZ opened. Non-visible rut.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

1 and 3, but with the great pre rut we did not have to hunt a lot to kill the bucks we wanted.

 

[Winchester]

3 and 2 Rut is very strange and we have hunted like we always do!

 

[EastTNHunter]

Between 2 and 3, and 1. I saw lots of little bucks crusing/chasing early, but no real peak. Definitely no uptick in mature buck movement. But our overall deer sightings have been down and inconsistent, as well, due largely to no acorns.

 

[Engine2c]

3 and 1. Rut has appeared very slow. Finally saw some bucks chasing and cruising with their nose on the ground Monday. Either we are having a trickle rut or they are just getting started along the Mississippi River where I hunt. I've been on stand more than I ever have in the past this year and surprised at the small amount of activity I've witnessed. Of course that could also mean they are doing it at night and that may be why I haven't seen much.

 

[cecil30-30]

This has been the best rut ive ever seen. Seen the most chaseing and the most bucks ever this year.

 

[TheLBLman]

1- Rate your rut 1-Great 2-Average 3-nonexistent/slow

2- Availability to hunt and have hunted 1-more than usual 2-same as every year 3- not as much as in recent years

All my hunting this year in Stewart County.

3 - (The Rut) - nonexistent/slow
2 - (Have Hunted) - same as every year

Interestingly, the buck harvest among my group has been about average if not a little above average. On the other hand, the doe harvest has been below average for this date, mainly because there has been so little linear deer movement (of any distance) although there has been enough bucks cruising to sustain the buck harvest. Just very little rubbing & scraping, and few people have even heard a single chase (very unusual).

 

[Lawrence]

Marshall Co.
Not much of one
Very strange
last season it was wide open

 

[tellico4x4]

Wayne & Hardin
1 - Rut great
2 - Hunted same as last year

Up thru this past weekend it has been the best visible rut activity that we have see in 12 yrs. Folks are sometimes seeing multiple chases in a single sit. We've killed 9 bucks so far that were either chasing, cruising or making scrape when shot. Getting pics of mature bucks on their feet during daylight too.

Has slowed down some this week per the couple guys huntng.

The below pics were from a single card pull on Saturday (30th). 5 diff bucks during daylight.

11/25

IMAG0019a by Bullet Hunting Club, on Flickr


IMAG0024 by Bullet Hunting Club, on Flickr

11/27

IMAG0019a (2)a by Bullet Hunting Club, on Flickr

11/28

IMAG0043 by Bullet Hunting Club, on Flickr


IMAG0057 by Bullet Hunting Club, on Flickr

 

[Boll Weevil]

3 and 1.

The earliest cam pics I got of clear rut/prerut activity was October 29; chasing in foodplots. I saw while hunting + continued to get pics of bucks running together for the next 6ish weeks. This is when it got a little curious.

While I did indeed see cruising/seeking, trailing does, pestering, and actual chasing...it still hasn't really appeared to be "wide open." Scraping and rubbing have also been almost non-existent. Last Friday morning I saw 11 does...not a single buck was anywhere to be found. And even when we are seeing bucks with does they're just sort of "hanging around" with no real fervor or strong interest (by either sex).

 

[deerhunter10]

1 and 2

 

[BlountArrow]

1* & 3
I'm not sure I can confidently say the rut has been great necessarily, but I've had a decent amount (for my neck of the woods) of 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 yr old bucks moving during the daytime at what I would expect to be around the timing of the rut and that's what I care about. It may still be going on now. We killed a bruiser Thanksgiving morning and haven't been back. I'm expecting things to pick back up around mid-December for a little bit.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Rut - I rate this year a 2 but average for me is to see only a very small number of bucks chasing does any year. I've seen none this year but have seen more bucks wandering around looking for does than ever before so the "average" rating. I've only seen multiple bucks chasing a single doe one time in my life and that was mid December maybe 8 years ago. I've never seen the frequent and frantic chases that some describe where you see different deer chasing in a single day.

Availability to Hunt - 3 I usually take off most of the 1st week of ML season to hunt but didn't take any of that week off this year.

 

[hitek7]

Marshall county - 2 and 2

Have called/rattled in several deer, seen many bucks cruising, but have not really seen any chasing. This could be due to the low number of does we seem to have this year. I would guess our buck:doe sightings would be 1.75:1

 

[BigD_625]

2 and 2.

I've seen more rubs and scrapes this year than in the last 3 combined. I killed a buck that was locked down on a doe. I've seen 3 small bucks (5 pts or less) that were following does...one was sniffing the ground and grunting...the other 2 were play fighting. This was in a period of about 2 weeks.

 

[Tennessee Lead]

By this time last year I had killed three nice bucks two where three and half one was an exceptional two and a half u rushed my decision but he was a nice 9. I passed on several smaller bucks chasing. This year I saw my first buck Sunday morning at 10 am he came up to a ridge and walked out it while there was a doe under my stand I missed bow season but have been on weekend hunts since muzzleloader and 4 days last week and four thru thanksgiving holiday, 3 of those were all day hunts and saw one buck. I feel I have missed the rut or most of it was nocturnal in my area.