catman529
Well-Known Member
is there a predictable time between when young bucks start following does and when older bucks are actually on their feet for does coming into heat? just wondering. I have seen younger bucks interested recently.
rut timing question
- Thread starter catman529
- Start date
Nealmeally
Well-Known Member
I think mature bucks know from experience that there is a time frame when there are more does in heat than others in his area.. And that time frame is small but that's when you have the best chance of killing mature deer. Right place right time... Plus young bucks have testosterone flowing that they don't understand how to "safely use".. Wisdom comes with age.
BSK
Well-Known Member
catman529 said:
I would say that the "cruising phase" timing is relatively predictable in any given location, +/- a week. However, I don't think it can be timed to young bucks showing interest in does simply because that criteria is so hard to define. I've seen bucks show interest in does from the moment bucks are in hard antler.
But I can tell you that in my area, the cruising phase just kicked off this last week. On every property I monitor the big surge of "new" bucks showing up on camera in preparation for the rut started this last week. And I don't remember it occurring so explosively before. On one property, three new mature bucks showed up on the night of the 21st into the morning of the 22nd. On my property, where no new bucks have appeared on camera in several weeks, 7 new bucks appeared on camera the night of the 24th into the morning hours of the 25th, including a 2 1/2, two 3 1/2s, and a 4 1/2.
