Peak of rut ?
West Virginia
What week and day on average do you think is the peak of the rut in WV?
What week and day on average do you think is the peak of the rut in WV?
I think it depends a lot on weather conditions, specifically temperatures. Warm years rut tends to string out a Lil longer. Cold years shorter and intense. Nov 6 thru the 13th my best guess.
I agree. I think they rut no matter what but I don’t see as much movement where hunt when it’s warm
If ya can get in close to bedding when warm. You might catch that wary ol buck skirting the edges, playin the wind searching for that hot doe. Only if ya can get there without being winded.
My son seen 3 bucks yesterday evening and all 3 were dogging does hard. I think the cooler weather has them at it. Good luck all.
Yep the bucks in half step mode atm. Confidence is high. Lol
Not much action this morning- here in Berkeley yet - just may be starting
40+ years of observation tells me to be in a tree 11-16th of November. More large bucks see 15-20th after they have bred and out searching for another doe.
I would agree with Jack’s assessment.
It seems the first few does started popping late October as usual and the bucks have been locked down with does this first part of November. Sightings of any deer were slow and over several sitA between myself, friends, and family confirmed that. The random lone buck cruising was about it for a good stretch but those were sporadic.
Like Jack said, we are approaching the tail end of the “1st rut” and they should be really moving trying to find those last few does.
I remember last hunts during that time period where if you found the right doe, there would be multiple bucks chasing her.
Deer target massacred. Lol
Deer target massacred. Lol
My deer target..lol..uncle saw a nice buck in the yard yesterday morning. Rut is kicking. Target, not so much.
So you are saying it is just kicking in? I think it is on the down swing.
I have to agree with Bambamhunts I have hunted every day in November, the peak hit yesterday IMO for what it is worth. Finally seeing doe chases and bucks running everywhere. Saw a total of 23 deer here from one stand, which is a new record for me in 18 years of hunting here. Hoping the bigger bucks are on their feet today :)
That dang deer bent the metal posts, broke up the legs! Lol Temperature, to me, is the biggest influencer of the rut. Because WV is kinda centrally located, and we experience a very diverse temp range thru fall and winter every year. We see such differing rut activity and intensity. Being able to predict this Is key to proper time off requests.
Rick
The rut is a bell shaped curve. Starts off slow then sweeps up rapidly , levels off for a few days then sweeps down rapidly. There is probably not a single day but a single time period of around 5-7 days of peak rut activity. Lots of time at the very peak bucks are locked down with does for a couple days. Most of the time the best buck movement is just before and just after the peak. Before the peak bucks are cruising to find receptive does and just after cruising to find another one after he bred the one he was with . Some bucks will cruise the whole period looking for a doe in estrous. The average buck no matter what his age only successfully breeds 3-4 does per year.
I always thought the rut was dictated by the daylight
I always thought the rut was dictated by the daylight
It is, deer have photoreceptors in their retina. The amount of light hitting the retina of a doe is what stimulates her hormones and stimulates her into estrous as long as it’s weight and fat content is at a high enough level. Bucks have high enough levels of testosterone to breed once they shed their velvet until antlers drop. The does actually determine the timing of the rut.
It’s timed so when a doe is bred and goes thru a 200-202 day gestational period the fawn(s) are dropped so there is plentiful fresh high protein browse available so she can produce the highest quality milk
So even though she is in estrous she waits to breed based on the spring browse? Interesting. It’s amazing how they can predict that
Very good post, I have a question though. I have a fawn that still has spots on November 17th. I'm guessing born late September ( it's real small) or early October . You think maybe doe was bred in Feb/March???? The adult doe looks to be last years doe. I saw a nine point make a scrape in February from the house , so know they still had antlers. I have seen this fawn twice now.
Think the does continue their estrous cycle until bred. Maybe too young the previous year during the usual rut cycle? Maybe a late fawn also. Very informative Gobbler.
Hell the does are better predictors than the Farmers Almanac. Lol. They can tell when the browse will be good. Not sure Jack about your question. If the does wait to be bred based on the browse it’s weird she had a fawn so late. You think the browse would have been better earlier. Like you I saw a buck in early April with horns last year at my house.
JR, it’s evolutionary based. Any species want to give birth when the most food is available. That’s why some of the southern states have (at least to us) strange rut timing . It works for those deer. In our area in the average year, end of May/first of June there is plenty of fresh browse that is actively growing producing their highest protein level of the year. It’s the same reason birds nest and lay eggs in our spring rather than in out fall or winter. The birds hatch when there is more food available for them to be fed. The eggs hatch in a couple weeks , it takes a deer 200 days to drop a fawn .
The more imbalanced the herd is based on buck/doe ratio the total rut period will be longer .( remember the bell shaped curve. Every year some will be bred on the long right side of the curve.
Fawns that might not be big enough (in terms of weight and fat content) will not go into estrous in Nov, but may reach that level in Dec. or even Jan and rarely Feb. If a buck still has antlers he can still breed if he finds one of those. That explains seeing spotted fawns in August and sometimes in Sept. it’s unlikely those fawns will be able to make it thru winter. They simply don’t have enough time to gain necessary weight and fat for making it thru winter. It’s not good for doe either. Instead of putting on weight for winter she instead is using what she eats to produce milk . It’s usually a sign of a herd that is out of balance in terms of buck /doe ratio
Here is little guy October 31st
Here is little guy October 31st
It happens, unfortunately there is little chance that it will make it thru winter. Just not enough time to put weight and fat on to make it thru winter
It happens, unfortunately there is little chance that it will make it thru winter. Just not enough time to put weight and fat on to make it thru winter
If it stays 70 Degrees like it is here he has a chance
Plenty of acorns here , he is eating them so maybe he will make it if winter is not too hard.
The peak of the rut is when the deer are locked down. In my opinion, that is a 5-6 day period around the 8th through the 13-14th. However, in my opinion it’s the worst time to hunt.
The week before and the week after is when they are going crazy chasing everything they see. Moving a lot. And basically getting into trouble.
