Lets Talk Rut

[Bills Custom Calls]

Deer season will soon be on us.
This Spring and Summer I have been fortunate enough to be able to watch deer from the house.I mean within 20 yards of the house.
In March we seen fawn prints while out hunting coyotes and thought that was a little early,but from the size of some of the fawns I am seeing now I believe it.
3 weeks ago I seen a doe and a fawn and the fawn was still very wobbly on its legs.
seen them again last night and the fawn is growing like a weed.

For years folks have told me that there were 2 ruts,and from the research that I have done thats not the whole truth.There is 2 peaks 1 in Nov and 1 in Dec
But deer will breed from the first part of Oct to the first part of feb

Here is one site that I done some reading on
Please do not copy and paste from this site it is copyrighted property
http://www.trmichels.com/RutDates.htm

Scroll down through the page and there are charts and some good reading
I am not set in stone from what I read on this site but it does reflect on what I am seeing

[Carolina Coyote]

I think the Rut can vary in different regions of the country, in SC and Georgia they say it usually  starts around the middle of October and late Rut in November, but I have video of Fawns with spots on them in late December and January and have on Coyote hunts in March and April seen bucks scrapes  all over the place, last year most all Yearlings were almost grown during Hunting season, I have seen Bucks chasing Does in January. It also seems to vary in intensity from one year to the next, Last year was pretty good the year before not so good, all this sound crazy but thats the way it is down south. cc

[Bills Custom Calls]

Not crazy at all on the site link I posted they pretty much confirm what you said
Due to the fact of warmer temps and food source is more plentiful longer it throws the breeding season off compared to the Northern regions

[HaMeR]

I always thought breeding season was dictated  by the shortening of the days. 

I have NO proof of this but I think if a doe would come in heat in June there would be a buck somewhere ready to take advantage of it.

[KySongDog]

If does are getting bred in February, the buck to doe ratio is severely out of balance.   And yes it can happen.  That is why harvesting does is critical to having a healthy deer herd.  A lot of guys hang on to the notion that if they can't kill a buck they don't shoot anything.  Bad game management, IMHO.  I think in certain areas a hunter should be required to harvest a doe before granting him a buck tag.  But the KY Fish & Wildlife folks ain't called me for my opinion yet.   

[alscalls]

I know I am always in rut.

Seriously though .....I think too much is counted on with the rut.....we plan our vacations around it We try to hit it just right but how often do we hit it? How many days out of the season do we get it right? 0-4 ?

I use a doe bleat always when hunting deer and use the full spectrum of sounds a doe can make.......most fellas say estrous bleat is the way to go......I say no way.....it is still a deer in Oct. as it is in Jan. so stick with what works most of the time...
and keep the estrous bleat handy for when you do get lucky enough to be in the woods during the rut.
I killed several deer this year with one of Bills doe bleats and never once used an estrous bleat sound.
We were talking yesterday on another board about buck grunts.........
They do work ....on those few days we get it right. But the doe bleat works year round.....Not a magic button but it does work.
Bucks....big ones....I have killed them....small ones.....killed them too....does yummmy also killed them, all with a doe bleat and at one time or another I have killed them when the rut was not supposed to be in.
They are still there....they dont just go home when the rut is done......so Being prepared for the whole season I think would give ya better odds of killing a big fat one than 2 weeks that ya may have to work anyhow......
I love the rut dont get me wrong ...........I just think folks count on it to much. M2C  

[Troy Walter]

Bill
When they told you there was more then one rut that is kind of true. But there is really only one rut and it last form the time a buck starts to remove its velvet that is caused by the increase in testosterone level. As the bucks testosterone level increase that causes the blood in its antlers to dry up. From that point on a buck is ready to breed. But a doe come in to heat by the shorting of the days. and if she is not breed the first time she comes into heat she will come into to heat on a 28 day cycle,and if not breed again 28 days later. That is why you see little fawns sometime way into the summer.That is caused by the buck to doe ratio being out of whack. We have a park by us that is a great place to watch deer there are so many deer that you see fawns in August that look weeks old. That is because there are so many does that the buck can not breed them all. So the breeding draws on till late into the winter.If we have a bad winter most of the fawns will not survive.
Not that Iam a expert or anything but I did stay at a holiday in last night.
Al i use to do that, one year I woulld take the first week of November off and the rut would pick up on the second week.So I fixed that problem now I just take off the 28 of October and I don't go back till the 23 of November. Can't miss it with that many days in the tree stand.

[Bills Custom Calls]

Thanks for the replies Guys
Semp I agree you have to shoot the doe's so the ratio stays intact

I also use a doe bleat when hunting and called in big and small bucks and doe's of all sizes

I seen in the charts that rubbing can start as early as mid July and scrapping will start soon after

Kinda answers why a fawn bleat will work year around though

[HaMeR]

I found a nice 3' scrape the 1st week of July Bill.

[KySongDog]

July seems awfully early for a deer scrape.      Not doubting your word, just seems very early to me.  I see them in October usually. 

[Troy Walter]

Semp I have found scrapes in May,But they are not breeding scrapes. i put a trail cam by one last year and it was hit by alot of deer mostly does. There was a few big body deer that could have been bucks but only two or three mostly does. i did some research on this and they are call communication scrapes.

[HaMeR]

It seems early for up here too. It had rained here in the very early AM & I found it that afternoon around 6PM. It had been cleaned off & there was no sign it had rained in that spot. It wasn't a hard digging scrape. More of a scrape cleaning. The tracks were very large & the hooves were well rounded off as well. Without seeing the deer that did it I would have to guess an older more mature deer did it.

[alscalls]

I have found em early like that........usually not many around till later but thier out there.