Rut timing

[weekender21]

Using 200 days as the average gestation period and one season of trail cam photos, it appears does in my area were bred between November 11 and November 21, 2017.

This is too small of a sample to be conclusive but I find the science of the rut and wildlife biology in general very interesting. One article from LSU states Whitetail gestation periods vary from 193 to 205 days. That certainly complicates things!

Without a study of each specific deer herd it seems pretty difficult to nail down the exact dates. I used 6 trail cameras on 3 mineral sites and trail intersections on 102 acres this spring. I know I didn’t capture all the action; I saw a doe with twins last week that I don’t have pictures of yet.






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[Chipdasqrrl]

I like that idea to find information about last year’s rut. A few years ago I was getting pictures of a fawn with spots in November, and right now I’m getting pictures of fawns with their spots nearly gone.


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[Chipdasqrrl]

Found it

 

[weekender21]

Pretty big body to have spots still!


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[Chipdasqrrl]

Pretty big body to have spots still!


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I bet Momma made sure to get it all fattened up before winter, so this one would look bigger than a fawn with spots normally would, because that’s normally Summer

 

[SwampCat]

Typically, our most active rut is the first or second week of November. This past year was no exception - one of the most active ruts I have seen - for 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 yr old bucks. I have nine deer heads on my wall and all but two were killed in December. The biggest deer we killed this year was on Dec 18. Around my place if you want to see a lot of chasing - you hunt the first two weeks of Nov. If you want to see a big one, you hunt the first two weeks of Dec.

 

[cutman]

I think if you really want to time the rut, talk to local processors that see a lot of deer. When they start butchering pregnant does late in the season, measure the fetuses to figure out when they were conceived.

 

[Tap]

The peak breeding happens at the same time from year to year (for your area). It doesn't vary. However, that doesn't mean that there won't be does that come into heat 28 day earlier (and get bred) and also does that come into heat 28 days after the peak and even 28 days after that.
I highly agree with the 200 day back dating method. When I see fawns out and about with mom in early May, I know that fawn was conceived in the previous October. When I see fawns with spots in October, I feel it's a safe bet that they were conceived later than the normal November 10th-15th peak breeding time.
BTW, too many hunters refer to the "peak of the rut" incorrectly. They are usually talking about the seek and chase phases.
The peak of the rut simply refers to the period when most does in the herd get bred. That's often the period we call "lock-down" when most mature bucks are tucked away with a sweetie somewhere.

 

[weekender21]

Yeah, I'd have to agree Tap. Seems like the term rut gets used pretty loosely in most hunting circles. There are probably more false statements surrounding the rut than big foot. I think most of the deer nuts on this forum have a pretty good understanding of pre/post/peak phases.

Another observation I found interesting with my trail cam survey was the pregnant doe dynamic. I only have pictures of mature does both pregnant and/or with a fawn. This was my first spring with cameras on this property so I didn't really have an expectation one way or the other. Pregnant yearling does were just something that was on my mind with all the talk about them possibly reaching sexual maturity and being bred at 6-8 months old. No pictures of yearly does with a bulge so far. I'm not sure if thats good or bad, just an observation.