Rut behavior

[alwaysonthemove]

pre rut? that is over now my boy!

[gr8icefishinmind]

i don't think so there buddy!! anyways.......we all have our different perceptions, but the heavy rut is not even close to starting!!!

[alwaysonthemove]

yeah I know everybody has different opinions on rut but when you realize the breakdown of it you might fully understand it. For the rut actually starts in sept.

Is that pre rut?

[gr8icefishinmind]

yep that would be pre-rut, as the actual rut should begin on or near November 2nd! Which is the second full moon after the autumn equinox!!

[alwaysonthemove]

yadda yadda yadda

[gr8icefishinmind]

So in your mind the rut lasts what like 3 months???

[BradB]

The way you guys are fighting over this I think you are all in the pre-rut yourselves!

[gr8icefishinmind]

haha......i'll agree to disagree as none of us really know exactly when THE RUT happens! But you can bet it will be between this coming weekend and the third weekend in november!! And then again in mid decemer as the does that don't get bread go back into estrus!

[FISHINGURU]

in my book the pre-rut is right about now

[gr8icefishinmind]

AGREED!!!

[Archerysniper]

Well I have allways had great results on Oct 23 have one P&Y to show for it another smaller one from when i was younger and not picky and have ratteled in a real giant that I would not take the quartering towards shot on 2 years ago all happened on Oct 23. It is normally when the bucks start chasing or bumping does but their are not even close to estrous yet.

[FISHINGURU]

Alot of people i associate with talk about October 24th as a magic date. I was in archery headquarters today and the talk was this weekend things should get into gear. I can't argue, last year on the 24th i messed up on a big dog. I'll be hitting it hard so we'll see what happens.

shot my biggest buck on oct 24th 2002... 15pt. pope n younger

[Archerysniper]

Is it morning yet I happen to have the day off because of no work and I will be in a tree most of the day.

[FISHINGURU]

last day of work tomorrow and its my seasonal layoff wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

i'll pretty much be in a tree everyday until gun opener.

[gr8icefishinmind]

I'm thinking that saturday should be a great day to be out with the talk of rain all day tomorrow and sunshine on saturday!! Deer should be moving on saturday with the nice weather!!! Tonight would have been a great night to be out with the chance of rain coming!

[gr8icefishinmind]

last day of work tomorrow and its my seasonal layoff wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

i'll pretty much be in a tree everyday until gun opener.

You've got it made! Wish i was in your shoes!

[Archerysniper]

Tonight sucked the wind had them hunkered down hunted a spot that I had not hunted yet and did not see a thing.

[gr8icefishinmind]

That does suck

[96trigger]

In my mind, the October lull is prerut. The bucks are staging, making a few scrapes and rubs, and the does are starting to kick off the fawns, as evidenced the last two times out I saw nice does all by themselves. Grunted in a small buck, and the big guys are all nocturnal. When the full blown rutt hits, the big guys are constantly on the move running in search of does, scraping and rubbing all over the place. I'm not kidding, the last three years I have went out on the last weekend in Oct, and the field edges look like someone came through with a dethatcher. That is when I know the rut is going on. I have only seen a couple of small scrapes so far, nothing like what I am expecting to see based on the last 10 yrs of hunting, that I know.

[Archerysniper]

Well everyones opinon of the rut is diffrent when everyone talks about peak rut that means lock down for me when the bucks are locked down with does and will not leave them. My best times have been what I call the pre rut or chase phase and the second rut when they start chasing again.

[fletcher]

In 15 years of north central transition MN/WI bowhunting: observations are late pre rut is the time...lots of daytime trolling by bucks, not many does in heat, this is not peak breeding but peak seeking. I do feel the big boys are first to iniate this activity as they also will likely breed first... I am not as keen on breeding phase as bucks can be "henned up" and locked in on a doe. Peak breeding can be over in a couple days if conditions dictate. 10/30-11/7 is usually the time to burn a weeks vacation and SIT ALL DAY ESPECIALLY COLD, CLOUDY, BAD WEATHER. Waiting to see solo does can be too late IMO, the buck in my avatar was chasing a doe with a fawn on 11/3 a couple years back @ 130 in afternoon. More action late mornings.. scent bombs, grunts,rattling, doe bleets, and decoys both doe and buck can work all have a time and place. YOU HAVE TO BE AMONG THEM AND HAVE CONFIDENCE TO PASS BUCKS BECAUSE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN DURING RUT

[harvey lee]

I have had my best luck and my largest book bucks all shot from the 8th of November to the 15th. Where we hunt in ND, I rarely see the bigger nocturnal bucks until the 10th of November.

The B & C buck in my avatar was shot on the 13th of November chasing does.

Different everywhere I guess.

[HunterLee]

Well i guess i need to get a word in here. For seeing bigger bucks, it seems I agree with Harvey Lee, The second weekend of MN firearms seems to be the best, but why I believe I see more is because of the "lock down", when the big boys get a doe to himself and have her out in the open keeping her away from everyone else.

In my opinion the best time to wack one with a bow would be the chase, cruiseing or whatever you want to say. When they are looking around and moving to find that doe. That seems to happen more right before gun season.

The last two days are when people should be out, and it will only get better. I spend quite some time driving around, and the last two nights I have almost hit two decent bucks. Granted it was dark out, but I travel those roads very often and this has been the first sightings of bucks. So, I would be hitting the woods as much as possible until the guns start to go off.

Also the bucks should be reacting to calling a little now, my brother had two medium bucks doing some heavy sparring. Have noticed very few scrapes/rubs yet though. Last year about a week later than now I snort wheezed two different bucks into bow range. One was a dandy of an 8 or 9pt, gave his belly a haircut. He was stompping the ground and pawing like a bull. The other was a smaller 7 point who didn't get real aggresive, but came to within 10yds.

Take it for what its worth, but thats how it seems to work around here.

Good luck and get in the tree.

[fletcher]

Good luck and get in the tree.

Roger that

Give us another month and we can talk about Pearl Harbor Day and the second rut, which can be small window but dynamite.

[96trigger]

Yep, its all apples to oranges. I personally like the part of the rut where the bucks are cruising for does. They can cover a lot of ground. If you can get does in front of you, the big guys will show up. This has always been the first week in November for me. I have gotten nice shots, at least good looks, at good bucks every year for the last 3 or 4 years during this time. I can't really say a whole lot about the rest of the rut. I will experience it for the first time this year as we are going 3A instead of 3B. Normally, I only hunt the 1st weekend of firearm opener with my bow, then I waited until 3B to go out again. I am hoping the week of firearm season is a good as you guys say. With all the work and scouting during bow season, I'm hoping that I can get a guy pretty well patterned. I hope to get him before the firearm season, but if not, I have the winchester ready to go.

[B. Amish]

don't forget to watch your trail cams. i've started getting pics of random bucks in the middle of the night checking scrapes. that tells me they're starting to leave their home ranges looking for a little action. soon they'll start doing that during the day.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

But this is Minnesota, guys! We don't have the rut or big bucks in this state, just a bunch of small spikes and does, remember?

:P

[B. Amish]

But this is Minnesota, guys! We don't have the rut or big bucks in this state, just a bunch of small spikes and does, remember?

that's why you see the wide range of responses as to when the rut is in MN. it shouldn't be this complicated. some guys haven't even seen a scrape or rub yet. others have seen bucks chasing does.

[96trigger]

Geographically, this state is more diverse than most. I wouldn't want to try and manage it, and still make people happy.

[Bear55]

Ok here is my take on the rut, most of it has been covered but here we go, most people agree there are 3 phases of the rut. The seeking phase, the chasing phase, and the breeding phase. I think the seeking phase slowly starts in early to mid Oct and peaks in late October when we start to see those new bucks showing up on trail cams. The seeking phase slowly blends into the chasing phase which gets started late Oct and peaks at least in my area from Nov 7-14, this is when buck are chasing does and most people refer to it as the peak of the rut. In my opinion this is your best chance to shoot a mature buck. Shortly after the peak of the chasing phase we have the breeding phase when deer sighting drop dramatically and like other have said the big bucks are locked down with a doe. This can be a difficult time to hunt but still at any moment lightning could strike and a big buck could be on the move. Now we have to remember that all of these phases can and do overlap so don't be suprised to see does bread in late Oct and bucks chasing does in late Nov. Basically what it all means to me it from mid Oct to November and even into early December (2nd rut) anything can and will happen so it is never a bad time to be in the woods. Good luck to everyone this season.