RE: Phase of the rut
Here in Northern Idaho..
October lull for the big boys here.. feed/sleep bout it.. younger bucks are banging heads and rubbing up a storm. Scrapes are starting to pop up etc... its really the calm before the storm here in 3 weeks! This week and into next week the scraping will really start to pick up. Bucks will start seeking hard come about the 10th of Nov..chasing following that and then breeding those last two weeks and first week of Dec..
Good luck...