ORIGINAL: Germ
The "slow" rut is due to poor buck to doe ratios IMO
I'm not absolutely sure because I'm no expert but I think there's something wrong with that. I'll use my part of Wisconsin as an example... Last year, there were scrapes and rubs all over the place near the end of October. From last year to this year, the buck/doe ratio couldn't have changed that much. Yet, this year rubs and scrapes are just starting to appear in decent numbers. This seemingly disproves your theory. Last year there were also deer littered all over the highways in the4-5 days proceeding the rutting moon. Once again, suggestive that the moon might have a bigger affect on the rut than some of us want to believe.
If I'm wrong or off-base someone please school me. I'm learning just like everyone else. You know, It would be nice if I could locate deer/car accident reports statisticsand cross reference those dates to the hunter's moon of decades passed. I think that should make a believe out of some.