Justan observation on this years rutting activity. I just got home from work tonight and on the way home I drove by my local honey-hole to check for any buck action. I saw three different P&Y qualitybucks at separate sites each standing guard over a single doe. No chasing, no harassing, just close proximity guarding.This was all within aquarter-mile stretch of road and all these deer were feeding within 50 feet of the road. I came to a complete stop next to two of the buck-doe pairs and they were largely unaffected by my presence. Of course they were fully aware of me,but not so much as torun off like they would at any other time of the year.One of the bucks had his nose buried in the dirt where his doe had just stood and looked up at me for a second and then stuck his nose right back to that spot. Two smaller bucks were on the outskirts of these groups, but were being closely watched by the breeder bucks.

According to the moon phase theory, the bulk of does were tobe triggeredinto estrous 2-4 days after last Thursday's fullmoon.Today would mark the point where the bucks would be in the midst of their 48 hours of being locked ontothe firstparticular doe they would breed over a 48 hour period. This is very consistant with what I've seen the last 2 days. The rutting activity has also been a bit less intense overall this year which Mr. CharlesAlsheimer, the moon phase guru,states is a byproduct of a later rut. For those not familiar with him or his work, he hasdedicated a good share of his adult life to the study and observation of whitetail deer behavior, particularly the rut.
I've been interested, yet skeptical of the moon theory for several yearsbut have watched how it coincides with rutting activity each of the past 4-5 seasons. It has largely been right on the money, the only exception being 2 of those years in which we had abnormally high temps on those key dates in which the breeding was to take place. On those 2 years the rut kicked into high gear immediately upon the next cold front following the moonphase prediction date.
This year would prove to be the make or break year for me as it wasconsiderablylater than normal, yet it seems in my part of the country it hit the nail on the head. It is becoming harder to dismiss as sheer coincidence from me being a very scientific person.
No need to flame as I have no gain in the matter other than sheer curiosity of these intriguing beast we continue to pursue, but feel free to add your personal observations these past couple days.
Just .02 to ponder from one person's observation of this season.