Originally Posted by
Down&OutHunting
I had a question about the rut. Is the change in the length of days what triggers the rut. Or is it the weather. Because i always have heard people complain that when its been hot that the rut wont trigger but ive always seen rutting action start pretty consistently year in and year out where i hunt.
it isn't just one thing. the moon, the length of days, and the cold weather work together to define the rut in a given season.
the temperature needs to be below 40 degrees here in kansas or the deer get too hot and don't move as much for the rut. they have to do all the running and you can't physically do that when you are wearing a winter coat.
the moon plays a bigger role than most people think. right now the moon is lined up for the rut to start earlier in november. we expect the chase to start going good november 1st.
the shortening of light is what gets the does in heat and raises the testosterone of the bucks. it puts the deer in a time frame for the other 2 factors to take over and define what happens.