As a researcher, writer and author, one of my jobs is to know when the rut should occur. I've spent 10 years reseaching deer - so that I could learn more about their biolgy and behavior.

Let me use the terminology that most deer biologists and der researchers use- we call them "rub routes" becaue they are the route a buck uses at it leaves its core area in the evening, travels throughout the late evening hours to end up near a food source, before returning to another route (or the continuation of the first) to their core area in the morning. And more than one buck may follow a rub route, becaue - a der's line of travel is governed by the path of least resisance, but is overridden by the need for security, meaning they often travel on trails in gulleys, on the back sides of fencelines, just below the top of a hill, or in areas covered by vegetation.

So, generally speaking bucks have only one rub route. An easy way to determine how many you hve is to follow them from core area to nightime food source where it meets several does and back again to its daytime core area. If you find there is more than one buck core area, you probably hve more than one rub route , and more than one buck moving through your area.

Hope that helps.

God dless
T.R.Michels

Then there is the RUT ... But, before we get into dates, let's define what the term "the rut" means.

The rut defines any activity that occurs as a result of breeding behavior, including, rubbing, scraping, breeding, trailing, chasing etc. After e-mailing the deer biologists of most states I've come to realize that 'the rut" meaning rubbing AND scraping, begins right around the last week of August for most northern and middle latitude states, earlier for many southen states.

Breeding generally begins in middle October, really kicks in about the last week of October and peaks during the second week of November (8-15th) and continues at noticeable levels into the second week of December, with breedding in many states occuring as late as January or early February.

We need to remember that during the "peak of the rut" (the one week of the year when more does get bred than any other wek) only 30% of the does get bred. That mens that the other 70% ae scattered throuhout the rut.

To find out when peak rut (peak Breeding occurs in you are, Google "Peak Rut Dates" or "Peak Whitetail breeding"

Then realize that peak sightings of bucks during daylight hours often occurs during the last two weeks of October, as the bucks cruise their rub routes, looking for trailing, chasing and breeding does.

This is often the bestime to hunt bucks, because htey are fairly predictable as to when and where they can be seen. Once a lotofdoes come nto estrus the bucks abandon their rub routes to follow the does, which makes them fairly un-predictable.

God bless, and good hunting,
T.R. Michels