October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I read an article in one of my favorite hunting mags where the author proclaims that there is a "Mini-rut" that takes place in October. This guy is well respected and respected by me as well, but his opening statement surprised me also.

Opening statement....

"Climbing into my stand that mid-October afternoon, I hoped to see the mature 8-pointer I had set up on. I was hunting close to his bedding area, trying my best to outsmart him before the October lull kicked in."

Wow! From everything that I've ever experienced the October lull is on it's way out and almost over by mid-October??

From what I've seen, mature bucks 3 1/2 and older start coming out just before dark to check for does, from about October 17th on.

What have you seen?

Back to the "Mini-rut". The author and one of his friends, a top notch outfitter, stated that their magical day was October 12th. They witnessed does exhibiting signs of being at or near estrus. These does were "the really healthy" ones. Oh yeah, the outfitter also said that after October 12th, they started oicking up large bucks on trail cams. These bucks were nocturnal before this date. This Is what I'm used to, not having the October lull kick in after mid-October.

Anyway, I'm not disputing that does are being bred in mid-October. It's just the way the article is worded that may be misleading.

"the really healthy" does?? I've never seen a sickly one, all the does that I've seen at or near estrus have been "really healthy".

What I'm getting at, is that does being bred in October is all part of "THE RUT". It's been known for years that the breeding season for whitetail deer, in the northern half of the continent, starts in October and lasts through at least January if not longer. From what I've read over the years is that some of the older does are the first ones to come into heat. The fawns are the last ones to come into heat. All does and fawns will recycle 28 days later if they are not bred the first time around.

Here is a graph that I found that shows breedind dates from MN.



For my area, I've always thought that the peak breeding dates were from November 17 - 23rd and the second rut was from around December 5 -12th. I'm not too far off from this graph. The graph is a bell curve that starts in October and ramps up and peaks in November then declines in December.

You can see that some deer start breeding in October but I don't think of this as a "Mini-rut", I think of it as the "Start" of the rut.

Also, from what I've experienced during the last two seasons, I believe that it is the older does that start first. Although the graph shows yearlings as well. In the story of the buck I shot last year, on October 30th, I stated that I believed that I stumbled upon an old doe that came into heat early. Naturally, I hunted that stand again this year and saw the doe get bred on November 3rd. Unfortunately, the buck she picked was not one I was looking for. However this early rutting activity is something to look for. As long as the doe survives the season, she should come into estrus around the same time the following year. You may find a gold mine.

Is this just semantics or would you also find this to be confusing, this "Mini-rut"?

I just want people, especially newer hunters, to see the big picture. Finding one of these early breeders is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Btw, this graph will work for everyone if you slide the dates for your areas rut under the peak of the graph.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I killed a pretty nice ten point buck about ten years ago that was dogging the hell out of doe. This was on October 20th or 21st.

I dunno Greg. Stuff happens out there. If you ain't in the woods to see it, then you never know.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Here our season open up generally in the middle of october, for the last three years on opening day I have seen buck (albeit small ones) on does HARD. Then after a few days it would slow down or stop, then start to heat back up again around halloween. Im sure theres an explaniation of some sort, but not sure if its a reliable enough theory to hunt by. Interesting none the less..

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Where was he hunting? That would be my first question.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Northern Wisconsin.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

That's what I'm saying......... the lull is over and the big ones start to come out after about Oct.17th to check on does.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I'm out....lol.:D

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

In KY I've always had more luck from Oct.15 - Oct.25 than ANY other time of the year.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Guess maybe I ought to slow down my reading a little but then lol... I had to go read your original post again. Immadumbass...

Yes! We are in agreement. In my experience,early October is lull time and things start to get interesting about the third week.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

The earliest I have ever witnessed a doe in heat was oct. 27th (she wasn't ready to stand yet but was being heavily pursued by 2 bucks) This was in central Wis. The latest was during muzzleloader season. I don't know the exact date but it was in very early Dec. in northern Wis.
I don't know how this relates but every year in northern wis on oct. 26th (give or take 1 day) the bucks go nuts and tear up scrapes everywhere. Until then I see very few scrapes. Any guesses as to why this happens?

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I beleive it.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Location can have some effect no doubt. There are a couple states/areas that just defy normal patterns. That said, there are so many "EXPERT" out there now days. I have seen the same stories written over and over for 50 years. Everyone is trying to get published or meet a deadline. I honestly have seen some stories over the years that are just plain Bull Hockey. These "Experts" I feel sometimes get all besides themselves trying to come up with a new revolutionary(the eXPERT ) thingy. If you were to try and prove this guys THEORY??? or is it an EXPERT SPECIAL SUPER DUPER OPINION????Well if you took it across the country I think you'd find it so full of holes and bullcrap he'd be laughed off the presses. Yet, he's a respected(let's call him a writer.... not necessarily the ultimate expert). So his latest attempt to be different, or tell the old story differently was published and people(experts like yourself) are saying... WOW.... how about that. I never would have thought. In fact, we probably shouldn't ever think it. We've been doing this for 50 years and never seen it once in our woods. Personnally, I wouldn't want to put my October season to a test with it.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Did he shoot a compound or recurve?

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Doesn't matter...He's only pure in spirit if he went with the whole self bow routine including making the thing from primitive tools and such.:D

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I'm not to sure really, but I can recall 2 years ago I saw a 9 pointer chasing a doe all over the woods one afternoon. This was October 3rd.

Shot the guy about a month later:)

As far as the mini-rut and the famous october lull well I don't really know. I hunt harder the first 2 weeks of October than I do towards the later part of the month. Most of this is just because I am trying to stockpile hours at work so I can sneak out a few days during November.

When it comes to a mini rut I tend to believe that there is another (smaller) round of does that are being bred into the first part of December. I have seen a mature (4.5 yr. old) bedded up with a doe as late as December 16th.

I don't let these sightings change my way of hunting during these periods. In early season/late season I am still focused on feeding sources.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

davidmil,
I think you're on to the same thing I was thinking.

I don't believe in a "Mini-rut", I believe it is a comon occurance that has been happening all along. Some does do come into estrus early...... in October. I call it the start of the rut. By him calling it a "Mini-rut", I think it could mislead people.

Second of all, him hunting in mid-October BEFORE the October lull kicked in, must have been a mistake. His outfitter buddy even refutes his statement.

I believe that mid-October is when the bucks start coming out of the lull.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

It is a biological fact that whitetail does come into their first "false" estrous cycle about a month (or more sometimes) before the real one.. so to speak.

Not to mention mother natures plan to stagger newborns over several weeks or months to ensure survival of the species.

What can I say.. I read alot.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

As soon as a buck sheds its velvet, it is capable of breeding so to see chasing or any interest along those lines anytime in October is not suprising. As duke michaels has said, does actually come into a so called "estrous" a month before her real one, and I have heard that as well.

As far as the Lull goes, to me theres no set time of the lull, it doesnt have to happen at the end of october or beginning for that matter there are many factors that come into play when experiencing it. I think temperatures play the biggest part, some years when it so happens to be warmer around the end of october(which usually it does)of coarse you will see the greatest sign of it. October does also seem to have the greatest fluctuation of temps.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I think you meant sheds his velvet;)just bustin your chops man. With as many people as we have on this site you could probably write all kinds of articals on the things we have seen individually, and they would not fit into any "scenario". But I am in agreement that he is trying to group the start of the "RUT" inot a seperate group called a mini rut... for a new angle to the same old song.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I certainly don't have as much data as some of you older gentleman have.;) but,
I have found that most of the buck activity starts right around my brothers b-day...
Oct. 21st
Which tells me that the main breeding is about to start, as everyone can imagine.
Could they come into heat a week or two earlier or later, I would guess yes.
If feed, weather, age or other unknown causes may cause some variance.

Guys ~ deer are not machines or cloned!
Just like us humans, there are variations amongst their species. You could "generalize" a bigger percentage of what deer do.
However, the only predictable thing about a deer, is that their UNPREDICTABLE.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I think human pressure, if present, plays the biggest part in the Oct. lull.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

But when we get into magazines and deadlines and trying to become the next great shocking writer...... just because we read it doesn't make it so or of enough significance to matter.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Greg,

I read the same article and wondered the same thing. Your statement on human pressure is very true and can even slow the rut or make it nocturnal activity (as I experienced this year.)

Your chart on the average conception date was interesting because it shows approximately the 14th as the best date. PA recently did a study and came up with the same dates. So with that said, does that mean the Moon really has nothing to do with it?

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Gimme a break.

Your like that old guy who thinks he knows everything and talks about how his generation was the greatest all the time.

Your generation probably wrote it.

And the mother nature part.. thats called common sense.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

SOB I will be 43 in april.[:@]

But I still have a mean fastball buddy.;) Remember thatthrow to 2nd base someone dropped because
they couldnt handle my throw while you were playing catcher due to injury.;)[:-] Next time he is getting
a knuckle curve.:)

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Oct 13th 2007 I watch Mr. Mass tend a doe in a bean field. He never left her, she moved over, he moved over.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I'm still up in the air with what role the moon plays. I believe that the deer basically come into heat within 3-4 days of the same time every year. I do think that it can change some of their rutting activity to be later in the evening and into the night. This year I noticed that after November 7th, most of my sightings were during the last 15 minutes of shooting light.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Not uncommon, Germ. I just don't think that that qualifies it as being a "Mini-rut". Do you have any idea how old the doe was?

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Who peed in your beer. What did I say that you find so offensive or is it just personnal. Where was I suggesting my generation is the best. You read a lot between the lines.

I thought that was your line. The statement about meeting deadlines and there being a lot of info published that is simply NOT true is a fact. Others on here have expressed my same thoughts on this subject yet you felt a need to personnally attack me. Get over it.

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

Certainly it's possible for a small number of does to come into heat early, in fact mid October is really only a couple weeks away from prime time, so it's not that surprising.IMO - Generally the big buck appearances are rare that timeof year, but I suppose if they came across a hot doe..........

I agree that humans are largely responsible for any lulls in movement. Deer aren't nocternal by nature, humans have really made them that way.

As I like to say - you never know when and where lightning is going to strike...

RE: October's Mini-Rut!!??
 

I'm sorry Mr Mil.. when I re-read what I wrote I could see how you would take it that way.

What I said was in good jest.. I just forgot to add smilies before I left. I'm not in front of a PC all day.. my bad.

It was really just some humor towards your outlook and nothing more.

But just a mental note to ya Mr Mil.. I NEVER backed the author GregH read the article by. I simply noted the fact that does do go into an early estrous prior to their real one.

And I do think it would be a poor choice to hunt the "mini-rut". But I never said anything about that til now.

I still love your ways..

Word my brothers and sisters.