Down here the rut is around the last week of Augest , first week of September . Where I hunt in Pa its around the first week of November . In west Georgia its around the last week of November or first week of December .

The reason I love this post is because it actually has something to do with hunting. Not bow sights strings, blah blah blah. So I will start again. A quote from the book in question "Hunting Whitetails by the Moon". "Of all the times to hunt, the seeking phase is one of the best,especially for the tree-stand hunter. The peak of this period is usually three to four days before and two to three days after the rutting moon. During this time, bucks are on the move but not yet chasing every doe they encounter. Their movement patterns through funnels and along scrape and rub lines are more predictable. Unfortunatlely, the seeking phase only last a short time before blending into the chase phase. What do you think????

i guess that the shorter days just happen to be the same time each year.isn't that amazing???????????

What was the date of the "rutting moon” last year? I can't remember and didn't log it? I tend to believe in the photoperiods logic, as it seems to hold more merit.

I killed an eight point on Nov. 1st. He was in the seeking phase.



Other members have noted the same timetable as I’ve experienced. First two weeks of November are hot. Breeding occurs sometime between the second and third week in this aria.

If your not sure what to believe do what I do, and hunt every day you can. Do your own observations and stay on your toes as to what’s going on. If your not doing that, you’re going to be left behind.

I believe the the weather and the moon play parts in the rut. Afew years ago we had extremely hot temps for NOV. we are talking upper 70's and lower 80's. The peak of the Rut did not come until the first week of Dec. Now all the years hunting here in Missouri I have never seen the Rut past the 3rd week of Nov. Last year it was the 2nd and 3rd week of Nov. Now I do believe the moon plays a huge part in there movement. Not just the hunters moon. Even though I am usually on stand if it is my day off and there is a full moon, I really only see movement during the day. If I recall the mojority of the deer I have killed during the middle of the day have there has been a full moon. Like wis if I can see the moon before dark I see a large movent right around daylight the next day.

So in my opinion I do believe the moon plays a huge part in the rut.

Does the moon really affect the rut?? Well, the 2nd rut does fall 28 days later. AND a human females period happens every 28 days.....BUT


Has anyone put in some serious study of deer habits year round? Of course they have....Biologists that deal with deer do this in Florida allthe time. After years of scientific research they have reach a conclusion that it is a combination of photoperiodism, food, and weather patterns for a given geographic area.

Take for instance the WMA that I hunt. The peak rutting activity happens right at opening day of archery season, at the end of September. The next WMA closest to mine the peak rut happens 3 weeks later, and the next one to it happens one week after mine. My WMA has the earliest rut and some happen as late as the end of November

WHAT?!?

Why the discrepency of peak rut times? Well, the scientists and biologists, after years of study, said that weather patterns affect the rut... Well not exactly cold fronts but rather rainfall. Alot of Florida is flat and swampy, so the deer have adjusted to it by breeding so the fawns will not have to stand in knee deep swamps The spring and summer monsoons hit different counties at different times, and the deer are accustomed to this.

The moon has no relationship with the weather. However the sun does. Photoperiodism.

thundermug, this is the kind of stuff i'm looking for. interesting to note that theory. makes sense to me. also interesting to note, alsheimer has a theory that follows somewhat along the same lines. he states (and someone please correct me if i'm wrong) that does are bred under the window following the full moon so they will drop their fawns under a darker moon 199 days later in the spring. the darker moon offers protection to the new fawns.

(i hope i'm stating that correctly. if not, someone please correct me as i don't want to misquote him.)

yes i have read the book and do beleive the rut is cued by the full moon, but a lot of things are involved like the weather if its to warm that will throw the rut and also the buck to doe ratio to. i love the book very interesting a lot of good articles. what is the rising moon and the falling moon do you have any answers?

What happens if its real cloudy for the week of the full moon????


Whats more important?

A) Fawns being born on Dark nights or........

B) Fawns being born After the winter - with enough time to grow strong before the next winter


Why do deer herds near the equator - have no defined rut and - Bucks dropping horns as others are in full rut. They have a moon down there two............But they don't have fluxuiations in day light........Hmmmm

Really good post here. I was going to wax on here, but Rack-attack has stolen my thunder. Photoperiodism, photoperiodism, ... type that 10 times fast!

Just a note, in whitetail populations around the equator (i.e. way south of the USA), the deer breed at all times of year, and individual bucks drop antlers and grow new ones all through the year. It varies by the individual deer.

Judging from that fact, I wonder if deer in the southern US may be a little more variable in exactly when they rut. Here in the northern latitudes, fawn drop is real consistent year in and year out, indicating the rut is kicking off about the same year in and year out (again, like Rack said). In warmer climates, it probably isn't as critical to fawn survival to be born at one particular time.