Strange season
 

Has anyone else experinced lack of rut activity when it normally is (early november) and then rut activity actually happening in december? Alot of guys in my area did'nt even see scrapes until the end of November.

I was seeing young bucks chasing does here in central Illinois back in the middle of Oct. & I am still seeing bucks chasing here as of Dec. 10th.
I dont know if what I was seeing this past weekend was the second rut or just an odd rut season as youve suggested.

Yea I saw some small bucks running does but the big bucks I saw did'nt act interested. I killed a nice 10pt. on Nov. 8th so i can't personally speak for the rest of the season i'm just going by what friends and family have told me.

I live in Indiana and I started hunting everyday beginning Oct. 22nd. I never saw any chasing or cruising until Nov 8th. After that it was on for about three weeks. But it was very pronouced beginning Nov. 8th.

Blessings......Pastorjim

I agree that the rut was very strange. In some areas it was almost like there was no rut!

It was definetly messed up this year in Missouri...the Bucks were chasing early this year in late Oct/Early Nov,then it warmed up and everything dropped off to very little chasing/rutting.We had warm weather and high-winds all week from Nov 12 thru the 16/17 so movement was down and Hunting was tough to say the least.

I think we're seeing a late second Rut and its winding down now...heck I have pic's of Bucks dropping their Antlers already here in December!

Well,
 

I'm of the opinion that we as hunters have a big impact on the rut. I think that during the daylight hours we see maybe 10% of what actually goes on in a 24 hr period. The rut period is what IMO hunters usually plan their trips around, when crunched for time (work, money, family) so more hunters in the woods during the day curtails daytime activity due to stink, noise, pressure. I believe the "rut" comes approx. the same time every year, older bucks become active when they feel safe. Night, no stink, noise, hunter activity, their senses are pretty sharp they know when the woods are full and when it isn't.

This whole entire year has been goofy! Odd weather, weird deer activity/movement. I'm glad it's over to be honest. ha, ha

+1 I'm from MN also and it was my worst season hunting in many years. Too much wind, too little deer movement. I'm not glad its over though. I want another shot at it. I miss it already. Just didn't see enough deer. I'm regretting the decent 8 pt. I let walk opening morning. Oh well.

Dude I've been deer hunting for 23years this season was definitely far different than any of the previous 22 seasons. Where I hunt has next to no hunting presure. So I'm gonna have to dissagree with your theory pertaining to my situation.