What have you heard about when the rut will be this year in the Northeast? I want to plan vacation days around that time.

November 4th thru the 12th should be PRIMETIME in the Northeast

Im in De and,Avalanche is right it is usally around the 4th though the 12th pending on when the full moon is and how cold it is.

The rutting moon falls on Nov 5 this year. That means that the first big wave of does should come into estrous around the 7th.

last yr my cousin killed a buck in full rut.. nose was red.. neck swollen, glans all wet.. withhis nose to the ground... its hard to say

I agree with you guys around the 5th ,in the northeast

Sounds about right BTB,
I heard that the trolling phase will be between the 4th and 7th and most bucks will be in lockdown around the 8th.
Personally, I prefer the trolling phase to ALL others. When they are locked down on a doe they are hard to stick with an arrow. Plus you have the doe to pick you out..has happened to me several times.

I'm not sure I agree. While no expert, I've seen most deer acting stupid Thanksgiving week. I've read predictions from some very knowledgeable and successful hunters using everything from moon phasesto weather and I'm sure that they're all factors, but in northern VT and NH, it seems the third week of November is the most consistent for producing "Stupid, Love Struck Bucks".

To me, it makes sense that does are likely to go into heat after a set period of time after they give birth to a fawn(s). Keeping time through hours of daylight. Has anyone else heard this explanation?

Yup the 4th to the 7th should be awesome. The best time to kill a largely nocturnal dominant buck is in those days before the majority of does come into estrous. the few early does will be relentlessly pursued and the dominantmature bucks sometimes abandon their normal caution and make stupid mistakes. I am a firm believer that when a 5 1/2 or older buck is harvested, it's more because he made a mistake than the hunter outwitted him.


Last year the peak was almost 10 days later than the expectedpeak this year. Weather can have a effect but I am a firm beleiver in the theory that calls for the true "peak" to fall two days after the second full moon (the rutting moon)after the fall equinox. This year that full moon will be Nov 5.

Photoperiodism is the main driver but the second full moon seems to be the ultimate trigger.

When that happens, I think it is because young or unbred does come into late estrous and the bucks all compete for that last few left. Competition gets fierce at that point. This kind of action can be unreliable though because it is a scattered phenomenon. My Dad killed a beaut of a mature 10 point in just that kind of a situation on Dec 1 in the big woods of the ANF in 2002. He was chasing a hot doe all over the mountain. Had it not been for that late doe, he probably would have died of old age.