pa rut
 

any one seen any scrapes here in pa for the second rut?? i seen rubs
but no scrapes.. this is actually my first late season hunt i ever tried.. i think the weather has alot to do with me being out.. alot warmer than that 10 to 15 weather we had in the past.. just curious if anyone else been out in this late season has seen any signs of the rut other than fresh rubs?? i have seen some huge,, huge,, deer tracks over the last couple days on the state game lands i hunt.. and small saplings torn up.. but haven't seen the deer that made these large tracks yet.. i know it's a big body buck,, but unsure of its head gear..

RE: pa rut
 

The second phase of the rut is long over. It happened approx 28 days following the first peak rut which (the 2nd) would have been around the 2nd week in Dec or so. If any does were not bred at that stage it is possible to have a 3rd estrous period, again, 28 days following the second stage which would be coming up in a week or so.

RE: pa rut
 

REMEMBER ALTIE at all the hearing stating that the RUT would become more competitive as a result of an older breeders and less doe...REMEMBER !! NOW we have no rut, what are they going to fight over..there was 10 times the rut activity when we acutually had deer..

RE: pa rut
 

frank...think about this though...buck to doe ratio is 1 buck to 20 doe BEFORE HR and AR. now 5 or so years AFTER the HR and AR programs were started the buck to doe ratio is ALOT closer to 1 buck to 1 doe. id say 1 to 4 or so in my area...not that bad...now there may be less deer. but the buck to do ratio is closer to natural. when the bucks are in the mood its going to be harder for them to find a hot doe because there are more bucks out there that are doing the same thing he is...which means theres more fighting and more of a rut in general.

about scrapes...im not 100% sure but when hunting grouse the other day me and my buddy found 3 scrapes in an area. i swear they were being used and i swear i could smell one. fresh droppings all around them. fresh tracks in them. definently looked fresh to me. i know last year i found a scrape in a diffrent area in the late season. also found some rubs this passed week i swear looked fresh with bark still hanging off tree and laying on the ground. dont know whats going on. maybe they are also used as communication or boundries or something like that?? i wish i had my camera coz i know that probably sounds odd to some guys but im pretty dang sure the scrapes and rubs were freshly used.

RE: pa rut
 

I found a fresh scrape this morning .I live in NW Pa.

And many new rubs are showing up too.

RE: pa rut
 

I can't speak for all other areas but I saw plenty of rut activity here, in Bradford County ,and I got the same reports from friends in Tioga County.
It seemed to peak earlier this year though.
Fawn drop will tell the story.

RE: pa rut
 

i seen fresh rubs,,, but no scrapes... so i made couple mock scrapes today and applied a good amount of estrus to them both... i didn't have much time to hunt this evening... but tomorro i will go and check and see if they got dug up any... i would think some are still active from all the fresh rubs i have seen... tomorroshould give me a clue anyway...

RE: pa rut
 

Mauser06...you must have access to lots of private "POSTED" land..that is patrolled and watched like it contains gold...I would love to see the Game Lands, open ground or National Forest that contains what you've stated..it no longer exists in the south central part of the state..ratios and this and that mean absolutely zero to me...WE don't have anywhere near the bucks that we had 5 years ago on open ground and the does have been extripated for the most part..do not confuse "posted" paradises with what the average JOE game lands hunters see...WE have been bambozzled, the greatest lies have been told...all the monster deer you are seeing are not coming off open ground or game lands...be careful what we wish for, we just might get it...and boy did we........

RE: pa rut
 

hoo-boy, now that's funny!;)

RE: pa rut
 

that's a sad deer population in pa. then... lets say there are 100,000 bucks in pa... that would put the deer herd at 200,000 if it was 1to1 ratio... or 500,000 thousand if it was 1 to 4... i would put the deer population around,,, just from whats been told and from the deer harvest reports over the last 5 years to be under400,000 deer... i will also say that each wmu has no more than7000 deer per unit if that...