rut now in va.
 

went out monday to take down my ladderstands and found fresh scrapes and horned trees everywhere. i think the rut is getting later every yr.

RE: rut now in va.
 

Many bucks in VA have already shed their antlers due to the dramatic decrease in their testosterone and therefore it is highly unlikely this is due to rutting activity. These late season scrapes and rubs are merely bucks moving back into their winter ranges from their rutting locations and are marking their territory. This years rut began the first full moon following the fall equinox as it does every year and it did fall later than it did last year, however, I don't really think it occurs later every year;)

RE: rut now in va.
 

srwshooter
It is funny you make this statement. Last night on my way home, I had to avoid a 8 pointer chaseing a mature doe and a inmature doe, right in the middle of a country road. Only the deer know.

RE: rut now in va.
 

in the valley most bucks haven't lost there antlers. i have heard about bucks on the charlottsville side of the blueridge mountains losing there antlers a few weeks back but, we hunt in nelson county the last day and the dogs ran 5 bucks to us that still had there antlers. a friend killed a nice 12pt that day. i've seen this late rut for a few years now in my area and it would sure explain seeing fawns in fall still with spots.

another thing here in the valley we are atleast 3-4 weeks behind charlottesville in our growing season, so why couldn't the rut be that far behind yours.

RE: rut now in va.
 

For the past few seasons I have noticed a 2nd & even 3rd rut here in VA.

RE: rut now in va.
 

the moon sure was bright for the past week and a half, perhaps thats what caused all the movement and such

RE: rut now in va.
 

woops,i should've been more clear, we have trail camera pics of bucks with antlers shed in Bath county and have heard of a couple of bucks that were mistakenly shot as does that had shed during the last week of the season

RE: rut now in va.
 

i can tell you this i've seen deer shed in years past on the eastern side of virginia before the end of january,but in 30yrs of hunting in augusta,rockingham,highland and bath i've never seen nor heard of any shedding before the season end. it may happen but i've never seen it. it was colder this earlier then in the past few years.

wahoo,where in bath do you hunt? i used to hunt warm springs /lake moomua area

RE: rut now in va.
 

We hunt on the other side of the mountain from warm springs in Millboro...about 30 minutes from warm springs itself, do you still do any hunting up that way?

RE: rut now in va.
 

I have never witnessed a second or third rut in the last 17 years here in Northern Virginia.

RE: rut now in va.
 

i used to hunt near millboro on private property a few years back,just don't get that way much anymore. i find most years i can do better hunting right here at home along the shenandoah national park. the farms here have lots of game. i killed 2 -8pts ,9pt,2bear and 2 foxes.

RE: rut now in va.
 

Here is my take on this, it is known that does will continue to go into estrus every 28 days if they are not bred. I believe that there are so many deer in NOVA that not all of them are bred the first time or second time. I think the does are going into estrus as late as Jan. maybe even Feb because there is a supply of food that will support such late breeding and the bucks are not breeding them earlier in the year. Personally saw a fawn this year in Oct with spots on it and only weighed about 30 lbs. I also saw 5 bucks last Feb. that still had their antlers intact on both sides. They also exhibited rut behavior by scraping the ground and I watched two of them fighting very intensly for about 5-10 mins. This was onPresidents Day. This behavior showed me that there were does in the area that were still in estrus. I have read that bucks will lose their antlers due to the lack of testosterone levels in their bodies. If does were still in estrus then the bucks testosterone will still be present and they wont lose their antlers until later in the year. I also believe this why some guys in other areas of the state are seeing bucks drop their antlers in late Dec and Jan and thats because there are not as many does in the area and they have been bred already. I shot what I thought was a doe this year the weekend before Christmas this year and when I went to retrieve I was surprised that it was a buck that had already shed its antlers. I know this particular property doesn't hold as many deer as the place I have to hunt in Fairfax. This is why I believe I have never seen this behavior from bucks during that time of the year except for the NOVA area. I trully think this is because of the amount of the deer. I used to have permission to hunt in eastern Loundoun County near Dulles and also witnessed the second rut in mid Dec every year. It was not as intense and the primary rut but I definetely saw bucks running does, scraping, and rubbing trees. I believe this was also due to the fact to the amount of does on the property.

Just my take on it but curious to see what you guys think.

RE: rut now in va.
 

I witnessed bucks chasing does hard in the last week of the season. A buddy shot at a buck breeding a doe on the last day of the season.

RE: rut now in va.
 

I know that most southern states have 2-3 ruts(not saying other states don't. I have only lived in the south). The reason is some does are not old enough to come into heat in the first rut and some don't get bred the first go round. Usually after the first main rut the deer that weren't bred come back into heat as well as the ones that did not come into heat the first time. This usually occurs 28 days after the the first rut. Since there are less does to breed, usually only the big bucks take part in the second rut. I think the determiner of whether or not there is a third rut depends on how many late fawns were dropped as they would not be old enough to come into heat the first two times. Of course a third rut would be short lived.

RE: rut now in va.
 

flips2:
I could'nt agree with you more and i think your 100% correct in your explanation of why this occurs,,,I have preached to my two sons for years to check a does tarsal glands in the late,,late season before shooting them,,,if their hocks have not been licked clean i always let em walk just in case they have not been bred,,,and may lure a buck in