What causes the rut???
 

I have been told many factors cause the rut, from moon phase, temperatures, amount of light in the sky to various other ideas. Is there any evidence of what causes the rut????

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Length of days.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Tequila:D


Sorry. Good question. not sure

RE: What causes the rut???
 

White-tailed Deer and Rut

RE: What causes the rut???
 

That awsome desire to propagate that all of us bucks have:):):). Oh yea does have it as well!!!

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Correct answer

Best answer thus far...works for me!!

RE: What causes the rut???
 

We have a few ruts here in NC? But as I see it (and could be completly wrong) is that it has something to do with the weather. Low light days that are cold, you know overcast days. I just find it hard to believe that all the deer across the country or even states that are close have the same rut.
If the moon phase is the cause than I'm sure there is a website that follows it?
I think(or guess) the Doe causes Bucks to have something to chase what do you guys think?

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Its the length of day

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Length of days. It's more accurate to say the amount of sunlight. When the days start getting shorter, less light in a given day, them juices start a flowin'. And since the whole country gets the same amount of light as the rest, the rut pretty much hits the whole country at about the same time.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

Everywhere has 3 ruts as does come into estrus every 21 days and are only available for breeding within a short window. It is natures way to ensure as many available females are bred. Length of daylight start off the primary rut (1st and most intense breeding period) then the estrus calender takes over for successive ruts.

Weather has absolutelty nothing to do with the rut, though it has everything to do with seeing the activity of the rut. The reason for daylight is stable year to year (unlike weather, moon phases, etc). Without such; if bred early they may be born in harsh conditions, if bred to late they don't have enough time to develop survival skills. Nature is very proficent everything happens for a reason and in cycles to promote survival of the species.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

length of days

RE: What causes the rut???
 

The length of day would also explain why the rut seems to get started in the northern states than it does further south. I think it's just getting started good here. The length of day gets shorter as you go north in the fall.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

I'm not sure about the length of day idea. I use to hunt about 40 miles from where I do now and the bucks began the rut about a month earlier than where I hunt now. The moon is the same in both areas also. The weather, cold days, is the same also. The biggest difference is the origin of the breeding stock. In the 50's, when the deer in our area was stocked the area where I first started hunting used a lot of northern brood stock while the area I hunt now used a mixture of western Alabama deer as well as some other brood stock. Now we have an over population of deer almost everywhere in Alabama and it is constantly changing the breeding days. Young, healthy6 to 8 month old does will breed, their offspring will do likewise and the entire rut is getting skewed. I've probably seen 20+ recently born spotted fawns in the last 3 weeks. The bucks hardest rut time in our area is about the 3rd week in Jan, but you will see worked scrapes on into April. Who knows what the rut will be in 20 years.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

The term is photoperiod.

RE: What causes the rut???
 

I think it's the pretty much the same thing that causes Single's Bars,Motels, and "Hey baby, do you come here often?" :D