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????

Length of days.

Tequila


Sorry. Good question. not sure

White-tailed Deer and Rut

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

Correct answer

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

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?

Its the length of day

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.

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.