Moon phases and the rut
08-14-2017, 01:11 PM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 343
Far from it. Rut usually starts around Christmas and ends around middle of January here.
08-14-2017, 03:22 PM
#12
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 995
The only thing temp has to do with the rut is when you actually see them out chasing. If it's warm to hot, they are still chasing, just not in the heat of daylight. Especially in places that are warm like your deep southern states.
08-15-2017, 07:41 AM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Its all about survival IMO. They breed when it makes sense for survival. Everything else is more correlation than causation IMO.
Breeding when the days are short and the weather is cool correlates with giving birth in the spring and assuring the best chance for survival.
Luckily as hunters correlation is really just as good as causation as we really just need to know when not why.
The further north you go the smaller the survival window becomes and the more predictable the rut is.
Breeding when the days are short and the weather is cool correlates with giving birth in the spring and assuring the best chance for survival.
Luckily as hunters correlation is really just as good as causation as we really just need to know when not why.
The further north you go the smaller the survival window becomes and the more predictable the rut is.
Last edited by rockport; 08-15-2017 at 07:45 AM.
08-15-2017, 07:49 AM
#14
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
I have to disagree Rocky. With all the old wives tales and anecdotal nonsense that is passed around as fact, I believe is is just as important to know why as well as when. The crux of what you said it true, evolution worked it out for the survival aspect, however I think we as hunters should know the whole story.
08-15-2017, 08:18 AM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
I have to disagree Rocky. With all the old wives tales and anecdotal nonsense that is passed around as fact, I believe is is just as important to know why as well as when. The crux of what you said it true, evolution worked it out for the survival aspect, however I think we as hunters should know the whole story.
I bet if you look at peak vegetation growth in your area and subtract 200 days you will find the rut in most cases.
Last edited by rockport; 08-15-2017 at 08:25 AM.
08-26-2017, 04:44 PM
#17
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: lutz, Fl
Posts: 363
I hunt public land in Florida. We have 4 WMAs about 20 miles apart and all have a different rut. Most I hunt, so I know they are different. The other couple of WMAs, they actually changed the dates of the hunts to correlate with the rut, to give hunters a better chance.
The rut is Usually with in a couple weeks of each year on each WMA. ( late October on 1, Dec on another and January on another).
I know the more I think I know, the less I do.
The rut is Usually with in a couple weeks of each year on each WMA. ( late October on 1, Dec on another and January on another).
I know the more I think I know, the less I do.
09-24-2017, 05:52 PM
#18
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Southern piedmont of Virginia
Posts: 60
Actually Brushpines, it is the amount of daylight that triggers the rut in deer. It is the diminishing ratio of daylight to darkness that affects the pituitary gland which releases a hormone that starts the ball rolling. The moon or temperature has nothing to do with it unless deer think it is romantic. 
09-24-2017, 06:49 PM
#19
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: WI&UP
Posts: 751
09-24-2017, 06:52 PM
#20
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: WI&UP
Posts: 751
As for moon activity in general, many say no proof. I know I have none. But I prefer when deer season does not have a full moon. Many think deer are magial creatures that can see with zero light. No animal can do that.