Rut status??

Fwee6 · #1 11-28-2013, 08:04 PM

Our group spends a lot of time just north of Sundre and can't figure out what is going on with the rut. No deer moving, maybe see a couple if lucky amongst 3-4 guys hunting morning til night but they're running like the wind after hearing our crunching feet in the snow from a mile away. Same story the last 2 weeks, today included.

Anyone seeing rut activity in this area? Or else where?
We have settled on thinking it hasn't started yet -- quite late for the area.

Saturday it is, or tag-soup.

Full Curl Earl · #2 11-28-2013, 08:16 PM

Pretty much the same for North East Alberta, rut was minimal, probably has to do with decreased numbers. A good Freind of mine was hunting West of Airdrie and has seen only 1 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 year bucks chasing does. Definately the oddest rut in my 30 years of hunting.

IR_mike · #3 11-28-2013, 08:19 PM

^^^^^Hmm.......oddly enough I found the deer to be pretty active from the 7th till it warmed up a few days ago.

I seen more this year than last year by far.

Alberta Bigbore · #4 11-28-2013, 08:54 PM

I have seen quite a few bucks trailing does, and crossing cutlines at high speed with thier nose to the ground.

croat37 · #5 11-28-2013, 09:02 PM

Just came back from 318 tonight, saw tons of tracks, but no deer, don't know what's going on, using scent bombs, rattling and grunt calls, nothing, nothing ,nothing , nothing.

chocdogs · #6 11-28-2013, 09:05 PM

Same I have seen activity slow but there are still bucks chasing does for sure. Out today and found 3 bucks chasing just not what I was looking for. Sometimes being picky means tag soup.

herc · #7 11-28-2013, 09:17 PM

Same here. I have seen a ton but all small bucks and have only seen 2 bucks chasing does. 90% of the deer i've seen have been solo. Very weird rut imo.

qmurphy · #8 11-28-2013, 09:32 PM

Live just outside of Sundre. Seeing bucks chasing does almost daily and bucks wandering around solo following their noses. I'd suggest it is in full swing.

280Hunter · #9 11-28-2013, 09:35 PM

Me and my buddy were out since Monday and just got back this afternoon and we didn't see a single buck till this morning! Lot's of tracks, but very few deer spotted over that time. We were out from dawn till dusk everyday and saw just the 1 buck and probably a total of 8 does, all in bush country.

Dick284 · #10 11-28-2013, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qmurphy

Live just outside of Sundre. Seeing bucks chasing does almost daily and bucks wandering around solo following their noses. I'd suggest it is in full swing.

Full swing for post rut!!!
The majority of the does are already bred! Count 200 days forward.
The boys are searching for does going into second estrus right now.

Speckle55 · #11 11-28-2013, 09:39 PM

Agree

David

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Full swing for post rut!!!
The majority of the does are already bred! Count 200 days forward.
The boys are searching for does going into second estrus right now.

zerofish · #12 11-28-2013, 09:41 PM

I have spent a fair amount of time the last two weeks in 318. Lots of deer moving. Most of the bucks i have seen chasing does have been spikers. A few big boys at a distance with noses down. Its still on, today seemed strange however...must be the chinook.

308Icon · #13 11-28-2013, 09:46 PM

bucks are still moving here pretty good in 348 got my buck yesterday will post pics sometime tomorrow,no great pics though.my good friend and i went out tonight to see if we could tag a doe but not much out there.

so i did some gruting with the tube tonight to see if anything would come out and 15 mins later called in a buck so we decided to play around with him see how close he would come in,got him to come in to about 25 yards and got it all on video what a rush.(sometimes it's not all about the kill)being with friends and watching the sun set.

baptiste_moose · #14 11-28-2013, 10:37 PM

The full moon screwed the deer rut up big time. All trail cam pics of bucks were at night. Saw 20 WT bucks on our 12 day hunt. Only 2 being shooters. Full moon means everything is lit well enough that they can go right through the night. The elk weren't hitting the fields till 35 min after last shot as well.

hayseed · #15 11-28-2013, 11:13 PM

Well.... This dampens it alot... I'm in rut too and the wifey jus keeps doin her thing....I've even prest my muzzle on her buzzle, licked a tree, and scraped up the flower beds....rubbed my head gear on the apple tree... I dunno...

Dang it wrong house...!!!!

I'm headin out tommoro also .... Good luck all!!

sunshine · #16 11-29-2013, 12:25 AM

Going hard now myself and pal got one yesterday.bucks going hard on the does it would score in the 170s and have seen a couple more that would probably go that

Full Curl Earl · #17 11-29-2013, 06:53 AM

The majority of the does are already bred! Count 200 days forward.
The boys are searching for does going into second estrus right now.

Not sure what you mean by 200 days?
Does should have been in Estrous Nov 17 to 21, roughly. Second Estrous will follow in line with ovulation cycle in approximately 27 days.
At least that's what my research turned up long ago.
I agree it's post rut time, but should be mid December for second go.
I guess I could be wrong?

Bobby B. · #18 11-29-2013, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

The majority of the does are already bred! Count 200 days forward.
The boys are searching for does going into second estrus right now.

Not sure what you mean by 200 days?
Does should have been in Estrous Nov 17 to 21, roughly. Second Estrous will follow in line with ovulation cycle in approximately 27 days.
At least that's what my research turned up long ago.
I agree it's post rut time, but should be mid December for second go.
I guess I could be wrong?

You're right, not wrong. According to the biologists, 80-85% of the WT does are bred 16-18th of November. The second, and lesser, rut follows approximately 1 month later in December. During this second rut, the remaining does are bred along with some of the fawns from the previous spring.

Bobby B.

walking buffalo · #19 11-29-2013, 07:51 AM

Some other factors to consider for the tail end of the rut and seeing the mature bucks.

Mature bucks that have claimed a ready doe do not need to chase her around. They will hole up in a safe place. During the peak of the rut when there are few mature deer (such as after a severe winterkill) this can mean that the big bucks are just not running around much, they don't need to.

The end of Nov./early Dec. is when the WT fawns will come into estrous. This 'mini" rut is about to peak. The second rut for mature does doesn't occur until around mid Dec.

If you are looking in open areas and not seeing bucks rutting, get into the bush/bedding areas.

APAShooter · #20 11-29-2013, 10:25 AM

Strangest rut in 25 years of hunting the bush country. 7 people in camp for 10 days a total of 15 bucks seen. Absolutely no bucks moving during daylight hours. Lots of tracks and scrapes so the deer numbers are ok in the area, maybe even up a bit from other years. Had lots of night pics on the trail cams.
We were seeing does during the day. The moon definitely effects the movement but this is not a new thing. When its full the bucks run 11am - 1pm in my experience but not this year.
Been doing this a long time and I have NO explanation for this year.

Fishnafterwork · #21 11-29-2013, 12:48 PM

Bucks are rutting hard here in 332.... Doing the nose to the ground march all around us... Mostly spikers but we managed to drop 3 nice bucks.... Doe's on the other hand are hiding in the thick... Fawns kinda standing around together clueless

No sign of rut for the last 3 weeks but this last 4 days its been good!

Vingiu · #22 11-29-2013, 12:53 PM

Deer have been very active in all my hunting spots, lots of movement. No rattling or calling necessary

Fwee6 · #23 11-29-2013, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by APAShooter

Strangest rut in 25 years of hunting the bush country. 7 people in camp for 10 days a total of 15 bucks seen. Absolutely no bucks moving during daylight hours. Lots of tracks and scrapes so the deer numbers are ok in the area, maybe even up a bit from other years. Had lots of night pics on the trail cams.
We were seeing does during the day. The moon definitely effects the movement but this is not a new thing. When its full the bucks run 11am - 1pm in my experience but not this year.
Been doing this a long time and I have NO explanation for this year.

I'm with ya!

Dick284 · #24 11-29-2013, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

The majority of the does are already bred! Count 200 days forward.
The boys are searching for does going into second estrus right now.

Not sure what you mean by 200 days?
Does should have been in Estrous Nov 17 to 21, roughly. Second Estrous will follow in line with ovulation cycle in approximately 27 days.
At least that's what my research turned up long ago.
I agree it's post rut time, but should be mid December for second go.
I guess I could be wrong?

200 days, is the average gestation period for whitetail.
When do the fawns drop?

Mother Nature is pretty good at making sure the timing is right, feed for the doe is there, cover for the fawn is there, having fawns weened in time for mom to go into estrus the next year, when the photo period happens.

If it didn't work our deer herd would be far to messed up to support itself.

AndrewMcElroy52 · #25 11-29-2013, 09:54 PM

Caught this bad boy in 318 chasing a doe first thing Wednesday morning.. didn't know they made em' that big in 318 still.

greywolf · #26 11-30-2013, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishnafterwork

Bucks are rutting hard here in 332.... Doing the nose to the ground march all around us... Mostly spikers but we managed to drop 3 nice bucks.... Doe's on the other hand are hiding in the thick... Fawns kinda standing around together clueless

No sign of rut for the last 3 weeks but this last 4 days its been good!

On the contrary,
spent the entire day yesterday (Nov 29) in 332, in crown and farmland. Seen 1 doe before noon, and 1 spiker buck in the afternoon. Thats all. Did see some does driving home about 1/2 hour after legal.
Just got off the phone with 3 guys hunting 332 this morning, 1 south of hwy 53 and 2 north, no one has seen any deer, just moose.

I seen more deer in 332 on the NOV 16 - 17th weekend then the rest on the month combined.

Flatlandliver · #27 11-30-2013, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Pretty much the same for North East Alberta, rut was minimal, probably has to do with decreased numbers. A good Freind of mine was hunting West of Airdrie and has seen only 1 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 year bucks chasing does. Definately the oddest rut in my 30 years of hunting.

Hunted west of Airdrie the last couple of days, mulies were still hard on does, including a couple of crankers, a few groups of wt does but the only decent wt buck I saw was in the back of a guys truck the first week.