Our rut tracker meter has fallen to early-to -mid October level of 25%. Does that mean the rut is officially over, well not exactly, the occasional doe, still shows signs of estrus, and there is always a willing buck. The rut is not a thing of the past, but in most locations, we have begun to think, “next year”. Young, deer of the year, are still candidates for their first estrus and some “old breeders” may have failed to conceived earlier in the rut.
Of course, if you hunt in the deep South, or at least specific areas of parts in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and even Texas the rut may still lie ahead. By-in-large, if you live and hunt somewhere where most whitetails come from, the rut is a fleeting memory. The rut is mainly a November event in the north and we are in rut recovery phase as you read this report. Many bucks have vanished off the radar, that does not mean they are missing they are most likely bedding and feeding more than any time of the year and have shrunk their range from 4000 acres to 40. Our next rut meter report will be in the single digit range. Now that doesn’t mean that the good deer hunting is over for the year, if you are lucky enough to have a deer hunting season that is still open, the hunting can be absolutely terrific. The deer are hungry, hungry, hungry and food supplies are rapidly shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, the deer are concentrated and if you have food to hunt over you may be in for some great late season opportunities
