Tracking the Rut 10-12-2018
(Rut Meter 10%)
The Hunting Page rut meter is on the move, it hasn’t moved from 2% for the last couple of weeks but it has now up to a solid 10%, it won’t be long, stay tuned. How do we set the meter, our network of “rut watchers” file reports each day-every day, and we have calling the rut, down to a science!
Here’s what’s going on with the rut: the young bucks are starting to move about, and are beginning to spend more time with the does, they aren’t doing much chasing but they sure as heck are doing plenty of eyeballing and “crowding” the does, they move in until the does have enough and scamper away, it’s a long way from an estrus driven chase, but it tells us the testosterone is level is rising. The bucks are also beginning to shove each other around with more aggression than prior weeks, not exactly what you would call a fight but a pretty good shoving match none the less. Rubs and scrapes are showing up everywhere.
Absent from the mix are the older aged bucks which are still pretty much “night riders”, we expect them to start showing up as the rut starts to get serious. We are photographing the occasional “old timer” during daylight hours (on the food of his choice) but for every older aged buck we photograph during daylight hours we get 5-8 at night. The big bucks haven’t started their “rut marching” just yet, most of them are still in their fall feeding frenzy, it will take some estrus does to get them away from the dinner table.
Does that mean that there are no does in estrus yet, no, it just means that most of the does are not there yet. Scientific fawn conception studies indicate that at this point in the rut cycle, perhaps 3-5% of the mature does are being bred. The early breeding starts in early October then ramps up in a hurry, what we are waiting for is a solid 85-90%, when the rut starts to explode https://thehuntingpage.wpengine.com/ will be there with our “rut on” alert horns blaring.
Right now, if you want to kill a good buck, your best bet is still to hunt food, the rut is still “out there” a bit and the fall feeding frenzy is still on.
