Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Whitetail Breeding Period Vs. Rut Activity

Agree with this as well.

Think back to the days when you caroused all night - the next day wasn't so productive.

Same for warm weather - rather than chasing around, I much prefer the AC when the temps rise.

Ben, do you have any information on how many times a buck breeds an individual doe? I watched a large 6 point (Eastern count) breed one 3 times one afternoon and think he would have done more except an automobile traveling a nearby gravel road spooked them. I was about 50 yards from them and they were in an open field with a slightly lower area with tall grass. He chased her in there and bred her, then she lay down while he kept watch. After a bit he roused her with his antlers and bred her again. this was repeated on more time before they were interrupted. I only had one tag left and I knew there were bigger bucks in the area and was hoping that the activity would bring one out. It did not happen but was one of the better days that I have had while deer hunting. The only other time that I saw a buck breed a doe, I shot him right after he finished, the first time. miles

Miles,
Bless you for letting him go out with a bang.

Miles,

I don't know what the upper limit would be. I have seen bucks stay with does for a couple of days, breeding them whenever they would stand. When the doe is no longer receptive, they usually give it up pretty quickly.

The last year I hunted SW Arkansas (2012) I saw a spotted fawn in mid-December.

Found a lot of fresh rubs in January this year at my new spot.

In your area is the lull in activity for the majority of the deer, over and activity picks up in 4 04 5 days?

OB: This only happens as a majority of does come into heat. The frenzied chasing activity slows down,scrapes go cold...although you never know when a buck will dog a doe past you this time of year. It can happen anytime in November so these are general trends only.

Usually when the scrapes look like they are no longer getting any attention (cold),it's a sign that the mature bucks are with does and this seems to happen most by mid November.

Keep in mind we have low deer density and a big woods environment.Our buck to doe ratio is good compared to other areas of the country,and there is a lot of attention when a doe comes into heat due to increased competition among the bucks in Maine and NH. And it is not uncommon for a buck in our country to make a 10 mile "swing" in a night visiting doe groups looking for something in heat.

I have been tracking a hot doe and buck as they traveled and it's not uncommon to have another buck barge right in and attempt to take the doe...seen that happen more than once. With a nose full of doe scent a buck is not going to bother much with a scrape, which seems to get most activity before the does are in heat.I guess he is advertising.

After the majority of does have been bred, bucks here will reopen scrapes and start traveling again looking for any hot does not yet bred.So yes they start travelling more again IME.

If there are any general rules to follow in my country it would be "find the does" and stay with them, in their areas....eventually bucks will show one way or another.

Keep in mind that the does that do not take will come back in, in about a month, or so I am told. miles

Yup. I have seen chasing going on in mid December.

Fun to watch this at work. I was coming back out toward my truck on a logging road up near Canterbury, NB,and came across the bed of a doe in the snow....there was blood in the snow and some in her track.She had come into heat. I noticed she was alone and headed in my general direction.so I continued on.It was about noon. I heard an ATV on the logging road and figured it was my "guide"(I can't hunt New Brunswick without one,but they don't seem to have to be with you....just in the general vicinity

15-20 minutes later,I got to my truck,was eating a sandwich, and noticed three sets of running tracks of a doe and what seemed to be two bucks. The tracks of the bucks were big (I gawked)and splayed wide. I laid a 270 cartridge sideways in one(with room to spare), took a picture of it.

I'm a little slow and it suddenly dawned on me that the tracks were in the ATV track,so were only 15- 20 minutes old...this was "my" doe who was no longer alone and they were "right there"! (It only took a short while for two bucks to grab her scent and get after her. With that scent wafting around, no wonder the scrapes go cold!)

I dropped the sandwich, grabbed my rifle, and took off after them. I pushed them hard; they would stand in blow downs, see me coming,and start running again. The pressure became too much and the doe split off. I stayed with the bucks and they split too...I swung downwind of the doe's line of travel,figuring one of the bucks would be rut addled, forget about me, and try to swing back to the hot doe.

I got lucky,guessed right,and about 10 minutes later,killed the smaller of the two at 30-40 feet in a pine thicket as he was headed back to the doe.He was an 8 point that dressed 210#.Never knew I was there.

I wished someone else had been with me...we might have killed the big one too!

Luck played a very small part in that one.

Thanks Scott. Luck always helps.

I suspect this lack of activity thing during breeding isn't a static phenomenon, like closing one chapter and starting another. There is going to be a good deal of overlap in deer activity even when the majority of does come into heat. And I guess buck/doe ratios can have a lot to do with it as well....if there are several does to each buck,it makes sense the bucks have little incentive to move much.

But here our herds are better balanced; there is a lot of competition for every hot doe,and bigger bucks will drive off smaller one's from breeding,so those bucks will still be horny and on the prowl.

A pal called from Alberta,said the activity of the doe chasing in the fields had been wild when he arrived for 3-4 days and he passed up numerous bucks from his stands in the fields.....then suddenly, it all stopped. He wasn't even seeing the does. Sure sounded like "lockdown" to me.

I sure would not consider this a poor time to hunt, but I'd consider a change in tactics, like moving into heavier cover near doe bedding areas or something.

I've seen a complete "lockdown" on a Texas ranch I used to hunt during a light rain. But sometimes a light rain didn't have much effect on deer movement or sightings. It could have been a heavy breeding period, but hey I'm the first to admit deer can be very mysterious to me.
Happy Hunting

Extensive radio tracking data show that whitetails have surprisingly constant routines. They do just about the same things at the same time every day. When visible activity drops off, they are still doing the same things, but they are doing them somewhere out of sight, something that they are amazingly good at.

I have noticed over the years while watching open fields bordered by woods, that deer come out into the field at about the same time, from all directions. It will not be the same time every day, but it seems that all of the deer are in sync. miles

I have always heard the new moon was best, why would you favor the last quarter?

So what would be a good hunting strategy when they are doing the same things but out of sight? Is it because they are moving more at night or just in a different location?

Our data strongly suggested that deer treat darkness like cover. On dark nights, they will move farther from daytime bedding and loafing cover to feed, water and ruminate. Then it takes them longer to return to daytime use areas, and hunters are more likely to see them farther out in the open later in the morning.

On bright moonlit nights, deer exhibit the same activity patterns, but they stay in cover or don't move far out, if they do leave cover. By daylight they are usually settled down in their bedding cover, 30 minutes or so on either side of sunrise. Cool, cloudy weather or bright warm sun can alter these routines somewhat but usually not drastically.

Around a full moon, glass and hunt bedding cover. If there is a lot of hunting pressure, hunt escape cover. Deer will usually get up late morning, drink if water is nearby and then move to an afternoon bed. Such movement as there is will be in cover, so that's where you should hunt.