Post rut question

[jtrammell]

When should we expect the bulls to break away from the cows and get back into their bachelor groups? This is my first year hunting here in Washington and I don't know when this will happen. I hunt rifle and I don't know if it will happen before then or not.

[trophyhunt]

by the middle or late October the bulls will not care as much about the cows, but you can still get responses with calls.  The end of October it's pretty much all over as far as the rut goes. This year on the other hand has been very odd, it seems the rut is almost over already in places. 

[kentrek]

Anytime from now on, I've seen it go both ways tho....pretty good bet that there will be at least a rag horn chilling with the herd but herd bulls may be solo

[PlateauNDN]

I was in an area yesterday and it was still hot and heavy.

[kentrek]

I was in an area yesterday and it was still hot and heavy.

That's that's the rumor! ! Nothing more satisfying than having a early October rifle tag after getting your rear kicked all September archery 

[Jonathan_S]

Anything can be going on right now...just depends on where you are.  If there are half a dozen cows that are hot then one drainage could be on fire and the next one over might be quiet and slow.

[jtrammell]

Has anyone seen bulls starting to gather again?

[deerhunter_98520]

I seen a herd bull with about 25 cows last night and he was bugling and chasing satalites off and chasing cows around with other bulls bugling off in the timber

[Little Dave]

I've studied the matter somewhat, but I'm not an expert on the matter - will always be a student.  Here's what I figure and I'll try to keep it kind of brief, there is a lot of complexity to manage in the question. 

The mature animals breed first and leave first.  The herd gathers under the light of the late summer full moon the pheromones circulating in the herd triggers estrus, but a cow is only ready to breed for a relatively few hours, so the bull needs to keep the cows close when that is happening.  For the fertile cows it is about three weeks until they come into estrus again, but the next full moon is four weeks which starts to skew the next round of estrus, and even more so by the third and fourth moon.  The bulls run out of steam somewhat because they prioritize mating over eating during this time so they drop out of the herd earlier.  If you look at the "rut" that way instead of a one time thing, it gives you more strategies to work with.

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[boneaddict]

I generally get rut activity right up until modern starts.  The pressure usually backs it off.   There is just a huge amount of pressure in Washington.   There are a couple places where I photograph where the pressure is lighter, you can see Bulls rutting hard into the first week of November and dwindling later than elsewhere.   This year does seem messed up a bit, and everything seems early.