2023 Blacktail Rut Thread

[HntnFsh]

I've seen more rut activity in the last week than I have in years. Especially this time of year.

[brokentrail]

I found a couple rubs in Kapowsin today that weren't there yesterday but nothing was following the does we saw today.

[Janitor123]

I saw more deer tonight in 501 than I've ever seen in a day. 25 does. In one field I counted 15! This was between 6-630pm. Didn't see any bucks.

[westside bull]

They are rutting pretty hard right now

[grundy53]

Lots of cruising and chasing this weekend.  A lot of bucks were killed in the area I was hunting. It was a fun weekend. Saw 25 deer today. 5 were bucks. All were with does. Can't wait until the first when my late permit starts.

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[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Not to poke fun at anyone but there’s never a shortage of people that see a buck with a doe and start yelling “rut-fest!”. Lot more has to go into it to get into the tell-tale ‘rut’ such as both specific activity as well as physiological signs and changes of deer such as leg glands, pre-orbital scent gland openings, nose sensory enlargements, and neck size increases. Being a taxidermist, along with the stories, you physically get to see these changes occur when true rutting starts in an area.
Now that I sound like a total nerd about this….I’m JUST now seeing some of those physiological changes in those bucks starting Friday evening. Neck sizes grew an inch or two; 20-21” average for a mature blacktail buck, where 22”+ and lat-muscle swelling is indicative. Larger more mature bucks start to float in as well. All kinds of theories, conjectures, and signs that everyone could discuss and/or argue about….but my bet has been placed, it’s just now starting. I don’t think they are ‘rutting hard’ as the hard rut occurs when most can’t hunt, buts it’s going so go get out there!!  Good luck to everyone…..no luck me me even getting out of the shop to go look for a good buck, lol!

[grundy53]

Not to poke fun at anyone but there’s never a shortage of people that see a buck with a doe and start yelling “rut-fest!”. Lot more has to go into it to get into the tell-tale ‘rut’ such as both specific activity as well as physiological signs and changes of deer such as leg glands, pre-orbital scent gland openings, nose sensory enlargements, and neck size increases. Being a taxidermist, along with the stories, you physically get to see these changes occur when true rutting starts in an area.
Now that I sound like a total nerd about this….I’m JUST now seeing some of those physiological changes in those bucks starting Friday evening. Neck sizes grew an inch or two; 20-21” average for a mature blacktail buck, where 22”+ and lat-muscle swelling is indicative. Larger more mature bucks start to float in as well. All kinds of theories, conjectures, and signs that everyone could discuss and/or argue about….but my bet has been placed, it’s just now starting. I don’t think they are ‘rutting hard’ as the hard rut occurs when most can’t hunt, buts it’s going so go get out there!!  Good luck to everyone…..no luck me me even getting out of the shop to go look for a good buck, lol!

Agreed. The bucks I saw killed this weekend were showing signs (swollen necks, enlarged stinky tarsel glands that they were peeing on). But were not full blown yet. I also think the rut is conflated with the pre rut often.  In my opinion cruising for does is a pre rut activity. I would almost say the pre rut is better than the full run since the bucks tend to move more while searching for does.

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[blackveltbowhunter]

Some great info grundy and BRT!!! Always love the rut thread. due to hunt plans and competition for multi tags i was forced to sit rifle.season out. Kills me everytime.

This cold snap has been a godsend for overall deer movement getting bucks on their feet, BUT the full moon has punished those looking for a "big" buck. My experience is a mature buck makes mistakes when he gets fooled by weather and cloud cover and moving in the twilight. Or is fully amped on testosterone.

Grundy im envious, I had a late tag in 2016 and my notes show very similar weather to this season.  Clear cold nights and good deer movement late october. Last couple days were actually a lull. The first 6 days of November may be the best i ever spent in blacktail woods, passed 24 branched  bucks before hanging my tag on the one I wanted. Good luck!

[ljsommer]

Thanks for the wonderful information folks! So to return to an earlier question, if you're out hunting this time of year (last few days of Oct) and you're not seeing deer movement, does that generally just mean that you've got little to no deer in your area, or does that just mean they're not moving yet?
As a totally amateur hunter (I can't say "new" anymore, so I'll just say amateur) I always battle with "there are no deer here" vs "I'm just not seeing the deer here". I only have so many seasons to hunt so I don't want to waste a bunch of them sitting an area where I'm not seeing movement.

[Pegasus]

Not to poke fun at anyone but there’s never a shortage of people that see a buck with a doe and start yelling “rut-fest!”. Lot more has to go into it to get into the tell-tale ‘rut’ such as both specific activity as well as physiological signs and changes of deer such as leg glands, pre-orbital scent gland openings, nose sensory enlargements, and neck size increases. Being a taxidermist, along with the stories, you physically get to see these changes occur when true rutting starts in an area.
Now that I sound like a total nerd about this….I’m JUST now seeing some of those physiological changes in those bucks starting Friday evening. Neck sizes grew an inch or two; 20-21” average for a mature blacktail buck, where 22”+ and lat-muscle swelling is indicative. Larger more mature bucks start to float in as well. All kinds of theories, conjectures, and signs that everyone could discuss and/or argue about….but my bet has been placed, it’s just now starting. I don’t think they are ‘rutting hard’ as the hard rut occurs when most can’t hunt, buts it’s going so go get out there!!  Good luck to everyone…..no luck me me even getting out of the shop to go look for a good buck, lol!

Been seeing the bucks that we rarely see until the rut is on for the past two weeks. Seeing the bucks mounting the does in my yard for the past two weeks is a pretty good sign that the "rut-fest" is on in my area and has been for two weeks. Plenty of swollen necks have been seen during the entire time. Activity has actually slowed for the past few days and does are appearing by themselves again. Not sure whether the full moon and clear skies have something to do with it but only saw one buck sneaking and sniffing through the area at night in the past two days. Good luck as the season comes to an end.

[highside74]

It's all about the does. Some come in early some come in late but at some point bucks will be with each doe. Little bucks can't stand it and start chasing first even though the doe might not be ready. My buddies place has lots of does. The small 2s have been dogging for a week everyday. Wasn't til last night that a 3 point showed up. Spend the off season finding where does feed and bed and then hit those areas in late October. The 2 point that my other buddies dad saw literally hit every clear cut running through like a maniac. He saw him in 4 different cuts on one road system in 1 afternoon. Gut pile the next day. Non migratory does don't travel far. The older bucks know not to waste their energy til it's go time. Watching the cams at my buddies place it doesn't matter what the weather has been. The bucks have been  cruising day and night checking his does.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Thanks for the wonderful information folks! So to return to an earlier question, if you're out hunting this time of year (last few days of Oct) and you're not seeing deer movement, does that generally just mean that you've got little to no deer in your area, or does that just mean they're not moving yet?
As a totally amateur hunter (I can't say "new" anymore, so I'll just say amateur) I always battle with "there are no deer here" vs "I'm just not seeing the deer here". I only have so many seasons to hunt so I don't want to waste a bunch of them sitting an area where I'm not seeing movement.

For blacktail i hunt sign, way more than deer themselves. Deep trails, browsed off forage, old rubs, benches with beds, and lots of droppings tell me there is a good population. Fresh rubs, big tracks, tell me a buck is working the area.  It doesnt take alot to hide a bt, and if the deer are hunkered down from weather or pressure, it may seem like a ghosttown. But sign wont lie. Last season i heard a buck letting out long grunts. Took me 5 minutes to get a brief glimps of him and he was moving. Grown up thick and had it not been for the grunts i never would have seen him. But there was a good population of does in the drainage and rubs showed up the rest of season. Had one other close encounter with him on a doe the 29th  of general. Killed him in late buck solo cruising near his rubs.

Basically if you have good sign i would be agressive right now with season at its end. Push as close to bedding as safe, do some calling, and sit on does if possible for as long as possible. If there isnt much for sign then move on.

[blackveltbowhunter]

It's all about the does. Some come in early some come in late but at some point bucks will be with each doe. Little bucks can't stand it and start chasing first even though the doe might not be ready. My buddies place has lots of does. The small 2s have been dogging for a week everyday. Wasn't til last night that a 3 point showed up. Spend the off season finding where does feed and bed and then hit those areas in late October. The 2 point that my other buddies dad saw literally hit every clear cut running through like a maniac. He saw him in 4 different cuts on one road system in 1 afternoon. Gut pile the next day. Non migratory does don't travel far. The older bucks know not to waste their energy til it's go time. Watching the cams at my buddies place it doesn't matter what the weather has been. The bucks have been  cruising day and night checking his does.

Spot on. The girls hold the keys.

My theory on yard and private land deer is two fold. One, the higher and/or more concentrated densities means a higher percentage of early estrus does have bucks in closer proximity to take advantage of that triggering  movement.  Hence, lots of yard bucks that are full chase or sniffing and ready to breed or breeding, but haven't undergone the physiological changes that BRT mentioned. Two, the lack of pressure and the bucks tolerance of human goings on,  allows for less interuptions and a more natural cycle to occur. I know i see lots of older fawns and varied ages in my yard. But its all theory, thats what makes it fun!

[grundy53]

Some great info grundy and BRT!!! Always love the rut thread. due to hunt plans and competition for multi tags i was forced to sit rifle.season out. Kills me everytime.

This cold snap has been a godsend for overall deer movement getting bucks on their feet, BUT the full moon has punished those looking for a "big" buck. My experience is a mature buck makes mistakes when he gets fooled by weather and cloud cover and moving in the twilight. Or is fully amped on testosterone.

Grundy im envious, I had a late tag in 2016 and my notes show very similar weather to this season.  Clear cold nights and good deer movement late october. Last couple days were actually a lull. The first 6 days of November may be the best i ever spent in blacktail woods, passed 24 branched  bucks before hanging my tag on the one I wanted. Good luck!

Yeah, I'm pumped. I can't wait.

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[WSU]

Whatever stage of the rut we're in, there's a lot of activity in the Olympia area.  We got 2 bucks this weekend, both look like they are 2.5 years old.  One had stinky glands, one did not.  Found new rubs every day that weren't there the previous day.  Found an area where bucks had ripped up the ground fighting/sparing.  It's a good time to be in the woods, that's for sure.