2023 Blacktail Rut Thread

[highside74]

So much rut activity in Eatonville my buddy had to turn the notifications off on his trail cams the last couple days. 2 points are gone and 3 different big bucks are now running the show.

[ASHQUACK]

The 27th was the last day I had any bucks on camera. Only does and fawns. I keep waiting for a big guy to show up but it seems like it's over already here.

[highside74]

I have a friend with the 667 big buck tag. He saw 30 does today in vail with no bucks.

[Buzzsaw461]

Just about on cue I saw a nice big 2 point sprint across our backyard hot on a doe. She was walking with her tail straight up. First week of November is when it really gets going

[Bullkllr]

I have a friend with the 667 big buck tag. He saw 30 does today in vail with no bucks.

This doesn't really surprise me hearing this. The last week or so out there was really weird for deer activity.

[fishnfur]

The 27th was the last day I had any bucks on camera. Only does and fawns. I keep waiting for a big guy to show up but it seems like it's over already here.

ir

This is when the rut getes really frustrating.  The group of doe that had an early estrus got a lot of bucks up and moving for the few days that those girls were hot.  We see the increased buck activity and think the rut is on and expect that hunting will get better and better later in the month.  It seems like 13 - 21 Oct can be really active many years and then it slows down noticeably till the end of the month ('cause there's no hot does left. )  Almost none of the breeding that occurs in middleish Oct is successful in impregnating those hot doe. 

The next breeding period typically follows that early activity by 18 - 21 days or so.  The timing of the cycling gets the majority of (all) the does all hot during the first week of November - generally around the 8th - 10th.  This is the "peak of the rut", which identifies the actual dates that most boe are hot and get successfully impregnated.  The population as a whole, if plotted on a number line creates a typical bell curve showing 8 - 10th as the dates most doe are hot in Western WA.  It also describes the variation in the dates that estrus occurs within the entire population with some doe breeding a week or more before or after the date if the peak (hence the bell shaped curve).   Rutting activity stars slowing pretty quickly by the third week of Nov. because most of the doe are now either pregnant or no longer hot.  Those remaining doe that missed being bred or had difficutly in some phase of egg fertilization/implantation etc. will cycle through another estrus sometime in late November.  By the beginning of December, something like 99% of doe have been successfully bred.

For whatever reason, this period during very early Nov. can be the slowest hunting of the season, until suddenly all hell breaks loose and deer are getting nasty everywhere.  Whether that is because the bucks are hanging with the first doe that get hot early in the bell curve is a possible cause for the slow hunting.  In general, bucks will hang with a hot doe for 3 - 4 days breeding her over and over again until she no longer accepts his advances.  The buck moves on to greener pastures and becomes a target fot lucky hunters holding tags for Quality Buck hunts. 

The biology described above cannot be construed as being entirely accurate as it has been a few years since I read up on the subject, and I have the memory of a 65 year old man.  If you count on your fingers and toes, the numbers work out pretty well to what we hunters see in the woods (and back yards).

[trophyhunt]

Spent the last week hunting w a buddy that has a quality white river deer tag, we seen 5 does and zero bucks, crazy!!  We covered hundreds of miles and spent a couple days in the high country, didn’t expect to see huge bucks, but did expect to see some.  We will be at it again Fri-sun. 

[GOcougsHunter]

Can verify that the Toutle unit is really slow right now.  Only 3 does and a spike seen.  Think they are all still nocturnal.

[7mmfan]

The 27th was the last day I had any bucks on camera. Only does and fawns. I keep waiting for a big guy to show up but it seems like it's over already here.

ir

This is when the rut getes really frustrating.  The group of doe that had an early estrus got a lot of bucks up and moving for the few days that those girls were hot.  We see the increased buck activity and think the rut is on and expect that hunting will get better and better later in the month.  It seems like 13 - 21 Oct can be really active many years and then it slows down noticeably till the end of the month ('cause there's no hot does left. )  Almost none of the breeding that occurs in middleish Oct is successful in impregnating those hot doe. 

The next breeding period typically follows that early activity by 18 - 21 days or so.  The timing of the cycling gets the majority of (all) the does all hot during the first week of November - generally around the 8th - 10th.  This is the "peak of the rut", which identifies the actual dates that most boe are hot and get successfully impregnated.  The population as a whole, if plotted on a number line creates a typical bell curve showing 8 - 10th as the dates most doe are hot in Western WA.  It also describes the variation in the dates that estrus occurs within the entire population with some doe breeding a week or more before or after the date if the peak (hence the bell shaped curve).   Rutting activity stars slowing pretty quickly by the third week of Nov. because most of the doe are now either pregnant or no longer hot.  Those remaining doe that missed being bred or had difficutly in some phase of egg fertilization/implantation etc. will cycle through another estrus sometime in late November.  By the beginning of December, something like 99% of doe have been successfully bred.

For whatever reason, this period during very early Nov. can be the slowest hunting of the season, until suddenly all hell breaks loose and deer are getting nasty everywhere.  Whether that is because the bucks are hanging with the first doe that get hot early in the bell curve is a possible cause for the slow hunting.  In general, bucks will hang with a hot doe for 3 - 4 days breeding her over and over again until she no longer accepts his advances.  The buck moves on to greener pastures and becomes a target fot lucky hunters holding tags for Quality Buck hunts. 

The biology described above cannot be construed as being entirely accurate as it has been a few years since I read up on the subject, and I have the memory of a 65 year old man.  If you count on your fingers and toes, the numbers work out pretty well to what we hunters see in the woods (and back yards).

This is a pretty good explanation of how it really works.

[Sutherland]

 

[westside bull]

Buddies wife had the WR tag and killed a buck that was chasing a doe yesterday.

[IFunk]

I hit it hard yesterday and thursday and didn't see anything unfortunately.  Thursday the wind was pretty nuts and I would have expected it to get the deer moving a bit.  Hopefully my quality tag for 460 won't go to waste.  I'll pick back up on it again tomorrow. 

[fowl smacker]

Saw 3 bucks all following the same doe this morning.  Necks swollen and sniffing the air behind her.

[dilleytech]

Can verify that the Toutle unit is really slow right now.  Only 3 does and a spike seen.  Think they are all still nocturnal.

Or mostly locked down

[KP-Skagit]

Got a mature buck on my yard cam for the first time this year. That said, all deer activity on my yard cams are still at night. In fact, they were coming in about 30 minutes after shooting hours a month ago. Now they are coming in around 10 or 11.