Later Rut this year?

[JackOfAllTrades]

Damn... I was trying to keep it simple and now ya'll just went and got all scientific on me. Jees!

I'm SO Confused!


-Steve

[GoldTip]

The word you all are looking for is "photoperiodism".  This is what determines the initiation of the rut, the length of daylight each day determines the cycle.  The rut will happen same time each year, every year.  Our observation of the activity of the rut may depend on the weather, but the actual breeding cycle does not.

[boneaddict]

SPot on!

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

The word you all are looking for is "photoperiodism".  This is what determines the initiation of the rut, the length of daylight each day determines the cycle.  The rut will happen same time each year, every year.  Our observation of the activity of the rut may depend on the weather, but the actual breeding cycle does not.

good to know

[cjensen]

I guess that pretty much sums it up!  Good work GoldTip. 

[Pathfinder101]

Goldtip beat me to it.   Photoperiod   
Rut is the same every year, it's just that certain weathers make them more active than others.  If the weather has the cows moving, the bulls will be moving after them.  If the cows hunker down, so do the boys...

[dawei]

Thanks, photoperiodism is the word I was looking for. I edited my post with this correction.

[Wtrfowlr62]

its getting cooler where i hunt definitly. last week they were bugling for me. my friend and i went bear hunting on tuesday had a nice bull bugle for us to in the morning.

[washingtonmuley]

I watched a herd of elk today and they were rutting.

[Pathfinder101]

I was out last night.  Didn't see or hear anything.

[cjensen]

If there's fresh sign then they're there...just quiet right now from my observations.   They're also moving really late too.  Too darn hott!   When the rut really gets going and it cools down a bit they'll be moving a bunch more and more vocal too.

[Kain]

How it was explained to me.  The rut happens the same time every year but the hunting season does not because it is tied to the labor day weekend which is a moving holiday.  So we should have a 7 year cycle (+/- leap year) when the rut falls into different times of the hunting season or should I say the hunting season falls into different parts of the rut.

So when someone says "will we have a late rut?", in relation to the hunting season it very well could be true.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Well I can say this ... usually right now on any given year the elk would be going nuts around my house ... but the last couple herds I have watched have been doing nothen but eating ... I mean seriously pigging out ....Today they were in the field at 1 pm just eating mad and I filmed this dandy 6x6 and in 20 minutes of watching him he never picked up his head to look around when usually they would be screaming mad chasing the cows around So my  says its off at least a solid week from now with the elk ...At least here anyway .....and Bucklucky is hot on there a$$