2011 Rut date estimates

[TomBow]

 , I'm not one but I play on on TV.  not actually but you probably get what I'm sayin'.

I have been searching about on this electronic information gathering device and it's universe of information to try and get some estimations on rut timing for 2011 up here in northern USA.  I have a day or two left of vacation and wondering when I should sign up for a day or two off.  Last year the estimations were for a late rut due to the 2nd moon after the fall equinox falling in late November and my heaviest buck activity day was October 21st. when I saw 7 different bucks.  Some folks hunt by the moon, most of the rut info that I've read is based on moon phases.  I guess I'm just looking for a clue on what the predictions are for this year.  I tend to look at the last week or two of October and the 1st week or two of November as the time that I should see an increase in buck activity.

So chime in!  Join the fun of trying to scienfic-ize when a feller should be up in his tree.  And what fun we shall have!

TomBow

[adeeden]

Around my parts the best hunting always falls inbetween Novenber 4 and 12.

[Shawn Leonard]

Varies from area to area quite a bit, but if I had to pick a few days it would be right around veterans day. Killed some of my best bucks between the 9th. and 13th. of November. I only have a week of vacation this year due to my brain surgery and I am taking the week of veterans day off! Shawn

[Ladams]

Usually around Thanksgiving where I hunt

[NBK]

Work and family place me into the weekend warrior class so I reserve my time for the first two weekends in November and whichever one is better is normally decided by which one is colder.  In my opinion, temperature plays a much larger role in rut activity than the moon does.

[Pope Co.]

The gestation period for white tail deer is approximately 201 days.

Your thinking, what difference does that make. Be patient with me. Sometimes I get long winded.

If you had an opportunity to see any new borns hit the ground you can count backwards 201 days and you know when that fawn was concieved. Probably, that fawn was concieved in last years rut. Knowing this piece of information makes it very easy to predict this years rut. Where I live the newbies hit the ground around June 1st.

Where I live the rut is about Nov. 15th. But the does that did not get bred then will come back in estrus one month later. Then sometimes a young doe that is maturing fast (a doe that hit the ground the previous June, making her only seven months old) will come into estrus in Jan. thus creating a third rut. This third rut is not that common but it can happen.

Hope this  helps. I love deer hunting. And this kind of extra information just trips my trigger.

[Crash]

I know there are several who do predictions based on the moon and it makes for interesting reading, but scientific data collected by monitoring GPS collars showed no correlation to the moon position or phase.  I go with temperature and hunting pressure as the two biggest factors.  Around my part of the world, last week of October and the first two weeks of November is when you need to spend as much time as possible in the woods.  Happens every year, same time frame, regardless of moon, sun, stars, horoscope or any other proposed theory.

[TIM B]

Here in south MO the best time to bowhunt with the rut in mind is the week before the gun season opens.  This year it will be from Nov 7 to the 11th.  The gun season opens on the 12th and people come out Of the woodwork and stomp to the woods.  
TIM B

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

what NBK said, from holloween till mid Nov, the colder the better.  Figure MN should be the same.  Good luck.

[Terry Lightle]

Here in Osage county in Okla I wait all year for anytime in the first 3 weeks in November

[Blaino]

fullmoon in october through fullmoon in november.

[Easykeeper]

I like the last week of October and the first week of November, regardless of what the moon is doing.  After that and you are in gun season in Minnesota.  I think the true rut is in the middle of November, but I see more buck movement a week or two earlier and don't have to wear orange and hunt deer running from pressure.

I'll take a cold crisp high-pressure morning after a couple days of rain during the two weeks I mentioned.  I don't pay any attention to moon phase, maybe there's something to it but I haven't seen it.

[TomBow]

I'll admit that I haven't been real hard-core on which phase the moon is in.  I keep attention to it but don't use it to dictate when I will stay out of the woods.  Like most every body, I need to hunt when I can, not overhunt spots.  Yes, weather seems to be a big deal IMO, more than the moon being first quarter, last quarter, etc.  But that mindset doesn't keep me from questioning and reading articles on the rut.  I usually pick up my one of very few copies of D&DH when they have their rut predictor.  It just gives me an idea when it MIGHT happen, then I let my actual hunting experience tell me what IS happening.

Best of luck to all, may your shooting be satisfying and your hunting successful,
TomBow

[kpete]

The rut itself is often frustrating to me because bucks are with specific does and they could be way out of normal travel patterns.  A week before the rut seems better for putting bucks in front of the bow.  
I am convinced that sun/moon cycles are important but peak of rut never provides shooting for me.
I have a watch that calculates moon phases and lunar major and minor activity periods for fish.  But I find weather and other conditions to be just as important.  My watch shows 1,2,3, or 4 little fishies according to major and minor periods.  I had good fishing for catfish on Monday with no fishies at all showing. Go figure.
So, I hunt and fish when I can.

[huntingarcher]

Last week of Oct first week or 2 of Nov.I put all my trail cams on heavy  used trails in my hunting area.When I start seeing lots of strange bucks all of a sudden,I know the rut is on....

[Michigan Mark]

Mother nature will let you know. Just like the leaves changing colors and the flights of birds, does not always run by the calendar.