Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Crunch time, show time or prime time, whatever you want to call it, the time period most hunters refer to generally as "the rut" is the easiest time to take a trophy buck. That is when testosterone levels are pulsing through a mature buck's bloodstream, daylight movement is peaking and bucks are putting on miles. All of this makes them seemingly ripe to be had.

During no other stretch of season are more hunters excited to hit the woods than during the rut. With dreams of wrapping their hands around the rack of a trophy buck, vacations are planned and schedules cleared simply to take advantage of as much of this block of hunting time as possible. During the rut, the odds are as close to being in the hunter's favor as they ever will be, and most hunters are bound and determined to take advantage of that.

With that said, why is it that so many hunters end up being forced to choose between taking immature bucks or seeing the end of the rut arrive without having filled their tags? I believe it is in large part due to the rapidly changing patterns of mature bucks over this time period, as well as their seemingly chaotic behavior. The combination of these two factors leaves many hunters trying to utilize the wrong hunting strategies at the wrong times. Certainly, hunters can get flat-out lucky during the prime rut phases more than during any other time period.

However, the people who cash in most consistently are those who see order in the chaos. The deeper one analyzes the rut, the more clearly a well-timed sequence of events unfolds. Furthermore, despite bucks seemingly popping up in any conceivable location, it becomes possible to see that there's method to most of their madness. Through understanding this timing and their methods, we can formulate strategies that dramatically increase our odds of transforming the dream of wrapping our hands around heavy antlers into reality.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING
The first step in doing this is nailing down the timing for the three sub-phases that make up what most refer to as the rut. When you look a little deeper, you can see that the first phase is peak scraping. Though scraping can and does occur for a much longer period, peak scraping consists of the last 12 days before the chase phase occurs, which is followed by the peak breeding phase.

In recent years it has become popular for some writers to promote the idea that the moon dictates when breeding will occur. Though I don't argue that the moon phase -- as well as weather -- has an impact on the daylight activities, my experiences don't line up with the moon dictating when breeding will occur. However, I've always thought that it's folly for any hunter to believe that they can draw firm conclusions about whitetail biology solely based on their experiences. That's why I've talked to many of the top research biologists about this subject. With the ability to study and track breeding in a controlled setting, I place far more value on their findings than my experiences. Each one I have spoke to believes it's the photoperiod -- the time between sunset and sunrise -- that's the most common factor in determining when the majority of does across the north come into estrus. When the daylight hours drop to a certain point, chemical signals are sent to spur the estrus state.

Along with daylight hours, the age and health of the individual doe plays roles in determining when she will be ready. When a doe is immature or unhealthy, it takes her longer to ready her body for successful breeding. In short, healthy, mature does most often come into estrus the same time year after year after year -- with the young and unhealthy lagging behind.