Photo by Ron Sinfelt

There's a special time in each deer hunter's season, a week or two whose arrival he just can't wait for. While this window of opportunity is open, the possibility of taking that once-in-a-lifetime buck -- instead of merely seeing it flit through the trees to disappear like smoke in the way a trophy buck normally will -- is actually pretty good.

That time of marvels is the period of the rut, a phenomenon that revisits the deer woods every fall. During the rut, mature bucks stop acting as if every shadow or puff of wind is the enemy and begin to behave as if their common sense has been short-circuited by the desire to breed as often, and with as many different does, as is possible. Self-preservation takes a back seat to the urge to add branches to their family trees, and, forgetting that they're supposed to be moving around only during the "vampire" hours after dark, they show themselves when the sun is up -- thus offering hunters a chance to drive a .30-caliber stake through their hearts. It's a time that neither the trophy fanatics nor the more casual sorts can afford to miss.

Two who know very well how good the rut can be are longtime deer hunters David Pye and Rick Longworth, both of whom have taken trophy animals in a number of areas by taking advantage of the chinks that invariably appear in a buck's armor when the breeding season kicks in. They also know only too well the problems associated with taking mature bucks at other times of the year.

"The rut is the only time when he's not going to be laid up in a thicket hiding from you all day," said Pye, who has guided, worked for outfitters and taken big bucks in states all across the Southland. "He's going to be out looking for does; he's got to find that magical girlfriend. And it's your best chance to kill him."

Actually, bucks are physically ready and willing to breed as soon as they rub the velvet from their antlers early in the fall. But they don't start acting like reckless teenaged boys until a lot of the does across their home ranges start to come into estrus, the 48-hour period of time during which females are receptive to breeding. That's when the real rut begins.

The bucks suddenly forget how they're supposed to act and start covering as much ground as possible in search of the perfect doe. They go without food, without sleep and without their normal desire to live to a ripe old age. They can do without just about anything except water and does.

And the peak of the rut, which deer hunters talk about in almost reverent terms, simply consists of the few days or so when the majority of the does in an area come into estrus. Does may breed over a period of a month, but there will be a weird, wonderful week or so within that span during which it seems as if every buck in the woods is out cruising for companionship.

"During the rut, you'll see 10 times the number of bucks that you see early in the season," said Longworth. "I think the peak of the rut is about two weeks long, and there's maybe a week before and after the peak when the hunting will be good. The two weeks in the middle will be excellent."

Recognizing the onset of the rut is a key to being able to participate as a hunter. One shortcut is to contact wildlife biologists who work in your hunting area and quiz them on when the rut historically kicks in. Using harvest data, they can point to a general period of time that, over a number of years, appears to be the peak of breeding over a wide area.