Alsheimer or Rue?

[Jawbone]

I agree the peak is over. 

What a boring rut!!!!!!!!!

[Goose]

Ill have more to say on it in a couple of weeks but as of now, From Nov 1 to about the 10th I saw behavior related to dominance, saw some 1-5's chasing but nothing bigger than that chasing and Ive been out every day. The weather warmed up some and it rained for a couple of days. On 11-7-08 my brother jumped a 3.5 bedded with a doe but thats the only bigger buck that we saw with a doe. From the serious hunters Ive talked to around me they say the same thing....It hasn't happened yet. Don't know what to say I sure hope its not peaked because I missed it. According to CA's calender it should start getting to be pretty intense this week into the weekend so well see. For my sake I hope hes right.

[Jawbone]

Now that early bow is over and the 1st weekend of gun is done, I see no reason to doubt LLR.  I've seen and heard little evidence to convince me of an extra late rut.  It seems around here it was rite on schedule,  just not very intense due to high temps and standing corn.

[Goose]

Well its Dec. 21 and I'm pretty sure the rut is over so here are my thoughts regarding this topic.
 
Oct. 15th- My dad saw 9 different bucks out in our field. 7-1.5's a 125"8pt and a 135-140" 8pt. The 2 bigger ones sparred a little and then fed.This is a day after a full moon and according to CA's calender they should be doing a little seeking at this time.
 
Oct. 22nd- I had a 1.5 chasing a doe by me while I was sitting on stand. The calender says they should be doing a little chasing at this time.
 
Oct. 28th- My dad had a 3.5 8pt come into a grunt call only to catch his wind 40 yds out. Calender says they should be doing some tending.
 
Nov. 1st- My brother got a 3.5 10pt sitting over a buck decoy. Calender has the deer back on a feeding routine.
 
Nov. 7th- My brother jumped a 3.5 8pt bedded with a doe while walking from stand. Calender has them on a feeding routine.
 
Nov. 8th- My buddy hit a 2.5 or 3.5 10pt in the lower back end while the deer was cruising a pipe line.I had a 2.5 or 3.5 come into a buck decoy and also had 1.5 come into buck decoy. Calender has them on a feeding routine.
 
Nov. 9th- My brother had a 3.5 8pt come in to work a scrape and my dad shot under another 8pt.Our neighbor got a nice 2.5 8pt.Calender has them on the peak seeking phase.
 
Nov. 10th- I saw a shooter buck dogging a doe and also had 3 1.5's and a different shooter come through marsh.Our neighbor shot the 3.5 8pt that we've been after. Calender has them on peak seeking phase.
 
Seemed to die down by me, calender says should be prime chasing.
 
Nov. 17th- Saw nice 10pt come through marsh. Calender says this should be prime chasing.
 
Died down by me again and the calender says this should be prime tending phase.
 
So what do I think? This is only our observations in a small part of the woods but I'm gonna switch to LLR.
Charlie seemed to be spot on until about the 1st of Nov when he put them back on a feeding routine. seemed to me thats when it turned on and up. If I had to pick the 10 best days to hunt by me it would've been Nov. 1st through the 10th. Seemed to me that this was when we saw the most activity.
The weather took a bad turn after this with rain and wind but I still thought I would've seen more movement.
I had 3 weeks off starting Nov. 1st and ending the 23rd and I hunted every day so I don't think I missed too much.
The rut we had was weak in my opinion, never saw real intense behavior. Saw more territorial and seeking behavior than chasing. Don't know the under lying cause of this but that is what I observed.
Again this is just our observations in the area that we hunt. There was other buck sightings and stuff but these are the more important ones and I just compared them to the calender.
 

[JPH]

Excellent post! I need to dig out my journal and compare it to the calender as well. 

[beagleman23]

Well, I hunt in western NY were Mr. Alsheimer has his farm and I bow hunted everyday from Nov. 1st -7th.  I saw no chasing or any real sign of the rut.  I saw 1 buck with a doe and he was leading her.  The bucks I did see alone didn't not respond to bleats or grunts(I do not rattle).  The weather was warm and I think this had a major impact on daylight activity.  My friend shot a 165" green scored buck on halloween but the day was cool.  I think halloween really kicks it off as for the physical date but if the weather isn't cool or cold day time activity is at a minimum.

[JPH]

Here is what I saw/experienced this fall in Cent. Iowa and No. Missouri. The D&DH calender predictions are listed in red. You can draw from it what you will.

10/11 and 10/12 = Feeding. Minor seeking.
10/18 and 10/19 = Increase in daylight buck movement with scraping witnessed and on camera. Minor Chasing.
11/01 = Increased buck movement, chasing, antler fighting. Feeding.
11/02 = Scraping. Feeding.
11/05 = Adult buck movement in late morning. Feeding.
11/06 = Intense chasing and does fighting. Feeding.
11/07 = Killed a mature buck in response to calling. Feeding.
11/08 = No deer seen. Major seeking.
11/09 = Bucks moving slowly with does and late morning seeking. Major seeking.
11/10 = Bucks bedding with does. Major seeking.
11/11 = Intense chasing. Major seeking.
11/12 = Late morning lone buck movement. Major seeking.
11/13 = Killed adult buck tending an estrous doe. Major seeking.
11/15 = (Mo. Rifle season open) Killed adult buck moving alone in early afternoon. Major chasing.
11/18 = No deer seen. Major chasing.
11/22 = Killed one of two fawns feeding alone. Major breeding.
11/27 = Small buck chasing adult doe. Major breeding.
11/28 = Does feeding heavily, with small bucks sparring in the area. Killed two adult does. Major breeding.
11/29 = Bucks feeding heavily with does. Casual, short chasing by largest buck. Resting.
11/30 = Killed adult doe while feeding. Resting.  

Again, these are just my observations, so take them with a grain of salt, but I still do not see the moon phase connection.

[Goose]

JPH- Thats interesting, it seems from what I see that your best and most intense encounters where the first 10 days in Nov. and maybe a little beyond? If that is true its pretty similar to my observations as well.
kinda neat to see this stuff and compare.

[ranwin33]

The first 10 days of November always seem to have more movement in our area as well.  BUT, this is when I'm also doing the most hunting, so I may be seeing more because I'm hunting more.
 
One of the guys in the club to our south claimed the rut was done and over with by November, he swears it reached its' peak in early October.  He made this claim last year as well I think.  Bases it on camera surveys - and the fact they don't see much in November.  But then you stick 14 guys on 150 acres and deer tend to move away.

[JPH]

Yep. Going back to the OP, it was (and is) Rue's claim that the majority of northern does will breed between Nov. 10-17. year in and year out, I see the intensity of "rutting" activity ramp-up around Holloween and fall off by Thanksgiving.

If I had to limit my hunting to one week, it would be the week leading up to Nov. 10 and I would pray for good hunting conditions.