The "What" Report?
Anyone that was brought up hunting knows what the rut is. But there are also those who may be new to hunting, or interested in getting into the sport. Those new outdoors men and women may ask, "What's the rut?" Let's have a quick lesson here for some of the beginners...
This is the part of the year that appeals most to hunters. That brief instance of the season that finally makes hiding bucks come out in the open. Some of the nation's largest whitetails are harvested this time of year, and even a portion of those are deer that have been nocturnal for weeks, or even months, before start to come out during daylight hours looking for love. The breeding season, or "rut" as we call it, is brought on naturally by the amount of sunlight that hits a deer's eyes, and registers to their brain. Once that perfect amount of daylight is reached, it all breaks loose.
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| Buck "rub" on saplings |
One of the first signs you begin to notice are "rubs". When the testosterone levels start to heighten in the male whitetail, they get a sudden urge to let every other deer in the vicinity know it. They will aggressively rub their antlers along the stalks of saplings and, sometimes, mature trees. There are scent glands located in between the antlers of buck deer, and those glands are responsible for leaving scent on the rubbed trees. Rubs may sometimes be seen on neighboring trees for several yards. These are known as "rub lines" and tell you that the buck making the rubs travels that path often. This is usually a good area to hunt if you're seeking to harvest a mature whitetail.
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| Scrape found in the woods. |
Usually in close proximity of rubs, you will start to find large dirt patches conspicuously located next to hanging branches. Many times, when these "scrapes" are found in the middle of the woods, they are highly noticeable because the leaves are completely cleared out. Scrapes are also extremely popular along field edges; many of them in very close proximity to each other. There are sets of scent glands in between the front toes of a buck deer, and each time they make a scrape with their front feet, they are leaving a message there for the next deer that may happen upon it. Also, if you look into a scrape, you may find several piles of droppings. Those droppings are also part of the deer's message. Above a scrape. majority of the time, will be a low-hanging branch. When a buck is making a scrape, he will lick the hanging branches, leaving scent there as well. All buck activity goes full swing before the doe even comes into play.
I've only been hunting for four years, and each year, I make notes of what I observe as far as deer activity during the rut. In Virginia, the rut typically peaks around the 15th of November. This means that usually around the middle of the month, the female whitetail becomes extremely receptive to the male whitetail.
So What's Happening Now?
My current observations here in Central Virginia are going along perfectly with the typical prediction for our geographic area. I've been seeing scrapes and rubs since the beginning of bow season (October 4). Those signs were very aggressively hit almost on a daily basis. This tells me that the bucks in the area are all communicating. Last week, we had a rainfall on Thursday morning, and all scrapes thereafter weren't hit. Even a quick scout around the property on Sunday morning revealed no new scrapes, only old ones. Does have not been showing receptivity here, yet. However, the bucks have definitely been trying to persuade them otherwise.
In the past week of hunting, a nice mature buck was called out into the open via a brief doe estrus bleat call. He was also lured out a couple days later by using tarsal gland scent from a stranger buck, coupled with a light grunt sequence.
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| Young buck seen trailing |
Another younger buck was also seen checking a scrape, then headed on his way down a trail, nose glued to the ground, at a steady trot. He was possibly trailing a doe, but his mind was on the track, not his surroundings. I was bowhunting from the ground, and he nearly walked right into my lap. Bucks tend to lose some of their "common buck sense" during the rut season, which is why so many make "mistakes" that benefit the hunter!
The actions of these bucks, combined with other reports from various parts of the state lead me to verify that the rut will be peaking by the weekend of the 15th. Currently, does are not receptive, but are in pre-estrus. The few does that still had fawns by their side are now alone. Fawns have been seen pairing together. By the weekend and into next week, the first main rut should be in full swing. The activity will obviously differ in different areas of the state based on many, many factors, but this is coming to be the best time to be in the deer woods!
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