The 2015 Virginia Rut

The 2015 Virginia Rut 

Todd Hostetter Photography

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?"

This is the part of the year 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.

Signs of the rut – Rubs and Scrapes

Photo Credt: Source Unknown

Rubs

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.

Photo Credt: Source Unknown

Scrapes

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.

Pre Rut Activity - Catching a glimpse

Photo Credit: Captainbeer

Trail Cameras


We all know 85% of scrape activity occurs at night time. Once the bucks start establishing rub lines and scrapes, it’s a great idea to setup your trail camera facing either one to catch whatever bucks are cruising the area. This could possibly aid in successfully harvesting that buck of a lifetime!

Photo Credit: Brandon Scott

The Moultrie A7i trail camera is an excellent choice for capturing pictures of that monster buck while he works his rub or scrape! The invisible flash, excellent trigger speed and 16,000 images on one set of batteries can’t be beat for the price!

7MP Resolution Camera

Less than 1.5 second trigger speed

40 feet of detection range

50 feet of nighttime flash range

16,000 images per 8 AA batteries. (Use lithium batteries for extended battery life in harsh weather conditions.)

iNVISIBLE 940nm IR LED Infrared flash technology

640x480 video

Click here to view the 2015 Moultrie Lineup!

So What's Happening Now?

Every year, www.VAHuntingForum.com has an “Official Rut Report” thread where members share their rut observations. This helps everybody stay in the loop of what is going on in the deer woods. Below are some of the reports coming in for the 2015 season. For more, click the Official Rut Report link above.

Scrapes showing up here in western Fauquier. Not in the traditional year after year scrape locations. Might be just frustration scrape but it's starting.  - Oletimer 10/10/2015

Bedford county.. had a spike chasing a doe in the evening..and a 7 point chasing a doe on Sunday morning... haven't seen scrapes..but rut is in..down in bedford va – awparker63 10/18/2015

Remember!!! 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! - GOOD LUCK!

Love this blog? Be sure to visit the Virginia Hunting Forum, Virginia's Leading Hunting and Fishing community on the net! Join in on great discussions there and share your very own rut reports from your area!