The Pre-Rut Is Underway

The first signs of the pre-rut were seen tonight, and even though the weather was cool and windy, the evidence is pretty conclusive.

In the past the bucks have been traveling in their little bachelor groups, moving loosely in small groups with some minor head-bumping and gentle antler touching, but the most obvious sign of all is that bucks are now actively starting to chase does.

A fall has kept me from daily hunting

A look around today after 10 days of on-and-off bow hunting because of a fall (no, not from a tree stand but off my deck steps), and an aching back proved other facets of the pre-rut or chasing phase is now underway. I went in today for an MRI to see what, if anything, I did to myself.

This chasing period precedes the actual breeding period or rut, and it is essential to the rut. Many deer biologists, and myself for that matter, believe the chasing phase is just one of the triggers that puts a pre-estrus doe into estrus. It fires up the sexual needs of both buck and doe.

I saw this last night as a medium-size 8-point (there seems to be an abundance of 8-pointers in many areas) took an adult doe around in circles, through the hoops, over the hurtles and in and out of tag alder thickets. She had to be in a serious pre-estrus condition although she still wasn't all the way there yet. Most of these very early estrus does are older animals. Young does seldom come into estrus in December or January.

Had she been ready, she would have stood for him. Instead, she led him around like a puppy dog on a leash, and whenever she stopped, he would smell her and off they'd go again for another long romp. It went on for 30 minutes during an overcast and misty evening before they disappeared from sight.

For me, I never even picked up my bow. This was a head-clearing time for me to move past my back injury, and to accept the fact my back would never be the same after this hard fall. Shooting a deer wasn't important, but being in a stand was.

Another pre-rut sign

Another good sign of the rapidly approaching pre-rut phase is that many bucks are no longer friendly or tolerant of their longtime buddies of a week ago. Another 8-point, a bit smaller than the one chasing the doe, and a small 6-point, came through the area and was heading down a trail near me but out of bow range.

They stopped in fairly thick cover 25 yards away and the small buck started to lower his year-and-a-half-old antlers at his buddy. The larger buck quickly demonstrated why he was the more dominant of the two animals. One antler tine stuck in the rump of the smaller animal, he jumped three feet in the air as if being goosed with a cattle prod. They moved on past me, the smaller buck hanging back, and a bit of blood could be seen around the puncture wound.

No doubt the smaller buck now knows who is leading this little parade, but it's doubtful if either animal will do any breeding this year. Those honors usually are reserved for the much larger and more dominant bucks.

Look for agitated does. Bucks won't be far away.

Increased agitation or demonstration of seniority or strength and antler size, coupled with the chasing of does, are two major keys to solving the arrival of the pre-rut phase. This period is almost always in full swing by Oct. 25 or a day or two earlier, and most of the actual breeding will be accomplished from Halloween through Nov. 15, with some local or regional exceptions.

There are other keys to the pre-rut kick-off. I found two or three new scrapes along one trail used to get to my stand that weren't there a week ago. Hunters are finding that scrapes are being opened up, and such scrapes often vary in size from that of a dinner plate to four-feet in diameter.

All feature the obligatory overhead licking branch, and wet earth below the branch. The licking branch is often frayed and broken, chewed to a frazzle, and the earth smells of deer urine and other secretions (what we actually smell is the urine). There often are rubs on nearby trees, and hoof prints and antler tine marks in the earthen scrape.

Reading a scrape, and learning what else a scrape can tell you will be discussed in a future blog. It's much too lengthy to add to this piece.

The pre-rut or chasing phase has just started. It's just getting geared up, and will be in full swing by this weekend. Get out, enjoy the day, and let's hope a doe will lead a nice buck past your stand during the next two or three weeks. Think positively about the possibility of success and it may come true.

TITLE The Pre-Rut Is Underway ((agitation, bow hunting, chasing phase, dave richey, licking branch, pre-rut, scrape, urine))

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors