I don’t know about you but the rut here is Iowa has been slow, late… weird, whatever you would like to call it. I have seen rut activities since November 1st, but not to the level I had in years past. I know this thing we call “RUT” is somewhat unexplained and we may never fully understand it. Most biologists believe that there are many factors that trigger the rut. The most widely credited being the photo period; this is the length of daylight. Well that may be a major factor it’s not the only factor.
Many hunters, look to the moon. The lunar cycle has long been associated with game movement in general. Does it play a role in the timing of the rut? That is hard to say since the rut activities happen at varying levels in varying locations. This begs the questions can you really look at the calendar and pick a 5 days or even 10 day period, and say “I think the hunting will be the best here”. I think you can if you have hunted that area in years past, you should be able to come close in the timing. I say that but yet I wasn’t able too this year. This year was…. well as I said above weird! In years past in the area I hunt, most rutting activity has come 10/31 – 11/5 but not this year.
I should at this point, discuss what I mean when I say “rutting activity”. Rutting activity to me is better defined as “chase phase” or “seeking phase” of the rut. The true rut would be a little later when most of the breeding takes place, some might all that “lock down”. That fact that the rut is fickle makes it harder to predict the chase phase of the rut in a large scale area. I think by taking what you have seen in years past you can get close to what happens when on the farms you hunt. Now if you could only get away for 10 days in a row. If you can I like your odds of picking the date range better but it’s still far from a certainty.
I know of one such hunter who hunted November 1st to November 11, without seeing the “rutting activity” he was used to seeing on the same farms he has hunted for well over 10 years. I hunted about 20 miles south of him and well I didn’t hunt all 11 days, I had to agree with what he was seeing. Now I can’t say both of us didn’t see shooters because we did. It just didn’t unfold the way it had in the past.
One tactic could be as easy as watching and waiting. When you start to see those tell tails signs that the rut is about to kick in to high gear, and then take your vacation time, that alone might help.
Bottom line is, it’s hunting and well the rut wasn’t as exciting as it has been, it’s still very enjoyable. There really isn’t anything like bowhunting the rut. While the rut isn’t over just yet here, I’m still hunting and it’s a long season. I’ll be looking for an opportunity to fill my tag on a shooter buck.
