What causes a deer to go into rut?
The bow season opened four weeks ago, but deer activity is only now intensifying. It is called the “rut” — the breeding season for whitetail deer. Photoperiod (amount of daylight each day) is what triggers females to come into estrus, and the does dictate rutting activity.
How does deer rut work?
Rutting behavior typically begins around the time that velvet is shed from the antlers (coinciding with decreasing day length and increasing testosterone levels) and ends when antlers are shed (coinciding with declining testosterone levels). The first sign of rutting behavior is often sparring among bucks.
How long does the whitetail rut last?
Alsheimer, and the author’s “Lunar Rut Theory” as an argument for knowing how the peak of the whitetail rut is regulated by the lunar cycle. In the book, Alsheimer says that the rut lasts 40 days, and the peak of the rut will always begin three days after the “Rutting Moon” and last for about 10 days.
What time of day do bucks move during the rut?
“Males showed more movement activity during the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. with another smaller peak between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Conversely, the time when males were least active was midday from 11:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Males seemed to maintain some level of activity throughout the nighttime hours.
Is it better to hunt in the morning or evening during the rut?
During the rut, morning hunting usually is the best time to spot bucks making the rounds. However, a lonely buck in search of a mate can appear at any hour. Another good location to bag a buck is downwind of any pinch point, or bottleneck, in your hunting area.
At what temperature do deer move the most?
There will surely be some cutoff temperature above which daytime whitetail movement is curtailed. Depending on where you hunt, it may be 30, 40 or 50 degrees that becomes uncomfortably warm for the local deer, but the “colder the better” philosophy is no more applicable in your area than in mine.
What colors do deer see best?
What researchers have found is that deer can see colors, though they don’t experience them in the same way we do. They can pick out short (blue) and middle (green) wavelength colors, but they’re less sensitive to long wavelength colors such as red and orange.
What’s the average lifespan of a deer?
The average lifespan of a wild whitetail is 4½ years, according to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. If we break it down by sex, we find that the average life expectancy of a buck is 2.9 years, while the average lifespan of a doe is 6½ years.
Are deer attracted to certain colors?
Murphy explained that a deer probably perceives a hunter’s blaze orange coat as neutral gray, which, if color were the only visual clue, might always blend in well with natural backgrounds. But the ultra-violet radiance of clothing can “give it away” in a deer’s eye, even if color does not.