Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Rut and daylight question

So I was thinking while I was hunting this evening about the timing of the rut. Since the rut is triggered by photoperiod, how do most deer in Alabama rut in January? The same daylight length occurred in late November or December. So is there another component or am I missing something else?

I would assume it has to do with does and their lady parts going into their cycle

True, but unless I'm mistaken that is triggered by daylight length. So wouldnt it have triggered at the first time it hit that length and not a month later when it hit again? I'm sure there is a simple answer I'm overlooking but just made me wonder.

The deer stocked in most Alabama counties came from areas that fawns need to drop in July or August not March, April or May. With the cold weather up north the fawns need to be born as early as possible because of the shorter summer season. The deer along flood plains need to be later in the summer so as not to be born and washed away by flood. I think there are 16 subspecies of the whitetail in the U.S.. In southwest Georgia a lot of deer do rut in October and November. You can get one of the biologist to explain it to you better but where the subspecies came from that were stock in Alabama is the answer.

Yeah I've looked into that. Maybe I'm not wording this correctly.
If there are two separate days with the same daylight length a month or so apart, why do the does not go into estrus on the first one. Maybe they've adapted to pass by the first one and goes on the second date. I just couldn't find anything on it and it had me wondering.

It is genetics.

Rut happened 60 days ago up here. Bucks are all grouped back up now. Saw a group of 8 together this pm. All ages 3 down to 1 yr olds.

There are not two days with the same day length a month or so apart. Day length is going up or down every day and would not be the exact same but two times a year.

It’s been a mystery to me for years. Have seen great rut scenes before but mostly nothing Lol. It’s is calling hunting not killing though lol

Gib, you're correct that some days in January shared the same day length as days in December. Regarding why January and not December, who knows? A ton of time and money has been spent trying to determine exactly what triggers the rut and I don't know of any conclusive information other than it being genetic. The good news for hunters is it stays pretty consistent in each area.

Yes, the chasing activity seems to be different on every property. I have the benefit of hunting several different locations, in different areas. Some of the properties seem like the chasing, fighting, grunting etc is much more visible than others. Some I see very little chasing etc. others I see three chases a day and active rut behavior for 7-10 days straight. It's hard to figure out the reason. One property is only 5 miles form the other, with a fairly similar doe/buck ratio etc and we consistently have much better "rut" hunts on it. Last Saturday I saw three different racked bucks chasing, plus spikes getting in the mix, from 1 pm till dark, whereas the people that hunted the other property saw very little action. It seems to be this way every year, with one property being "hot" and the other much more sporadic in almost the same location and conditions, pressure , etc. Hard to figure out why

Shorting of daylight clicks the safety off, when fawns need to be born for optimum survival is what pulls the trigger.

It's not that they didn't come in heat for round 1, its more likely they didn't get bred on round 1 and the does that don't get bred come back into estrus a month later.

I always assumed that it had something to do with when they dropped their last fawn/were born. It seems to be about five-six months from dropping fawns to the rut. When the time approaches the light cycles trigger the doe estrous. But we have such a mix of deer genetics, who knows for certain.