had 3 bucks (yearling, 2 year old and 3 year old) dogging a doe Sat. morning. This was with in 1000 yds of the state line, so they aren't done. Might be close but not done, at least as of January 5th.
For what it's worth over the years we've killed 90% of our bucks chasing does or coming to calling. Over the past 12 years this has occurred from 12-26 thru 1-7 with a few after the 7th. Even killed one on Jan. 31st several years ago...two bucks chasing a doe hard right at dark. Killed one 2 years ago chasing does on the 13th.
My opinion is the primary chasing phase is from late Dec. thru early Jan. and then there is a late rut that is spotty. With that being said, we had a guy sit on a large hay field and watched 24 does on the 28th (historically our best day) for over 30 minutes. Not one buck. So either they all got bred prior to then or they weren't ready yet. I'm guessing they weren't ready yet, but who knows.
I will say the rut seems a little off this year at our place. Not sure if the plethora of acorns has the does moving less or if the rut happened 2 weeks early or if it's coming in late this year. With a few exceptions we just haven't seen much chasing this year, but saw a ton of scrapes and rubs, more than ever before...
Last edited by truedouble; 01/07/13 05:00 PM.
