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It's on... Rut stories

Planning on going to The Ridge this Saturday. If last weekend with Huck was any indicator this weekend should be full of excitement.
 
I thought the rut had to do with amount of daylight. I have noticed deer move closer to dark when hot, but they still rut.
 
It does have to do with the amount of hours in the day as they shorten for the winter but not actually to do with "daylight". The amount of daylight ours triggers the rut in much the same way that longer days start birds breeding in the spring but the "light" really has nothing to do with it.
 
saddlepants said:
It does have to do with the amount of hours in the day as they shorten for the winter but not actually to do with "daylight". The amount of daylight ours triggers the rut in much the same way that longer days start birds breeding in the spring but the "light" really has nothing to do with it.
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Right, what I meant. I was just saying temps have nothing to do with the rut, just how much they run during the day, and how they relate to water sources..
 
I think I'm going to trust Charlie Alsheimer's call on the rut this year. I do believe the weather hinders/helps the rut and looking at his predictions for 2011 along with the 10-day forecast (along with considering all the things I've seen and heard about movement around here right now) I'm saving 3-days of vacation I planned on using over the next few days, and taking them the 10-16th. The man obviously knows far more about the rut than I do, and he's willing to bank his vacation for next week, so I'll follow suit. The weather is less than ideal right now and by all accounts, we are still slow around these parts. I'll let the next two days finalize that move, but I see a 6-day vacation in my future...
 
Jesse, the area you hunt and the spot we hunt down there near you, it seems like it is a week or two later than most. Have you noticed that? It will be completely different than the spot I hunt near the muskingum river.
 
epe said:
Jesse, the area you hunt and the spot we hunt down there near you, it seems like it is a week or two later than most. Have you noticed that? It will be completely different than the spot I hunt near the muskingum river.
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Yes. One of the gifts I have been given via the forums is seeing how the activity N of I-70 correlates to the activity down here. I honestly believe my area is 5-10 days (given weather conditions and such) behind most of the northern part of the state. When I see big deer hitting the dirt in the north (which I've been getting pics of some dandies in the past two days) then I start to get excited about our rut ramping up. I've been keeping a close eye on this correlation for the past four seasons and it really seems to be a steady truth that we lag behind down here...
 
Jesse said:
I think I'm going to trust Charlie Alsheimer's call on the rut this year. I do believe the weather hinders/helps the rut and looking at his predictions for 2011 along with the 10-day forecast (along with considering all the things I've seen and heard about movement around here right now) I'm saving 3-days of vacation I planned on using over the next few days, and taking them the 10-16th. The man obviously knows far more about the rut than I do, and he's willing to bank his vacation for next week, so I'll follow suit. The weather is less than ideal right now and by all accounts, we are still slow around these parts. I'll let the next two days finalize that move, but I see a 6-day vacation in my future...
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I agree. Hope I can get the chance to get out again now.
 
Jesse said:
Yes. One of the gifts I have been given via the forums is seeing how the activity N of I-70 correlates to the activity down here. I honestly believe my area is 5-10 days (given weather conditions and such) behind most of the northern part of the state. When I see big deer hitting the dirt in the north (which I've been getting pics of some dandies in the past two days) then I start to get excited about our rut ramping up. I've been keeping a close eye on this correlation for the past four seasons and it really seems to be a steady truth that we lag behind down here...
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The wierd thing is, my two spots are probably only 8-10 miles apart as the crow flys. The one spot this week dad saw about 15 fresh scrapes , the other spot two...
 
Jesse said:
I think I'm going to trust Charlie Alsheimer's call on the rut this year. I do believe the weather hinders/helps the rut and looking at his predictions for 2011 along with the 10-day forecast (along with considering all the things I've seen and heard about movement around here right now) I'm saving 3-days of vacation I planned on using over the next few days, and taking them the 10-16th. The man obviously knows far more about the rut than I do, and he's willing to bank his vacation for next week, so I'll follow suit. The weather is less than ideal right now and by all accounts, we are still slow around these parts. I'll let the next two days finalize that move, but I see a 6-day vacation in my future...
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I think Alsheimer nails it every year, and this year should be no different. At least I hope so because I'm sure as hell banking on it. :)


epe said:
Jesse, the area you hunt and the spot we hunt down there near you, it seems like it is a week or two later than most. Have you noticed that? It will be completely different than the spot I hunt near the muskingum river.
Click to expand...

Jesse said:
Yes. One of the gifts I have been given via the forums is seeing how the activity N of I-70 correlates to the activity down here. I honestly believe my area is 5-10 days (given weather conditions and such) behind most of the northern part of the state. When I see big deer hitting the dirt in the north (which I've been getting pics of some dandies in the past two days) then I start to get excited about our rut ramping up. I've been keeping a close eye on this correlation for the past four seasons and it really seems to be a steady truth that we lag behind down here...
Click to expand...

I have noticed this also. A lot of my friends bowhunt the NW part of the state, and it seems like I get pummeled with txt and pic messages a week or so before they start chasing hard down south.
 
Milo said:
what is charlie saying this year BTW?
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He's saying the week following Veteran's Day is going to be peak for the chasing phase... and it's supposed to be a "concentrated" rut, instead of a long, drawn-out rut like last season.
 
His website said the seeking phase is about 4 days before full moon, which would be the 6th or 7th. I have better luck hunting the seeking, as I hunt a funnel area that all the does use, hence the bucks cruise thru looking. During the chasing, it is like a ghost town a lot of the times there..
 
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