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Rut Theory

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Here's a thought from this week.

Animals evolve. Deer included. Deer can pass on learned behaviors and traits that make them harder to kill. Science has proven harvesting animals prone to one behavior, will leave more that are prone to the opposite behavior.

IMO, I believe there could be some correlation between the lack of daytime rut movement many hunters are experiencing and the rise in archery hunters. More bow hunters hunting the rut means more deer being killed prone to ignore normal protocol. Deer that remain nocturnal, pass that on. Deer that learn chasing tail after dark is safer, do that year after year. In turn, they could be passing on that learned behavior or trait.

I'm not saying it's the case all across the board, but I do believe some deer are learning this and passing it on.

Your thoughts?
 

moundhill

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,327
103
Hebbardsville..
I think your point is valid. And really does make sense. But here's how I look at it...if you only had a month to work your magic. Wouldn't you execute that at all costs. I think the big boys will snoop around at night until they smell a doe start dripping, find her. And chase her throughout the day, night whatever. I am no expert, actually a rookie. But I believe that if a buck finds a doe dripping, he doesn't care if it's day or night. He may become more aware, and alert during that daytime hours, but he has a one track mind. But I do agree Jesse that bucks know it's safer at night to run around. But I just can't imagine a big buck passing up the chance to chase or breed a hot doe just because it's day light.
 

10pointchuck

Junior Member
4
56
NH
I wish they would learn to stay off the roads and not get hit by vehicles. I just spent 12 days in Ohio and saw a lot of road kill . You could be right in your rut theory.
 

teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
I'm tellin ya, they're on the pill.

Hahaha!

No but Jesse I've heard the same thing about turkeys during spring gobbler. My neighbor hunted the same mountain for 30 years and has killed a whopper of a bird every spring. But he said the birds when he first started would gobble their heads off all season and they were extremely vocal. Within the last decade he said the majority of the birds he's killed came in silent and he hears minimal gobbling. I great up hunting spring gobbler with silent birds so I'm used to it but he says it's cuz of them evolving and knowing that gobbling their heads off gets their head blown off.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Charlie did predict that it'd be late this year. A "trickle rut" like 2010 with the actual breeding taking place between the 20th and 30th. Add that for what it's worth.
 

blemas

Junior Member
175
46
Summit County
I think you are partially correct, from an evolutionary perspective, they know it is safer to move at night. The chase for some tail brings them out during the day but the rise in bow hunting means more day time pressure and smarter deer. Think about how many times you have been punked by some smart nanny doe who now knows to look up in a tree for threats. The next time you run onto her and her yearlings, they're all looking up. I'm no scientist but I think that passing down that sort of specific genetic message as likely as it is would take many generations. But, I was a political science major so I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

I think that the population numbers are all jacked up, especially in the more popular deer counties. Urban areas, specifically near the national parks and metro parks up in NE OH are overflowing since there is little pressure there. They pay 'sharpshooters' to come in and cull the herd there.
 
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buckstar25

Junior Member
691
81
T-county
I don't think so. I just don't think its really started yet.

Yea this ^^

the only chases I saw was young bucks flying into groups of does and running them all over the hills. All the bucks, including the big one my buddy shot and the one I saw were on their feet at all hours of the day. The one I saw was locked up with a doe, I am certain she got bred shortly after she took him away from me.

Evolution stops at poontang!!

Haha, definitely a well thought out theory though.
 
Even though I agree this is one of those years that it's on a trickle there may be some truth to what you say Jesse. Just like pheasants that my dad used to hunt when a rooster would go up you knew it was one because of the cackle. Nowadays to even hear that cackle out of a rooster or for that matter even getting one to fly when flushed is rare. I do think hunting pressure has a lot to do with it all though whether it's whitetails or pheasant. Deer up in Michigan where we hunt naturally gravitate to being nocturnal and I think it's a learned behavior because of the pressure. Down in Ohio if we can keep the neighbors off the property or from hunting the fringes our property only sees the pressure we put on them which allows them to still do their thing. Low pressure = deer doing their normal behavior regardless of time of day IMO.