zubba

Has anyone heard of the rutting moon. I was reading a book about whiteteails and whitetail strategies. A gentlemen from New York has been performing a study now for 12 years and he swears by 'the rutting moon'. He said the rutting moon is the second full moon after the autumn equinox. The autumn equinox is when when there is 12 hrs of daylight and 12 hrs of dark. He said this full moon affects the deers (especially does) hormones with sets them into estrus. With in return sends the bucks going crazy.

Now the bucks testosterone has growing since they started rubbing their velvet, but with the does going into estrus is what causes the peak rut. He claims that 3 days before the 'rutting moon' until 14 days after the 'rutting moon' will be the peak of rut.

He says the 'rutting moon' this year will be around November 3rd in the Midwest. Has anyone every heard of this?

neverkilledabuck

I have heard of it and know of some deer attractant called moonfire thats suppose to be used in conjunction with the rutting moon, it is made by the same outfit that makes trails end 307

Justin

The second full moon after the autumnal equinox is commonly referred to as the "rutting moon" by Mr. Charles Alsheimer who is the gentleman you are referencing. As you said, this year that particular moon falls on November 5th and is supposed to trigger the onset of the rut as we know it. If I remember correctly the peak of the chasing is supposed to occur 3-5 days after the rutting moon, which means the 8th-11th should be very good, which is then followed immediately by breeding when the big bucks usually go into lockdown with does for 5-7 days. Although you have to keep in mind that factors such as weather, hunting pressure, and buck/doe ratio also play big factors in whitetail movement and the rut as we view it.

IMO you can never go wrong being in the woods the first two weeks of November, but for those of us who can only take off a select few days I've found the 5th-10th traditionally seem to be the best no matter when the rutting moon happens to fall that particular year.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I know Nov 10th is awesome, it's my birthday and last year I shot my buck on that day, first ever after so many years...lol

Whatever the case, whatever the cause and your right on track, there is no doubt that from Halloween on, it's time to spend time in the woods. It's still no doubt that "peak rut" runs anywhere around the 15th of Nov, give or take, this is at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Since our season always ends the second week of Nov here in PA we have no choice but to concentrate our time when it's legal. There have been times when "peak" was after our season ended however I'd soon hunt pre-rut, the wondering stage then true peak.

txjourneyman

Rob I think I'll take a vacation day on the 10th in honor of your BD.

Rob/PA Bowyer

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Thanks, I'm off too, a friend is coming in to hunt all week with me and with me having my tag filled I'll be camera man, his birthday is the 12th but that's Sunday so no hunting, I told him he'll have to shoot his buck on my birthday..lol