Does anyone know if the rut is on yet up here in Northern Ontario (Sudbury area)? I've been out quite a few times, bit not much activity it seems....no scraped, rubs, etc. Our rifle season closes on the 13h of November.
Deer in rut in Northern Ontario???
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the spank
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I cant believe it's not on in the Sudbury area when it has been on here since the last week of October??
I saw a couple scrapes while walking a trail for grouse this past weekend. Haven't been out yet myself but I have seen a few dopey acting bucks in my travels around and my buddies have shot a few last week they say had huge swollen necks.
I saw a couple scrapes while walking a trail for grouse this past weekend. Haven't been out yet myself but I have seen a few dopey acting bucks in my travels around and my buddies have shot a few last week they say had huge swollen necks.
I cant believe it's not on in the Sudbury area when it has been on here since the last week of October??
Same here. Just North of Barrie, and we have seen all kinds of scrapes and rubs since October.
The bucks were getting stupid in Fort Frances last week. We got a couple when we were up there (I'll let catdoo upload the deer pr0n) and both necks were swollen. In addition we found countless rubs and quite a few scrapes.
Another buddy in Michigan UP found signs of the rut there as well. As Sudbury falls in between the two (sort of, off to one side) I'd say that your rut is probably in flow as well. The certain test is to stink up some alders with a good doe estrous scent close to a deer path and come back the next day to see if the trees are shredded with rubs though.
Bucks have been in the mood for awhile but as usual the does aren't in estrous until mid November(peaks on November 14).
Sitting in various shooting shacks haven't seen much movement of any deer in the open fields until just before dark or very early in the morning....then again the weather has been unusually warm for the last week(+16C...normal +2)
Sitting in various shooting shacks haven't seen much movement of any deer in the open fields until just before dark or very early in the morning....then again the weather has been unusually warm for the last week(+16C...normal +2)
Where did you get this information? And how did you come up with that exact date?
The reason I ask is because I believe the rut will take place very close to the full moon (rutting moon) Nov 23rd. And in my humble of humble opinion, the rut is definitely not on - you're only witnessing pre-rut activity. The does have not yet come into estrus and won't until a combination of factors including, temp, daylight(lack of melatonin triggers estrus)..
I should have said ...usually peaks on Nov.14...according to most biologist reports that I' ve read over the years .
Estrus is triggered mostly by the days getting so much shorter...can't have the does dropping fawns too early nor too late next spring.
Estrus is triggered the same time on the same latitude across N. America, changing as you go to further northern latitudes or to southern latitudes....in Florida deer will mate all year long.... Mother Nature doesn't worry about too early or too late fawn die offs down there .
That being said the situation around Dryden sure is different (again ) this year .Two weeks ago the long haul wood-chip trucks from Dryden to up past Ear Falls would see 35 to 40 deer at night , along side or on the roadways...last couple of nights might see one, mebbe two .
I hunt from five different elevated shooting shacks(with three more that I haven't bothered with so far) and I have noticed very little deer activity this past week .We have three game cameras out and although a lot of deer are shown they are mostly does and fawns with a handful of bucks....no pestering of the does seems to be going on.... Maybe you are right about the influence of the full moon on the 23
I'll be going out again to my favourite shooting shack again tomorrow morning ...hoping for Mr. Big to show up....only seen 12 different deer this AM(normally see 25-35 with lots of bucks)..with only one fork-horned buck showing up, the rest were does and fawns .
Estrus is triggered mostly by the days getting so much shorter...can't have the does dropping fawns too early nor too late next spring.
Estrus is triggered the same time on the same latitude across N. America, changing as you go to further northern latitudes or to southern latitudes....in Florida deer will mate all year long.... Mother Nature doesn't worry about too early or too late fawn die offs down there .
That being said the situation around Dryden sure is different (again ) this year .Two weeks ago the long haul wood-chip trucks from Dryden to up past Ear Falls would see 35 to 40 deer at night , along side or on the roadways...last couple of nights might see one, mebbe two .
I hunt from five different elevated shooting shacks(with three more that I haven't bothered with so far) and I have noticed very little deer activity this past week .We have three game cameras out and although a lot of deer are shown they are mostly does and fawns with a handful of bucks....no pestering of the does seems to be going on.... Maybe you are right about the influence of the full moon on the 23
I'll be going out again to my favourite shooting shack again tomorrow morning ...hoping for Mr. Big to show up....only seen 12 different deer this AM(normally see 25-35 with lots of bucks)..with only one fork-horned buck showing up, the rest were does and fawns .
I cant believe it's not on in the Sudbury area when it has been on here since the last week of October??
Rubs and scrapes do not mean the rut is on.
EXACTLY.
Rubs and scrapes are generally pre-rut activity.
Anyhoo. I seen a doe yesterday all humped up pissin all over itself , so I know the rut isn't at all over. I think it is just going to hit full swing very shortly.
Around here in Eastern Ont the rutt was stalled by a week of very windy conditions, so my bet is will be on very soon. It's just too bad its after rifle season.
Was very warm in NW ontario for a week, then very windy for the past two days(deer are very nervous when it is windy).So maybe that is why no usual activity.
BTW full moon is on Nov. 21....according to the Weather Network this morning.
It is 6:40 AM already...gotta get out to the shooting shack
BTW full moon is on Nov. 21....according to the Weather Network this morning.
It is 6:40 AM already...gotta get out to the shooting shack
Pathfinder
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Rifle opens in 43b on Monday....its been pretty warm there too...hopefully they are moving next week. The landowner though that the timing would be pretty good this year for next week's hunt.
Got out to my son's farm about 6:55 AM, already daylight so could see a doe with 2 fawns as I crossed the cut hay field .
After lighting a fire in the wood burning stove and sipping on a hot cup of coffee from my thermos , I noticed a young doe(last years fawn) start feeding about 30 yards away .After 5 minutes she walked into the bush and out of sight .
During the next half hour I saw 3 more deer traveling by themselves , a small 7-point, a fork-horn and a fawn all about 30 yards off .
About 9:30 I watched as 2 small bucks, about 300 yds. away, seemed to pay an awful lot of attention to something in a grassy swale .....they kept nosing the ground following a trail but would freeze for minutes at a time watching something behind them...something out of my line of sight behind a grassy hill .
I kept watching that area with my spotting scope and was finally rewarded by the appearance of a doe and a fairly big buck.
After lighting a fire in the wood burning stove and sipping on a hot cup of coffee from my thermos , I noticed a young doe(last years fawn) start feeding about 30 yards away .After 5 minutes she walked into the bush and out of sight .
During the next half hour I saw 3 more deer traveling by themselves , a small 7-point, a fork-horn and a fawn all about 30 yards off .
About 9:30 I watched as 2 small bucks, about 300 yds. away, seemed to pay an awful lot of attention to something in a grassy swale .....they kept nosing the ground following a trail but would freeze for minutes at a time watching something behind them...something out of my line of sight behind a grassy hill .
I kept watching that area with my spotting scope and was finally rewarded by the appearance of a doe and a fairly big buck.
I'm in WMU 13 saw three does yesterday morning... 8-8:30am and one buck mid day...
got one decent buck on the trail cam from a week and a half a go...
despite the warm weather(+8)we are having, they are starting to move around!
I've been out a fair bit this fall and only in the last week have I started to see and notice deer moving. Only one doe on the bait cam too, so I figure they aren't hurting for grub yet either.
got one decent buck on the trail cam from a week and a half a go...
despite the warm weather(+8)we are having, they are starting to move around!
I've been out a fair bit this fall and only in the last week have I started to see and notice deer moving. Only one doe on the bait cam too, so I figure they aren't hurting for grub yet either.
Sorry, had company . will now finish my story....
The buck was tending the doe not chasing her, just following her, stopping when she stopped ,moving on when she did .
I don't know, of course, if he had already bred her and was waiting till she was in the mood again or was keeping close tabs on her while she entered estrous . I'm guessing the former, cause he wasn't pestering her, just following her closely. I think that I detected a faint smile on his face .
Anyways, I checked his horns out carefully with the spotting scope ,noticing that he had a drop tine, a bunch of stickers and his antlers were wider than his ears so when he got closer (about 250 yds. away) I shot him .The time was 10:AM. Even with a bullet through both lungs he ran about 100 yds. before falling over.
He didn't have that strong of a rut smell and is layered with fat so I'm thinking that the rut has just started .
Never shot a buck with a drop tine before so this is quite a trophy for me .
This morning the fields were covered in frost and the wind was light .
The buck was tending the doe not chasing her, just following her, stopping when she stopped ,moving on when she did .
I don't know, of course, if he had already bred her and was waiting till she was in the mood again or was keeping close tabs on her while she entered estrous . I'm guessing the former, cause he wasn't pestering her, just following her closely. I think that I detected a faint smile on his face .
Anyways, I checked his horns out carefully with the spotting scope ,noticing that he had a drop tine, a bunch of stickers and his antlers were wider than his ears so when he got closer (about 250 yds. away) I shot him .The time was 10:AM. Even with a bullet through both lungs he ran about 100 yds. before falling over.
He didn't have that strong of a rut smell and is layered with fat so I'm thinking that the rut has just started .
Never shot a buck with a drop tine before so this is quite a trophy for me .
This morning the fields were covered in frost and the wind was light .
