Good day fellow hunters. I've been mulling over and idea and I thought I'd reach out to my fellow hunters here in Ontario to get some feedback. Over the past several hunting seasons, I've seen a warming trend in the weather during deer season and the rut happening later than usual. One Nov., we were actually out in T-shirts! My buddy and I head up to his place to hunt during the second week of rifle season to try to catch the rut. Odd things are happening, last year being a perfect example. We were up the second week (WMU56) and there were lots of deer track all over the place. After we had a light snow, the fact that deer were plentiful was obvious by the amount of sign we saw during our bush walks. One morning, I even heard bucks sparring in the area we hunt. In spite of all the conditions being right, there was no sign the rut had started; no rubs, no scrapes....nothing. My buddy nailed a buck that was just ambling so we weren't skunked and I'd have stayed up to bow hunt for another week if I hadn't buggered up my back and knee. The point to all this is the fact that the Ontario Government is considering an Ontario Outdoor caucus. What do you think about the idea of petitioning the MNR to either extend rifle season by another week (3 weeks instead of 2), or starting rifle season one week later meaning the second full week on Nov. instead of the first? Granted, I'm only talking about our area, but have my fellow hunters experienced the same trend?
Ontario Hunting Caucus?
- Thread starter LawrenceN
- Start date
I hunt south west ontario and find come end of oct first weeks of november if its been mostly sunny bucks are rutted up more. Prevailing cloudiness causes a major lull in activity.
Last year i took a fine mature 10 point opening day of muzzleloader season first week. No signs of rut. No swollen neck no stink. The does i had watched esrlier that morning were in heat. Month of cold and cloud and rain leading up it.
Other years ive been bow hunting in october in warm weather sunny and dry and bucks were so stupid it was a joy toying with them
As for trying to change the season dates i cant see it happening
Look how long it took to standardize small game seasons
Last year i took a fine mature 10 point opening day of muzzleloader season first week. No signs of rut. No swollen neck no stink. The does i had watched esrlier that morning were in heat. Month of cold and cloud and rain leading up it.
Other years ive been bow hunting in october in warm weather sunny and dry and bucks were so stupid it was a joy toying with them
As for trying to change the season dates i cant see it happening
Look how long it took to standardize small game seasons
As for trying to change the season dates i cant see it happening
Look how long it took to standardize small game seasons[/QUOTE]
You're not wrong, but we finally have a "people friendly" common sense government in power. Granted, something like this would be low priority, given the mess the Liberals have stuck Ford with, but I'd bet that if hunting associations (like OFAH) got involved and we contacted our MPP's, we wouldn't be totally wasting our time.
Look how long it took to standardize small game seasons[/QUOTE]
You're not wrong, but we finally have a "people friendly" common sense government in power. Granted, something like this would be low priority, given the mess the Liberals have stuck Ford with, but I'd bet that if hunting associations (like OFAH) got involved and we contacted our MPP's, we wouldn't be totally wasting our time.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
The rut happens the same time every year regardless of the weather. They rely on daylight hours, much like most other plants and animals, to tell them when it's go time.
You may see more or less activity, but the rut is still happening at the same time it has for any of our lifetimes.
You may see more or less activity, but the rut is still happening at the same time it has for any of our lifetimes.
