How the Whitetail Rut Phases Work

For many of us, the whitetail rut is the best time of the year. If you are like me, you spend the entire year thinking about it and preparing. However, the rut can get complicated. It does not start at the same time everywhere and it has plenty of stages or phases which all come with unique whitetail behavior. If you understand these phases you can use them to your advantage.

What Causes the Rut?

The whitetail rut is triggered by the quantity of daylight in a particular day. Once the amount of daylight gets just right, does start to go into heat or estrus as it is known as for whitetails. This is all timed perfectly so the does will be bred in the fall and give birth in the spring. The spring comes with plentiful food and has the highest chance of fawn survival rates.

The fact that most of your does come into estrus at one time is not an accident either. This means that most of your does give birth to fawns around the same time. This keeps the fawns safe, because predators in the area can only eat so much. This overabundance keeps more fawns alive compared to steady births throughout the year.

The rut phases are also not the same everywhere in the country. Since it is triggered by the daylight ratio, you would think that the same time zone would have similar ruts but that is not always the case. The rut and its phases are different for every whitetail population.

For example, the peak rut in the Midwest is typically in the middle of November. However, in some parts of Georgia and Florida, it can be as late as January. The rut predictions are different every year and can be semi-useful, but you really just have to observe the deer yourself.

Pre-rut

During the pre-rut, bucks are going to start breaking up from their summer bachelor groups. Bucks are not quite chasing does yet, but they are laying down a lot of sign in the form of scrapes and rubs.

If there is a buck chasing does, he is likely pushing around a larger group of does instead of a single doe. This is because the does are not quite ready to be bred and he can not pick out a single doe that is in estrus.

The best place to hunt during the pre-rut is still going to be food sources. You can also have success hunting around scrapes or rubs, but deer are going to be feeding a lot during this time. 

Peak-Rut

The peak-rut is what everyone wants to hunt. This is the best time of the year because this is when even the biggest and smartest bucks are going to be out chasing during all hours of the day.

Does are in full estrus by now and bucks will likely be chasing a singular doe. Bucks can also get locked down with a particular doe. This means she is still running away from him but he continues to tend her until she is ready to breed.

A locked-down buck will not likely respond to calls or rattling, but a buck without a doe will quickly respond. During this time aggressive grunts work well for bringing in mature deer but may scare many deer away. Doe bleats are likely to get attention from everyone.

Deer movement is hard to predict during this time, so the best place to hunt is in funnels and pinch points. A funnel is any natural structure that is going to get deer to pass through a smaller pinch point. This can be anything like two hills, a water crossing, an intersection between many trails, or even a fence opening.

Deer are always going to take the path of least resistance during the rut, so you want to be sitting around the areas that are going to be easy for them to get through. The peak-rut is going to be your best chance at seeing mature bucks, so hunt as much as possible.

Post-Rut

After the peak rut calms down a bit, the post-rut occurs. This is a time for recovery. There may be the odd doe here and there still in estrus but the majority of does are bred. Now deer are going to be trying to pack on the pounds after running for literal days straight.

Many bucks will run around chasing does as much as possible and can lose dozens of pounds worth of fat and muscle. Some bucks can even run themselves to death or die fighting other bucks. So this window of recovery before the worse part of winter is very important.

During the post-rut, food sources are going to be your best bet. Hang your stand close to whichever food source is left. A bait pile may also work well during this time where it is legal. Deer are going to be in larger groups and are not solitary any longer, so this can be a good time to fill some doe tags.

Second-Rut

Depending on when the initial rut is, sometime around late November to early January there will be a second rut. This rut phase will be reminiscent of the peak rut but much less intense. The reason there is a second rut is that last year’s fawn does finally hit sexual maturity.

These young does have to reach a certain bodyweight to be able to reproduce, approximately 70 pounds. They will then go into estrus. However they do not have enough time to grow to be mature during the peak rut, so they go into estrus a little later.

Not only will these young does go into estrus, but if there is any doe that managed to go unbred during the peak rut, she will go into estrus once more.

Mature bucks are likely on the prowl for these does back in estrus. Although seeing as there are fewer does to be bred, mature bucks are not very likely to let younger bucks have any action.

While most bucks will be recovering from the peak rut, you could find a very aggressive mature buck after the last does in estrus for the year. Like the peak-rut, the best place to find these rutting bucks is in the funnels and pinch points around your property.

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