Rut

[ovation62]

I thought there was a last rut the end of Dec. after the last full moon.
I shoot a BIG doe..after tracking 2 days over 6 hour's and lots of blood and found my arrow tip to tip full of blood ,didnt recover her she just we think got picked up by U.F.O. ship and took her away. Heart braking.
Going out this week again. I havent seen any bucks did they drop there antlers?

[whiteoakbuck]

i have been hearing from plenty of people that they are dropping them havent been out to my land to see if the same is going on out there but there are a lot that have already dropped them

[Mayfly]

Prime rut is about Nov. 5th - 15th..... What does do not get bred during that time will cycle again in 28 days and then repeat. Most Fawns are not mature enough during the first rut so they will cycle at the beginning of December causing a 2nd rut. Depending on your area and the Doe:Buck ratio you may see more or less of these 2nd and third ruts. I have some friends who usually se a 3rd round but they say that its nothing like the 1st Rut. Its a different time of year and focus is on survival and food. And the bucks cannot handle running for 2+ months.... Remember, they start in October. I would be more concerned with food during this time of year and hunt that. Thats going to score you your deer! 

[kenhuntin]

If no Does estrus the bucks lose their antlers sooner than areas that have does that still need a good breeding.
 That sentence barely makes sense to me.

[MTCOMMER]

What Ken is trying to say is, if there are alot of does that need bred in the area, the bucks will keep their antlers since their testosterone is still pretty high.  So where there is a big ratio of Does:Buck.
Where the ratio is closer to 1:1 or 2:1, the does will be bred and the bucks will no longer need the extra rut testosterone and they may drop their antlers first.  An extended rut will cause the antlers to fall off later, and is also tough on the bucks making the winter pretty hard.  -- Especially with all this early snow cover up their primary feeding areas.
(But who knows, I might be wrong, it all depends on the individual deer  )

   GOOD LUCK OUT THERE!