RALEIGH, N.C. -- This time of year, we lose a couple of minutes of daylight each day until the winter solstice. The shortening days signal the coming of fall and a special time of year, the rut.
The breeding season is called the rut for deer species, and it is not only a special time for the deer but for the humans in the Triangle as well. During the rut, does are dodging bucks, bucks are dodging hunters and everyone is dodging deer on the road.
The rut is a buck's only shot at breeding for the year, a hunter's best shot at bagging a trophy buck and a driver's best odds of hitting a deer with a vehicle. Some kind of rutting activity can occur from October through December, driven by the different phases of the rut and the geographic location across the state.
Watch out for deer
According to State Farm Insurance Company records, 2.4 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred across the United States during the period from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2009, an 18.3 percent increase over five years earlier.
North Carolina has seen an even more dramatic increase of 33 percent. Your odds of hitting a deer with your vehicle in the next year in North Carolina are 1 in 150.
While most deer-vehicle collisions are classified as minor, they are still expensive.
"The average is $2,500 to $3,500. They are usually minor, with cosmetic damage, sheet metal and lights. The worst I've seen is where the deer comes all the way through the car and out the back window. It's rare for it to happen, but it does happen," said Bobby Redford, manager at Brown Brothers Auto Body in Chapel Hill.
"Our business is driven by bad weather and bad luck. When it rains, snows or we have ice, we see an increase in our business," Redford said.
Drought conditions during the summer and the economic downturn have had Redford concerned.
"I told my people that if we can just make it until Sept. 15, we would be OK through Christmas. I can't say what percentage increase we see in our business (from deer accidents), but it is substantial," Redford said.
What drives the deer?
The length of daylight within the day, or photoperiodism, is the driving factor in triggering the rut. That factor does not significantly change across the state, but there are differences in the peak rutting period from the coast to the mountains.
"A lot of people think it (the rut) is tied to moon phase and a lot of other factors, but it is all driven by length of daylight," said Evin Stanford, the surveys and research biologist for deer, turkey and boar for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. "The timing of the (peak) rut does vary as you go across the state. In the lower Coastal Plain, it is typically around the last week in October, upper Coastal Plain usually around the first week of November, and the Piedmont and Foothills region usually about the third week of November and then in the mountains it is the first week of December.
"We have no clue why it's that way. We don't really know."
Generally, the rut covers about 45 days and has three major phases.
"In my mind, it has always been a pre-rut, a rutting period and a post-rut," Stanford said.
Pre-rut: Oct. 29-Nov. 8
The bucks are establishing their position in the herd, letting other bucks know their dominance status.
"Bucks are putting rubs and scrapes in the land to mark their territory and also to get ready for the rutting period," Stanford said.
Needing a lot of energy for the rut, bucks will feed heavily, and that makes this period a good time to hunt around food sources and travel routes that lead to them.
Ed Wilkerson, a 43-year-old state park ranger from Brinkleyville whose hobby is deer hunting on family land, has recorded information on every kill he has made since 1982.
"Right now, the deer are feeding on hard and soft mast, acorns and pokeberries," he said. "I like to hunt rub lines before all the acorns are gone. Many times, rub lines correspond to the best mast sources."
Bucks are trying to challenge other bucks, so hunters can take advantage of a buck's tendency to respond to other bucks.
"Grunt calls can be effective in the pre-rut; it's more of an aggressive type thing. More of a challenge type of call from buck to buck," Stanford said.
Mock scrapes, buck decoys and dominant buck scents are aggressive tactics that let a hunter challenge a buck.
Rut: Nov. 9-Nov. 22
During this phase, bucks are actively chasing and tending does. They are on the move, and this is when hunters may see bucks they have never seen before.
Though the typical home range of a deer is one square mile, during the rut bucks will range up to five square miles in search of does.
"Seventy-five percent of the best deer have probably never been seen before by the hunter," Wilkerson said. "They are exposed to the hunter by chasing or trailing activity, so at this time, I look for areas with maximum visibility, whatever the size of the tract.
"There is no rhyme or reason to (a buck's) travel when he's chasing does. He'll cross roads, power lines, open fields like they are not there."
Wilkerson said he was moved off the rub lines and into the most open areas on his property by this time.
One way to know the rut is in full swing is by looking at the signs -- rubbing and scraping activity will diminish through this phase.
If a buck is not hot on the trail of a doe, a hunter needs to try to make him think a receptive doe is around. Use doe-in-estrous scent and tending grunt calls to lure him in.
The second half of this phase, you may find significantly reduced deer activity, Stanford said.
"Bucks will be spending long periods of time with individual does. They might be spending two or three days with an individual doe waiting for her to come into estrous. That may reduce movement of bucks," the biologist said.
Post-rut: Nov. 23-Dec. 3
This can be a tough time to hunt. Breeding is nearly finished, and deer are moving back to food sources.
"It's a period where does have been bred, bucks for the most part are done with breeding. Bucks can become more reclusive at that time, and they move into a recovery stage," Stanford said. "Basically, bucks are trying to build back body mass and muscle mass that they lost while they went through the rutting period."
Hard and soft mast may be nearly consumed by now, so hunters should concentrate on late-season food sources such as honeysuckle or on food plots and feeders.
Late in this period through December, does that were not bred will come into estrous again, giving bucks one last chance. You may see new scrapes appearing at this time, and if you find some good sign, set up on it.
Hunting pressure is key. Keep in mind that, as the season progresses, there are fewer bucks out there, particularly in areas with a lot of hunting pressure.
"The question is how much pressure the bucks have had on them. If they have been run by dogs or shot at or had a hunter repeating his pattern of going to the same stand, they will be hard to kill," Wilkerson said.
This is not the time to be timid, though. It may be your last chance at a buck for the season.
If you are not seeing deer on late-season food sources, get aggressive and seek out thick bedding areas, preferably with good trails going in and out. Use tending grunts and doe bleats to make the buck think that last doe is right under his nose.
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HUNTING DEER IN NORTH CAROLINA
Check the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission's N.C. Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest for maps showing the areas covered by each season plus regulations for public game lands and for antlerless and either-sex seasons.
REMAINING SEASONS
Eastern: gun, through Jan. 1
Central: bow and arrow, through Nov. 6; muzzleloader: Nov. 7-13; gun, Nov. 14-Jan. 1
Northwestern: bow and arrow, through Nov. 13; muzzleloader, Nov. 14-20; gun, Nov. 21-Dec. 19
Western: bow and arrow, through Nov. 21; gun, Nov. 23-Dec. 12
Urban archery (bow and arrow only): Jan. 9-Feb. 13 (in participating municipalities, including Smithfield and Pittsboro)
BAG LIMITS AND HOURS
Daily bag: two
Season: six (all six can be antlerless; limit for antlered deer in the Eastern season is four; limit two in Central, Northwestern, Western seasons); Bonus Antlerless Harvest Report Cards allow for taking two additional antlerless deer per card
Possession: antlered, same as season limits; antlerless, varies
Shooting hours: 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset
LEARN MORE
Licenses and information: 888-248-6834
Report violations: 800-662-7137
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