MN Slick wrote:JoeRE wrote:Great breakdown MNslick. I agree with just about all those time periods you threw out there. In 2013 this is straight from my notes written that year:
"Daytime buck movement spiked Nov 12-13 and is still going till the 15-16th but less then perhaps because of the full moon on the 17th."
Pretty cool how close our observations match up.
And yes, I agree 2017 should be a great rut with classic strong peaks just like 2014. I didn't have much data back in 2006. I started collecting a lot about 2010-11.
Very interesting indeed how our observations line up. I won't be changing the timing of my rut vactions but I will be tweaking my strategy and expectatioins depending on when the full moon falls.
Yes, I am on the same page. If I took a vacation for the rut (I don't) I wouldn't change it just based on moon either. Weather patterns still have a big impact too and the rut in general still happens the same 2 week period or so every year. But what I would do is be ready to adjust tactics if the rut plays out as I expect. Bucks should be on their feet like crazy the first 4-5 days of November (full moon Nov 4th) even around Halloween before a lot of guys might be thinking about hunting doe bedding areas. Then there should be then a hard crash in activity which means a person might be better off getting down and trying to go find where some action is instead of just sitting one spot all day even though the calendar says its Nov 6 or 7th or 8th and supposedly those are the best days of the year to sit a rut funnel. Then I would expect another good wave of buck movement after about a week lag or so.
Again all those dates I am throwing around are just based on what I see in eastern Iowa, every region is different and every deer herd has different age structure and buck/doe ratios and all of that affects what you see. if you have gun season during the rut don't even BOTHER with any of this
