Midwest Rut Report, Week 10: Bucks Mostly Settled Back Into Feeding Patterns

During the middle of Wisconsin’s muzzleloader season, a cold front brought in high winds and some snow flurries that yielded minimal accumulation. Deer moved quite well during and especially after the weather. I captured does on a trail camera for two consecutive days hitting a licking branch over a scrape, but no bucks visited the scrape afterwards. I also witnessed a nice 10-pointer and a 2 1/2-year-old buck sparring for 10 minutes before dark while watching a bean field. They weren’t nudging any of the mature does on the field, so I’d imagine that the interest will only spike if and when an unbred doe cycles into estrous.

Kicking Bear Foundation’s Ray Howell expects that very event to soon unfold in Minnesota. “I’ve seen mature bucks going back to more of a feeding pattern to regain their strength,” he says. “They are with the does, but I have not seen any chasing or aggressiveness with the bucks. Normally, the first week of December things will kick back in again and scrapes will be opened and rubs hit. There will be a second rut, and in previous years, I’ve even seen a third rut. That’s why some of the fawns are so small; they’re born in the middle of summer. I believe there’s still a lot of young does that have not been bred yet.”

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You might recall from last week’s report that outfitter Joe Conyers of Conyers Outdoors in Cuba, Kansas, says that bucks were back on scrapes and sparring. This week, he reported that the action has died down. “It seems that the bucks have been on a resting lockdown for the last few days. Most activities stopped four to five days ago. The bucks are still doing a little bit of sparring, but most of the movement has shut down. They’re feeding once a day and then bedding for the other 22 hours. It’s a weird time. I’ve seen it before, but this is extreme on the low-movement side.”

Ben Matykiewicz of the North Dakota Game and Fish says that while the bucks are basically done rutting, they’re still out and about during the day. “For the most part, the rut has wrapped up,” he says. “There’s always the possibility that some bucks are still out searching for does to breed, but we are definitely in the post-rut period. The regular gun season closed November 24, so reports from hunters have been sparse as of late, but trail cameras are showing deer, both bucks and does, moving around during daylight hours.”

Lastly, Scott Kuhn of Deer Meadows Outfitters in Nebraska says, “Whitetail bucks are cruising during low-light hours looking for that last open doe to cover. Mule deer bucks are done rutting and are getting into their winter feeding pattern.”