Southwest Rut Report, Week 2: We’re Just Weeks Away From the Deer Rut

The most underrated rut hunt on the planet is for pronghorn antelope. I’ve had this conversation with multiple guides and friends and I just don’t think as a species they get enough credit. It’s quite entertaining to watch a buck try to keep his does rounded up and other bucks pushed off. The fights are among the most brutal I’ve witnessed in the animal kingdom.

I was fortunate enough to guide in a better-than-average Colorado unit on the October 5 opener. The night before the hunt, I spotted a record-book-quality buck. He was in a spot I thought would be safe from other hunters. But on opening morning he had moved two miles, and another hunter was putting on a very unstealthy stalk. The buck was so focused on keeping the two does he had that the hunter walked upright across a sage flat to a comfortable range and killed him. Outside of the rut, none of the five antelope there would have allowed a stalk like that to work. Unfortunately, the pronghorn rut is winding down, and bucks will start to lose their horns mid-November.

Don’t Miss: Basics for Bowhunting Mule Deer

On October 12, I was guiding for elk in southern Colorado. At daybreak we were stalking the sound of clashing antlers. When the sun rose enough to see, there were two 5x5 bulls sparring in the hayfield. Another larger bull stood feeding, paying no mind to the smaller bulls. They were still feeling frisky, but the rut was over for the bigger bull. Over the next few days, I witnessed multiple bulls by themselves. It’s safe to say the elk rut is over or at the very end in most areas. Bulls are breaking off in bachelor groups and headed to recover as much as possible before winter.

I have noticed some pre-rut mule deer movement. Bucks are still mostly in bachelor groups but they will start breaking off soon and moving towards their rutting grounds. In the higher country of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, travel corridors will become your friend in the next week or two when searching for a mature buck.

As I mentioned last week, there isn’t much rut happening in the southwest, but we are getting closer. California A-24 tag holders should have had some exceptional rut on the October 12 opener, and A-33 hunters should be experiencing the same.

The next region I expect to see rut from will be the Texas hill country. The hill country always seems to be a few weeks earlier than everywhere else, with late October being the magic time. Straying from deer a little more in this report, Barbary sheep in New Mexico and West Texas are rutting hard this week. If you can handle the heat, now would be a great time to find a giant ram.