For most of my Colorado guide buddies, the day after the fourth rifle season marks the start of mountain lion season. I am thankful that these guys put in the time and effort to keep the population of these deer killers in check, but it’s not my thing. My focus immediately shifts to whitetails, specifically in Texas.

Because I’m busy guiding in Colorado, I generally have to miss what would be considered the prime of the rut in Texas. I don’t think it hinders my success, though. In seven years, I have killed six bucks on my lease. Three of those deer were killed on Dec. 6 or 7. All of the bucks showed little activity at feeders and were not seen on camera much throughout the rut. I killed them as they cruised the perimeter of the feeder area, looking for any doe that might still be in estrus.

Realtree.com Editor Will Brantley spent Thanksgiving week at our lease and had a tough hunt. His read was that the rut was just about finished. The older bucks in north-central Texas were locked down with does or just not coming out of the trees. An incredible acorn crop has their need for supplemental feed at a minimum, and they aren’t taking the bait when it comes to corn feeders. I will be at my lease this week, and I hope to catch a big buck out cruising. With the availability of natural food, I think it’s going to be some time before the bucks start hitting feeders regularly.

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Western Texas is just getting fired up. I received a video today that showed a couple of mature mule deer all puffed up and posturing at each other. Trevor Hancock, who sent me the video, also sent me a photo of a stud mule deer he guided a hunter to this past weekend. With the general mule deer season open, I expect to see some big bucks hitting the ground. The rut activity is only going to get better as the mule deer season goes along.

Eastern Colorado is an important spot to watch right now, as the late rifle season opened Dec. 1. The deer out east started the rut earlier than normal, so expect a mix of mature bucks still trying to find a doe in estrus and some that have given up and are starting to look toward winter survival mode. Don’t be surprised if your target buck you’ve been watching the past few weeks disappears from the does. And as always, broken antlers will be an issue on the rifle hunt. This year is exceptionally bad for broken bucks.

Much of the Southwest is winding down, with only specialized opportunities remaining in some states. Arizona and New Mexico are basically done with rifle deer, save for some specialized tags. Over-the-counter archery starts Dec. 12 in Arizona, but I don’t anticipate much rut activity by then for those southern deer. Nevada has a few junior tags that are open or will be soon that could be seeing some rut activity, but for the most part, it’s finished in Nevada.