Southwest Rut Report, Season Recap: It’s Not Time to Stop Hunting Yet

What an incredible season it has been. Some truly world class animals were taken this year. The quality of elk in the areas I hunted was very good for the year, and the bulls cooperated fairly well. When and where the rut kicked in, it kicked in pretty good. I had mixed reports from the guys in the southern states of Arizona and New Mexico. Some areas were on fire while others not so much. When the bulls were fired up and responsive, the success rates went way up.

The mule deer rut seemed to take extra time to get going in much of the region. The far north of the region seemed to be normal, but mid Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and further south took longer to peak than normal. During mid-November in southwest Colorado, smaller bucks were rutting, but many of the big boys were still off by themselves. The rut really kicked in around November 20. Now in December, the deer are still rutting. At this point, does that weren’t bred on the first cycle are probably coming into their second cycle and the bucks are definitely interested. Archery hunters in eastern Colorado are still seeing some rut, but finding a buck that hasn’t broken himself all to hell is a struggle at this point. As usual, some giant deer got killed in the eastern part of the state but overall, it’s been a down year.

Texas has some sort of rut happening just about any time of the year. I started hunting there in early June, guiding for Axis deer, and they were full rut. I was fortunate enough to watch a 20-minute, absolutely brutal fight between two shooter bucks. The bad part is they never slowed down enough to give us a shot. It was awesome, nonetheless. We did end up taking a giant on the last day, thanks to a hot doe dragging him into the open in the daylight.

Don’t Miss: Oklahoma-Style Venison Onion Smash Burger

The elk rut in west Texas was good this year, and the Aoudad rut was incredible. The deer rut kicked off in the hill country and came on strong. Mid-October had bucks running around like crazy, and by November 1 that feeling was starting to spread. The panhandle through central Texas started to show signs in early November, and by mid-November, it was on. I attempted a quick hunt on my lease in north central Texas in mid-November and failed. The bucks were locked down, and I had to plan a second trip for early December. As far as rut activity goes, the last two weeks of November were the prime time for those regions.

I made it back to my lease the first week in December. The rut was still happening but had calmed way down. On December 6 I was able to take an awesome buck. Camera data showed that he was starting to revert to a more consistent feeding pattern. He showed up at a feed station by himself about 30 minutes after daylight, and I made a good shot. He was at least 7.5 years old and had gone from a 10 point in 2021 to an 8 point in 2022 and 2023, and then back to a 10 point this year. (Something to keep in mind when you are shooting young 8 points as a “management” practice.) The West Texas rut was much the same although slightly later. The mule deer bucks are still rutting in some areas of West Texas. The South Texas rut is happening as we speak, even though the rut started a little early in some areas. I saw video of bucks chasing in late November and early December. The peak will be anytime now. You should see activity into early January, but now is the time to be in the stand south of San Antonio.

Arizona and Mexico are where I am looking to next. Some giant deer have already been taken in old Mexico but those are usually patternable deer. The rut is just kicking off and some deer that no one knew existed will come out of the Sonoran Desert. My favorite time for mule deer in the desert along the border is between Christmas and the new year. The rut is usually going strong but still on the front end. My experience has shown that too far into January can lead to broken bucks, much like how the rut works in eastern Colorado. For anyone fortunate enough to still be hunting, good luck. I am now turning my focus from deer to turkey, and counting down the days until then.