Saturday marked the opening day of Colorado’s third rifle season. My hunter and I set out that morning with a specific buck in mind. I had observed the buck a few days earlier near a big group of does. Although he did not exhibit any rutting behavior, I was confident he was there with a purpose and wouldn’t stray far — at least not in the immediate future. A couple of hours went by with no sighting of the buck, so we decided to explore the ranch a little and see what else we could find.

We approached an opening that does historically like late in the season. To that point in fall, I had seen very few deer and no mature bucks at that spot. As the opening came into view, I was delighted to see a bunch of does. To my surprise, a giant buck lifted his head and lip-curled. My heart raced, and I started to mutter that we needed to kill that buck. He was an absolute stud. Before we made a rash decision (which we would have been ecstatic about), I said, “Wait, he’s awesome, but the buck we’re after is better.” It was opening morning, and we had to give the target buck a chance. About that time, the giant buck we were watching started stiff-legged strutting and posturing. He then ran off the next-best buck and started chasing does in a frenzy. My hunter was excited, and I was doing everything I could to keep myself from doing the logical thing: killing that buck. I’ve found that passing a big deer to try to kill another big deer is a recipe to end up with no deer. When the buck chased a doe by us at 85 yards, I really questioned my decision. Ultimately, we made the right choice and took our target buck that evening — a once-in-a-lifetime mule deer for most hunters.

The giant buck we passed was in full rut. He’s very mature; at least 6 years old, by my estimation. The buck we ended up killing was with does but pretty nonchalant about it. Most of the reports I’m getting for the upper half of the Southwest region echo that. The rut has started, but it’s still early.

Tim Andrews of Gypsum Creek Outfitters hunts some big, rugged country where he relies on trail cameras to help with scouting. He told me Sunday that he’s seeing a lot more activity on his cameras now. Bucks seem to be traveling a lot and have their noses to the ground. The recent full moon had them traveling all hours of the night, with a spike in activity around 2 or 3 a.m. Similar reports have been coming in from most of Colorado, Utah and northern Nevada.

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I was a little surprised to hear that northern New Mexico and northern Arizona are seeing some viable rut activity already. Although it’s not unheard of, it’s just earlier than I expect by a week or two. I have received multiple reports of the resident deer in New Mexico’s famed 2B and 2C being in a similar pattern to the deer in central and southern Colorado. Hunter Garcia, a guide for Arizona Custom Hunts, said the rut in northern Arizona is definitely starting, and some cooler weather might make it take off.

Texas is on fire in the north-central and Hill Country regions. Allen Robinson, of the Ranch Advisors Group, said that his areas south of Fort Worth to the Hill Country is in full swing, but it’s been dry in many spots, so water is important. Blake Barnett, of Trailing the Hunter’s Moon, echoed much of what Allen said, and offered his prediction that western Texas and the panhandle should be taking off any time. “The full moon had them going strong across the Hill Country. Some areas are just kicking off, and some have been going strong for the last two weeks. The rut should be kicking off across western Texas and the Panhandle.”

I have heard lots of reports of bucks being locked down with does, so you might have to bide your time while you wait for a mature buck to start seeking again.

Tactics for mule deer in these areas now should include checking does and watching travel corridors. We’re still seeing new bucks showing up daily. Locating groups of does and periodically checking them will reap rewards.

The next two weeks will be fun for most of Colorado, Utah and Nevada. I expect Thanksgiving to be the peak or on the downhill side of the rut in these areas, although it will still be picking up steam in northern New Mexico and northern Arizona, and some of the southern parts of Utah and Nevada.