Southwest Rut Report, Week 8: Rut is on Full Throttle

I had two mule deer hunters with me on November 20, the opening day of Colorado’s fourth rifle season. The rut activity had been good all day. New bucks had shown up between seasons, so I had high hopes for finding a big, mature deer. As we approached a mesa where a few groups of does have been hanging out, I mentioned to the hunters that one group had around 20 does in it, but that I hadn’t seen a mature buck with them yet.

We popped up where we could see and sure enough, there were the does — and I didn’t need binoculars to notice the giant buck standing in the middle of the group. He had his head back and was lip curling which is, in my opinion, one of the most amazing sights in hunting. A quick look through my spotting scope confirmed he was a shooter. A quick stalk and a 217-yard shot yielded a true monarch of a buck easily surpassing the magic 180-inch mark.

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I had hunted this ranch many times this fall and had trail camera photos dating back to August. None of us had ever seen this buck. That’s the beauty of the rut, and the bulk of the Southwest is in this stage right now. Bucks are traveling at all hours of the day, and a number of them are sporting broken antlers. The best tactic for mule deer right now is checking does multiple times a day and watching travel corridors between groups of deer. The mature bucks aren’t afraid to check group after group until they find a doe in estrus. With many of the seasons over and gone, Eastern Colorado and the late Kaibab hunt are the two places I’m watching right now. The rut is full on and hunters are in the woods. I expect to see some giants fall in the next two weeks.

On the whitetail front, northeast New Mexico is going strong as well as most of Texas. The deer in west, central, east, and North Texas are all chasing like crazy. We are in the prime of it right now. They seemed to be a little bit locked down when I was in Texas at my lease, but it seems to have broken open now. I have been flooded with good deer harvest photos as of late. Sitting all day can be very fruitful this time of year. I struggle with that, as my buddy and eastern whitetail hunter Will Brantley can attest, but it works if you can handle it. This week will likely be the peak of the rut for much of the Southwest. Southern Arizona, Southern New Mexico and deep South Texas are still a few weeks away, but if you look close signs will start to show soon.