Southwest Rut Report, Week 3: Texas Hill Country Starting to Heat Up

Most of the southwest has experienced unseasonably warm temperatures so far this fall. Last week I was guiding elk in Colorado and spent most of my time in a T-shirt. The bulls have started to break away from the herds. With the full moon and nice weather they have been in a mostly nocturnal feed pattern. As is often the case, very early morning and very late evening is when we had success.

It’s been beautiful, but that’s finally coming to an end. The big snowstorms are finally starting to hit the mountains and for the rut’s sake, that’s what we need. The deer will rut either way, but the cold keeps them on their feet in the daylight longer.

Texas finally got a cold snap, and that’s good news for deer hunters. A few days ago I had a great conversation with Blake Barnett who lives in the heart of the Hill Country. He said the bucks are cruising. They have been out of velvet for more than a month, and the bachelor groups are breaking up.

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Blake has been watching some bucks throughout the summer, and a buck that has been two miles away showed up on Blake’s camera near his house. That deer was there one day and moved on, but a different big buck that also summered in a different area showed up in his place the next day. He mentioned that he is finding new scrapes as well.

The Hill Country is always the precursor to the rut in north Texas and the panhandle. Blake said it’s reasonable to see some legit rut in the Hill Country by October 25 this year. North Texas should start to fire up around the first of November, while in south Texas, bucks are just out of velvet and have a month or two before any rut activity starts.

California’s A zone bucks are getting toward the end of the breeding season while the rest of the state is still at least a few weeks away from the start. Most of the southwest is still a few weeks away from any real rut, although I am seeing more traveling each day.

Bachelor groups are breaking up and the bucks are starting their journeys to the rut grounds. If I had an October mule deer tag, I would focus my efforts on travel corridors and transition zones. I expect to see the first bucks showing up with does around November 1. Only time will tell, but I anticipate the mountain area mule deer rut to be a little bit late this year.