Nys Deer Rut Prediction Dates

SC hunters anticipate deer rut for trophy bucks

There are certain times during South Carolina’s lengthy deer hunting season that hunters really anticipate.

There’s the Aug. 15 opening date for hunting bucks on private lands in the lower portion of the state. And then there is the rut — the peak breeding season when male deer seem to have only one thing in mind, finding a receptive female. That’s when hunters may have the best opportunity to harvest a trophy buck.

“In 90 percent of the state, you are looking at an Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 breeding season,” said Charles Ruth, big-game coordinator for the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources. “The exceptions are the very small amount of mountains we have, and there’s a narrow band that runs from about Charleston over to Georgia, around the Hampton County-Jasper County line. (The breeding season) is a little later in the mountains and a little earlier in that very, very lower coastal area.”

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has a map that shows the peak breeding season. It can be found at https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/deer/reproductionmap.html.

Ruth said this month-long period is based on scientific research of fetuses collected from doe deer. He said a scale was developed by SCDNR staff some 35 years ago that can calculate the conception date, and the scale is used widely across the country.

“Understand, this breeding interval looks like a bell-shaped curve,” Ruth said. “You have activity even prior to Oct. 15 and after Nov. 15. But the bulk is that month there, with the last week in October and the first week in November being the two weeks where the highest percentage of females conceive or breed.”

He said what triggers the release of hormones in female deer is the length of day, or photoperiod. Ruth said there’s not a lot of annual variation when this breeding occurs because the length of day varies the same each year.

Hunters may think the rut may be a couple of weeks earlier than normal or a couple of weeks later. But what they are observing is deer movement related to the weather.

“Deer movement is what hunters see. You can be prime time, you can be Halloween, the peak of the rut. And it can be 80 degrees and it shuts down daytime movement. Hunters don’t see deer and they say ‘Well, the rut’s not on.’ But it is. Naturally, deer do most of their breeding at night. It’s an observation on the part of the hunter related to deer movements, but it’s not affecting when they breed,” Ruth said.

If it sounds like the rut is more about the female deer than those big, burly trophy bucks, it is. As soon as the bucks shed their velvet, around Labor Day in South Carolina, they are physiologically ready to breed, Ruth said. He said buck movements at that point begin to naturally increase because they are searching for any possible early doe.

“Through the month of September, you see this increase in buck-movement behavior in anticipation of breeding. But if you don’t have a receptive female, nothing is going to happen,” he said.

“It’s that urge to breed, that increase in movements, that’s what gets them into trouble. When they move more, they are more likely to be seen by hunters. One of the big things that can hurt us down in the Southeast is weather. Let me stress again, it doesn’t change when they breed. It just changes where hunters can see deer moving during the day.”

So if you are a hunter on a quest for that trophy buck during the rut, hope for seasonably good weather.

Take the Troops Fishing

The Charleston chapter of Military Appreciation Day’s ninth annual Take the Troops Fishing event will be held Oct. 6-7 out of Rivers Edge Marina. All active duty military personnel from all branches of service (and National Guard) are invited to participate in the free fishing event. Troops will be paired with a boat, pier or surf captain who will take them fishing. Troops can register online at militaryappreciationday.net.

MAD Charleston also is looking for volunteers to host the service men and women. Also visit facebook.com/MADCharleston.

Bassmaster Redfish Cup

The Bassmaster Redfish Cup will be fished Oct. 27-29 out of Georgetown, featuring 10 teams fishing for their share of a $100,000 purse. The tournament is a made-for TV event and last year viewers streamed 22.5 million minutes of Redfish Cup coverage. Visit bassmaster.com for more info.