Something I just though about is this: deer rut in a fashion to allow their offspring to be born at the optimal time for survival. That time is usually when it will allow for the lactating doe to have the best caloric intake, which is usually in the spring green up.
Therefore if the beginning of spring is when deer should be giving birth, then the further south, or lower elevation you go, the earlier the rut should be right? I mean unless the deer have different gestation periods depending on their region then that should be absolutely true right?
But that rule does not hold true. For example the deer in Arizona, New Mexico, south and west Texas might rut into January, where as montana or Iowa deer rut in the fall. Even better yet, read this article and see all the different rut times based on the geographic regions in Texas:
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to where these geographic regions are in relation to each other and how that affect the rut...
Or at least that's what I thought until I realized something I learned from working in agricultural research: the typical months that receive the most rainfall varies from region to region. Such to a degree that there's almost some relation spotted between when when the deer ruts and when the most rainfall occurs in a region.
For an example, the deserts of the southwest tend to experience the most rainfall late in the summer during their "monsoon seasons". Whereas other areas may receive the most of their rainfall fairly early spring.
I'm not a scientist by any means, I only pretend to be one, and even so, what I pretend to study is a different field than wildlife. But could someone who is more vetted in the field of wildlife and ecosystems tell me if there is something worth noting here or am I just crazy from sitting in a deer stand all morning without seeing anything?
Therefore if the beginning of spring is when deer should be giving birth, then the further south, or lower elevation you go, the earlier the rut should be right? I mean unless the deer have different gestation periods depending on their region then that should be absolutely true right?
But that rule does not hold true. For example the deer in Arizona, New Mexico, south and west Texas might rut into January, where as montana or Iowa deer rut in the fall. Even better yet, read this article and see all the different rut times based on the geographic regions in Texas:
TPWD: The Rut in White-tailed Deer
tpwd.texas.gov
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to where these geographic regions are in relation to each other and how that affect the rut...
Or at least that's what I thought until I realized something I learned from working in agricultural research: the typical months that receive the most rainfall varies from region to region. Such to a degree that there's almost some relation spotted between when when the deer ruts and when the most rainfall occurs in a region.
For an example, the deserts of the southwest tend to experience the most rainfall late in the summer during their "monsoon seasons". Whereas other areas may receive the most of their rainfall fairly early spring.
I'm not a scientist by any means, I only pretend to be one, and even so, what I pretend to study is a different field than wildlife. But could someone who is more vetted in the field of wildlife and ecosystems tell me if there is something worth noting here or am I just crazy from sitting in a deer stand all morning without seeing anything?
