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2022 Rut vs Previous years??

Sligh1

Sligh1

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What you alls take? How has 2022 compared to say 5 or 10 years ago??? Or recent years? Anything around these lines….
1) Deer #’s in general?
2) amount of mature bucks
3) chasing, activity & sightings
4) other hunters and pressure
5) anything you noticed different, such as: higher coyote #’s. More/Less fawns. More/less people hunting around u. Or odd challenges that may have changed things like corn being left up late or a drought that didn’t produce much for crops or even antler growth.

I’m convinced EVERY RUT is more difficult than folks imagine going into them. So as they dwindle down some folks may be worn out, frustrated or find them more challenging than expected. I think we all agree every rut is hard so trying to get a true neutral gauge on how hard this one was. It’s not done either btw!!! But- overall - what’s your feelings on 2022 vs years past?


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Horrible IMO. I'm not a person who puts much stock in moon stuff, but I think the full bright moon (and clear nights) had something to do with less daylight movement during what most people would consider the best days (Nov 4-10ish).

I don't like the rut. I really don't. This year was particularly bad from my own personal experience. I have yet to see significant chasing, new deer, etc, etc.


regards to antler growth. Worst i've ever seen. Two major factors IMO

1. Late spring. Huge impact. That is when deer are at their weakest. It was noticibly late this year. 2-3 weeks. This had a huge impact on timing of native browse AND when crops got planted

2. Drought- Captain obvious here. Worst drought I've ever seen. 4-6" wide cracks in field. Even my clover turned brown. Native browse struggled. Many fall plots failed.

Nearly all the deer I track didn't grow, grew VERY little, or went backwards. The silver lining? IF we get better conditions in 2023, I think deer could make a BIG jump.

Major Positive: EHD MOSTLY stayed away. I heard of a few cases, but not many. The conditions were ripe for a MAJOR outbreak (so I thought). Hopefully our herd is gaining a resistance.

Still lots of hunting left to do. Late season is one of my favorites. Hopefully we get the weather (cold and snow).
 
In a word, "same-o, same-o". :) LOTS of fawns for us, plenty of deer numbers wise. Some good bucks, normal age distribution I would say, but no mega giants in the antler department. We do have one GINORMOUS bodied, 8+ year old buck still active that we would like to get. My son had to pass him last Friday AM, since he had filled his buck tag already. The warm temps in the 6th through 10th range were not appreciated. :) But we saw, and are seeing, good activity overall.

Hard chasing seems to always be below par for us for whatever reason. Whether it is higher temps or just that the bucks generally have plenty of options, I don't know, but we don't often see prolonged, wild chasing in our area, like what I hear others talking about at times or that I personally witnessed elsewhere back in the day. (I have hunted my own farm pretty exclusively for 20 years now, so my perspective is limited.)

Coyote #'s in our area seem normal, I suspect because there are active hound hunting groups that patrol our area. They are out there, but not overrun like what seems to be the case for so many others elsewhere in the state. I suspect that with low fur prices and consequently many fewer trappers out and about, some areas are loaded with coyotes from what I hear.
 
I've seen enough crusising bucks and some chasing to keep me satsified. Those warm end of October and the first part of November days though did not see much for movement though other than until about midmorning.

My favorite property to hunt was a wash this year. High line power lines go through it. So did one all day sit on the 6th and a half day sit until 1100 on the 7th and then the big machinery midamerican energy equipment showed up to replace the poles, so havent been been back. That day and a half though that I hunted there had good movement with bucks searching and some chasing. Rest of my time has been spent hunting urban and its been good overall, but slow once it gets to mid-morning, really not seeing many does in my park to really even feel that an urban hunt is warranted there.
 
Sligh1 said:
I’m convinced EVERY RUT is more difficult than folks imagine going into them. So as they dwindle down some folks may be worn out, frustrated or find them more challenging than expected. I think we all agree every rut is hard so trying to get a true neutral gauge on how hard this one was. It’s not done either btw!!! But- overall - what’s your feelings on 2022 vs years past?
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I agree Skip. I describe the 2022 rut as strange compared to other years.

Sligh1 said:
1) Deer #’s in general?
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About the same
Sligh1 said:
2) amount of mature bucks
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Cose to normal
Sligh1 said:
3) chasing, activity & sightings
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Very little
Sligh1 said:
4) other hunters and pressure
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Minimal
Sligh1 said:
5) anything you noticed different, such as: higher coyote #’s. More/Less fawns. More/less people hunting around u. Or odd challenges that may have changed things like corn being left up late or a drought that didn’t produce much for crops or even antler growth.
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Less hunters in the vicinity this year, less acorns this year due to drought and antler growth about normal.

Last year the rut was more intense and a lot of chasing during daylight. Next to none this year, cameras dead, does in hiding?
 
I had a couple good days in Missouri with really active rut action.

Minnesota I was tagged out early …was mostly pre-rut. My sons have seen some rutting action.

Overall I would say deer numbers are slightly down in Minnesota and definitely down in Iowa (based on trail cams) and reports from neighbors.
 
One things for sure in my area, the mature buck numbers are down and the coyote numbers are up. Rutting activity was pretty decent as I witnessed plenty of cruising and chasing, but all 1-4yr olds. My fear is that neighboring hunters lower their standards, and start killing those 4 yr olds due to the lack of 5+ Thats the mentality that killed Buffalo Co Wis and Spike Co Illinois.
 
Rut 2021 was the strangest one I can recall. This year has seemed to be pretty good, IMO.

1) Deer #’s in general? At or above average
2) amount of mature bucks At or above average
3) chasing, activity & sightings At or above average
4) other hunters and pressure Much lower than average
5) anything you noticed different More coyotes. More raccoons. Less deer total on my home acreage, but that's due to a bunch of housing development around me.
 
Pre-rut and peak rut were very poor for mature buck movement; erratic weather did not help. Hunting pressure was up this year in my area and low river levels meant increased foot traffic on usually hard to access areas. This cold weather has been a redeeming grace though, movement has been good overall even though cams have shown little mature buck activity.

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I think 2022 has been good for the deer on our place, that said the hunting pressure is like I've never seen before. We have some internet show personalities hunting next door and they have taken a toll on the up and comers over the last 3 years.

1) Deer #’s in general? At least average
2) Amount of mature bucks? Well below average to almost non-existent. 3 of us locals share information and everyone agrees and none of us found dead deer this summer/fall.
3) Chasing, activity & sightings: Average to below average. cameras are backing this up as well.
4) Other hunters and pressure? over the top craziness. I was used to having mid-November to myself and now with all the internet personalities giving good advice, everyone is in at the same time. We have 8 known people hunting bordering ground.
5) Anything you noticed different? deer are well educated and skittish. More nocturnal buck activity and they are cutting fields and avoiding timber in the daylight. scape activity has been really good all year.
6) Scrape activity: I added this because I have consistent scrape activity surprised me. It has been non-stop on our farm. we have 2 scrapes that have been hot with daily activity. Not sure what this means but it has been unprecedented since I have been running cams.
 
For me things seemed less intense each year. Seems like there is significantly better movement in Oct. Deer numbers seem ok in summer early fall the they seem to hunker down in the rut. Less chasing and cruising that pre ehd days. Deer seem lazy... Decent numbers of scrapes.

Disclaimer due to work and kids I also hunt less now than previous decade. I am sure there were slow hunts but time had a different meaning pre kids. Now each hunt feels more pressure because don't get many opportunities.
 
marshall said:
For me things seemed less intense each year. Seems like there is significantly better movement in Oct. Deer numbers seem ok in summer early fall the they seem to hunker down in the rut. Less chasing and cruising that pre ehd days. Deer seem lazy... Decent numbers of scrapes.

Disclaimer due to work and kids I also hunt less now than previous decade. I am sure there were slow hunts but time had a different meaning pre kids. Now each hunt feels more pressure because don't get many opportunities.
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I tend to agree with this. I have far better hunting in October.
 
Corn, Corn, Corn, Corn. By my 2 best farms, there is 240 acres standing by each one. Later planting dates, equals a later harvest. Now snow on the corn making it later. (I bet there's 50+ deer in each, I hope they leave it stand though shotgun season, at this point)
(Our harvest was later as well) So I didn't really get to hunt much until the 10th, and bucks have been locked up since then it seems)
So I've been mostly observing, and not pushing to hard.
I haven't seen any really big deer on the hoof yet, mostly 3 year olds.
 
The trend of minimal rut activity at the farm I hunt continued this year. For whatever reason after the first week of November the deer seem to disappear. September and October lots of deer sightings, November 5 saw my target buck, November 11….saw nothing. Hopefully the cold weather pushes them back to my food. As last season, late muzzleloader, there was tons of deer.
 
I think the hay day years were 2003 ish to 2012 ish, right at the first ehd hit. I looked back at logs we kept and buck numbers/rough scores were way up. Double the sightings and bigger antlers. I agree with others that mature sightings are down coinciding with limited rut activity. Why, idk.
 
2022 was the worst action I’ve experienced in over 20 years of hunting in Southern IA and North MO.

The rut isn’t what it used to be in my opinion. It seems like the bell curve that used to peak about Nov 15th is flattening out creating a trickle rut every year.
1. Overall there seems to be less bucks cruising requiring a hot doe to really drive the action.
2. We’ve noticed that late October through the first 4-5 days of November have been better on our farms for at least the last 5 years than Nov 5th – 10th, which was my favorite time to hunt for years.
3. We’ve seen more bucks starting to lock down around the 5th and even earlier in the past 5 years or so. We had 2 yearling bucks locked with does on Nov 6, 2021 and have had cam pics of a doe being bred on Halloween.
4. Overall it seems more and more does are being bred early and later. Anyone seen any spotted fawns during the season? We had one with spots in November a few years ago.

Steve Bartylla made a post on Facebook about the goofy ruts that made sense to me. In short, the shorter, warmer winters in the more Northern locales, which include Iowa and North MO, no longer kills off early and late born fawns. These survivors are biologically programmed to come into heat earlier or later than the “peak bell curve” depending on when they were born. When enough early and late born does are in the population you have a flattened out bell curve and trickle ruts like they have down south. Their breeding cycles are still triggered by photoperiodism, just earlier or later than the traditional bell curve. That’s a good a theory as I’ve heard.
 
1-Deer numbers are down some by me, but they are not abysmal. We are really dry, and I believe open water concentrated them to certain areas whereas it hasn't been a limiting factor most years.
2- 5 and older buck numbers were off by us this year. I knew that would be the case going into the year as we lost several bucks over 5 yrs old last year.
3- Up in the timber near doe beds I felt that chasing activity was fairly normal. For whatever reason, food sources have not been very active at all this fall, but they still roam the timbers looking for mates.
4- hunting pressure isn't overly bad in my neighborhood.
5- Coyote numbers are through the roof. I hope to run a snare line in January. I still see a lot of fawns, but I did think I saw more does than fawns which is unusual.

If my strategy was to concentrate my efforts to food sources, things would have sucked. For whatever reason, I just didn't have much going on around planted food. Cameras and on-site hunting confirm this. The greens like alfalfa, cereal grains, and brassicas were mostly ignored all fall. Corn got a little more attention but even that hasn't been hit super hard since early October. I'm guessing the severe drought is affecting this behavior to some degree.
All in all, it was fun and challenging. Deer rarely if ever follow the script we have laid out for them prior to season. I think being flexible with strategy is important. Adjusting to what the deer are actually doing vs what we think they should be doing is often the difference maker.
 
Guessed wrong again.

Last year hunted late, around Thanksgiving, figured I’d catch those mature bucks out looking for hot does after the peak of the rut. Looked at trail cams afterwards and noticed mature bucks moving in daylight around Nov 8 and 9.

So decided to focus my efforts earlier this year. Yeah, didn’t pan out for me.

I saw hunters north, east, south east and south of me (just across the gravel), so seemed to be heavy pressure. Sure someone was hunting SW, too. Not sure the impact of the pressure, thought it might stir things up but really didn’t see it. No idea if any of the target bucks from trail cams fell to them.

Don’t think EHD was a factor last year.

We had decent rains, good crop yields so antler growth was okay. Didn’t see any major jumps in bucks I’ve been watching over time.

I’ve got 11 months to ponder next year’s approach.


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There seemed to be more movement in October than I expected and I can’t remember things being this slow around Nov 9, ever. I wonder if the full moon and the warm weather sticking around didn’t have some effect? It’s also surprising how long it’s been cold now too. A strange year I think.
There is a huge lack of 5+ bucks in my area. There are more hunters than ever before (and some newer hunters with no morals nearby) so it’s hard to say what impact that has had but as a result I think it’s surprising many bucks get to full maturity.
The area I’m in has a lot fewer deer than say 10 year ago. More hunters plus less good quality habitat will take its toll. I’m lucky if I see one or two mature does on any given bow hunt. I hope to change that and significantly increase the amount of bedding cover on our property in years to come.
 
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