Wet snow made perfect footing for still-hunting. I walked in near silence along the first bench below the top of an Allegheny Highlands ridge. Movement to my right, at the crest of the ridge, caught my attention. It was the ears of a deer, alert, flicking in every direction.

Very slowly, the doe walked into full view. Soon it was joined by three more does, all intently watching their back-trail. Something had their attention. I figured it was one of two things another hunter, or a buck.

Just as they started moving downhill they were joined by a young buck that was obviously interested in one of the does. But I did not wait to see which one. After tagging and field dressing my buck it took only a few tugs to get it around trees. Gravity and the slick snow did the rest of the work. My truck was parked directly downhill.

Current perception would say this hunt was post-rut. It happened during December. But in fact, this buck was certainly in a courting mood. This raises the question, when is the rut?

Hunters often describe the rut as pre-rut, peak rut and post-rut centering around a full moon during November. In fact, there is a period that can be accurately described as the peak of the rut, that being a relatively short period, generally during November, when the majority of breeding takes place. However, some does come into heat a month earlier, and does which are not bred by November will come back into rut a month later, then maybe again a month after that. This stretches the rut from October through January.

Even though more peak-of-the-rut type of activity takes place during the popular conception of the peak of the rut, the breeding that takes place at other times is just as serious.

It follows that the same hunting methods that are effective during November can be effective throughout the period when deer are breeding, though to varying degrees.

One important factor is the ratio of bucks to does. On the highly managed types of areas where much of the deer hunting for television is produced, the ratio of bucks to does is usually relatively close, maybe 3 does to 1 buck. The peak of the rut is really a hot time. Most of the does are bred by the time it is finished.

But on many public lands, the ratio might be as poor as 15 does per buck. As a result, the bucks can not service all of the does the first time they come into heat. This stretches the rut considerably. November might be the highest peak, but there will probably be two or three lesser peaks.

The problem with this long breeding period is that when does are bred late their fawns are born late. They have little chance of surviving the following winter, and the bucks will probably never grow large antlers.

Antler rattling may work in December or January, but not often. The bucks are getting low on body fat by this time. They can not stand to spend too much energy. And by this time, dominance has been clearly demonstrated. There is little need to fight.

Grunting, on the other hand, is effective almost any time. It is far less aggressive than rattling antlers. Deer, both bucks and does, will come to a grunt out of curiosity. At the least, a grunt will usually stop a moving deer.

Doe-in-estrous scents can be effective throughout this late rut period. Bucks will respond to a doe whenever it comes into heat, at least as long as the bucks wear hard antlers.

Nonetheless, other hunting tactics traditionally used during late hunting seasons are traditional for good reason. Bucks generally are not nearly as active as they were during November. Unless they are courting hot does, bucks in steadily-hunted areas might not move at all during daylight hours unless pushed. Driving or still-hunting will probably be more effective than tactics related to the rut.

In areas that are hunted very lightly, perhaps not at all for several days, bucks might move during the day where feeding conditions are good to replace the fat they lost while rutting hard. This is the situation to use scents, grunt tubes, and stand-hunting.

Keep an open mind while hunting after November. Be prepared to use a variety of hunting methods. You will fill your tag more often.

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