A Rut Wrap-Up in the Southwest

It was a good season overall, with some action still on tap for desert mule deer

It’s hard to believe that I’m already writing my last report for the season. Seems like just a few days ago I was jumping on a plane to go hunt coastal blacktail when in reality, that was 4 months ago. I was anxiously awaiting what the fall could bring and now, I’m in a blind in northcentral Texas without even the slightest remanence of the rut gone by. It’s been a pretty wild fall as far as “the rut” goes. I could make 10 phone calls and get 10 different answers on how it went, depending on unit and region. 

Although the temperature was unseasonably warm, the elk rut was pretty well par for the course. I had bulls bugling and starting to get excited in early September and by mid-September, it was happening. The pronghorn rut was basically status quo and as usual, made for a very fun and successful rifle season. Rifle pronghorn ran right into our first rifle elk season, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a fair amount of rut activity still happening. It made for a record setting season for us. 

The deer rut was a different story. Second season (late October) came along with no sign of the rut. That was the general consensus everywhere except California, where they still had some blacktail activity happening. As the season wore on, I saw my first signs of life with small bucks starting to bump around does and a handful of mature deer starting to show up. This was around November 5th or so. Not completely unusual, but a little late, and it seemed that way everywhere. I thought our third season was going to be full on, and it was in some places. In the “trophy units” where buck-to-doe ratios are balanced and there is a good population of mature bucks, the rut took off. 

Third season and that mid-November time frame was good for most people in the mountain parts of the Southwest. That’s also when the rut in northcentral Texas and the Panhandle got moving. The last 10 days of November were all around the best 10 days of the year in most of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, north Texas, and the Kaibab in Arizona. The people I spoke with who were hunting in famed areas such as the Kaibab or Colorado’s unit 44 said the rut was wild, with big deer running around everywhere during that time. Some truly giant bucks have been killed this year, but there are more yet to come. 

South Texas has a pretty major cold front on the way, which should heat things up for the rut. The deer are already staging up and getting in the mood. Lots of scrapes and pretty good day movement has already been seen. It’s looking like the week before Christmas is going to be the time to be out there. Sothern Arizona should be heating up soon as well. I anticipate the days around Christmas to show signs of rutting deer with the best days to follow. 

With one day left to try to fill my Texas buck tag, I can’t help but get lost in the anticipation of what Mexico will show us this year. I am heading there straight from here. I love hunting these whitetails, but the thought of a giant desert burro following up a doe just seems to take over. As worn out as I am from the season, another mule deer rut seems to perk me back up.  One more rut to go before I change my focus to roaring stags in Argentina and gobbling turkeys. Thanks to everyone who followed along this year, and I hope the information was helpful. 

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