I've hunted Heard my whole life and agree the map is off by quite a few weeks. I'd say the 21st of November if we get a really cold snap into the first week of December are prime.
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New Georgia Rut Map!
- Thread starter C.Killmaster
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I've hunted Heard my whole life and agree the map is off by quite a few weeks. I'd say the 21st of November if we get a really cold snap into the first week of December are prime.
Bioguy
Senior Member
Clay county is 1 of 4 counties in that area that had a low sample size (noted with an asterisk), so yes, it is likely wrong. There are a few discrepancies, but as more data is added over the years those discrepancies should smooth out.
Bioguy
Senior Member
Heard County itself had a low sample size, so the date for that county was primarily generated using surrounding counties. Good to know! Thanks for providing feedback!
Bioguy
Senior Member
Telfair had almost no DVC data, so results are mostly based on surrounding counties and some of those counties had low samples as well. Thanks for the feedback!
mattech
Deranged Throat-Puncher
Heard County itself had a low sample size, so the date for that county was primarily generated using surrounding counties. Good to know! Thanks for providing feedback!
Good to know. I will keep my vacation as planned.
chrisw1073
Senior Member
What does DVC stand for? Telfair is not one of the counties with an asterisk by its name. If Telfair was based on surrounding counties, it should be changed to early November like the majority of counties around it. Early November is when the rut gets going on my place in China Hill as well.
mattech
Deranged Throat-Puncher
Deer vehicle collision?
ChattNFHunter
Senior Member
I think Fannin county may be a little off. On my family property in North Fannin the rut has been the very last week of season (last of Dec.) and I have even seen rut activity carried out into the very first of January. I will be paying attention to the dates on the map this season just to see if perhaps I'm missing the main rut and hitting the post rut or secondary rut of some kind. I love the idea of using deer collision data to find peak movement. Great idea.
chrisw1073
Senior Member
That is what I thought it meant. In the original post it says all counties with less than 100 DVC's would have an asterisk by it. Being that Telfair does not have an asterisk by it, and Bio Guy is saying that Telfair has almost no DVC to data to go by, is a bit miss leading.
BigPimpin
Senior Member
Bulloch County dates are too early from my experience. In 2011, I witnessed late October madness. It was the best year of chasing activity I ever witnessed. Every other year it has been toward the end of the first week in November through mid November at it peak for chasing activity. It will trickle on a little later from time to time. I put in for the last week in October off work this year hoping that the moon would be in my favor. I would have rather seen a new moon on the 5th of November. Although, when its on, the moon doesn't seem to matter as much.
dixiecutter
Eye Devour ReeB
too bad about clay. has an asterick* meaning "haven't ran over enough deer" which is hilarious. they must not have auto insurance in clay 'cause i'm here to tell you, they run over as many deer near ft gaines as any place in the world. seems spot on for early co though.
Bioguy
Senior Member
DVC stands for Deer-vehicle collision. If the total of DVCs for the county plus all neighboring counties was <100 then the county got an asterisk denoting that it was probably not accurate. Looking back at the data, Telfair had 165, which is low considering that the counties that are "spot on" have several hundred or even several thousands of DVCs. Again, thanks for the feedback as it will help us fine-tune the map.
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Bioguy
Senior Member
Thanks, and thank you for the feedback. Please be sure to let us know your observations.
Bioguy
Senior Member
LOL! I'm sure plenty of deer get hit in Clay...they're just not getting reported (only 4 DVCs reported from 2005-2012). Good to hear Early County is spot on. Thanks for the feedback!
mattech
Deranged Throat-Puncher
Does the dvc's play a huge factor of the actual report? If so do you think that may cause the map to be a week or so early? What I mean by that is, I was under the impression deer were more active during the "seeking" phase of the rut versus the actual breeding phase of the rut. That would lead me to think dvc's would be higher in the "seeking" phase.
Bioguy
Senior Member
Yes! In fact, in 2 of the 3 counties where we compared DVCs against conception dates, the peak in DVCs occurred 1-week prior to the peak in conception dates. In a different study done in Michigan, the peak in DVCs also occurred approximately 1-week prior to peak conceptions, so our results were consistent with that study.
It also agrees with anecdotal observations I made in Pennsylvania when monitoring deer via radio telemetry...I noticed when deer were moving a lot, I saw a lot more road kills. The greatest level of deer movement was usually between the 1st and 2nd week of November (around Nov. 7th), but peak conceptions occurred around Nov. 15th. Also, my landlord in PA did auto-body work and his shop was right next to my apartment...when the rut was "on" there was no room to park in my driveway (which coincidentally were the same days I was seeing a lot of road killed deer and observing lots of movement).
This is actually how our rut map differs from others. Other rut maps focus on peak breeding dates based on conceptions, but that isn't necessarily when deer movement is at its greatest. The more deer move, the more they end up road kill, so peak DVCs should represent peak deer movement.
The bottom line...if I want to know when peak deer movement occurs in any part of the country, the first person I'm going to contact is a local auto body shop, because when the rut hits, they are swamped with work. Apparently I'm not the only one, as Craig Dougherty does the same (http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2013/10/highway-road-kills-sure-sign-whitetail-rut).
DeoVindice
Senior Member
The map is good for peak rut and is pretty close to accurate for my areas, but I believe most of the biggest bucks usually come strolling along a week or so after peak rut. Just like an adult on Christmas morning. The young ones jump up and go wild while the adult sleeps in. The big buck has been here and done this and knows when it is time to get up. Also, in my experience I have seen that rut is from late October through the end of January. There is always a hot doe somewhere around, and a more than willing buck. It can happen anytime. Always be ready. The biggest bucks killed on our club in the past 5 years have been in late December.
MCBUCK
Senior Member
Kind of similar in Murray county, except you have to split Murray county. East of 411 on the mountains they hit it about mid December, but on the west side of 411 they will burn it up right by the map: November 15-16 is about right. But up on Fort and Grassy ( Cohutta WMA) mid to late December is when I have always seen peak rut activity. I have even seen scrapes and chasing as late as mid Jan.
bump for the 200 new threads that will start in the next two weeks asking about when is the rut in my neighborhood
