Western Montana Rut?

[steamfitter]

Anyone seeing any rut activity goimg on. I been out for 10 days straight and probably walked 50 miles and have yet to catch a glimpse of a buck, Lots of does i watched 25 mule deer does till i couldnt see and didnt see horns peroid just wondering if its me which im not ruling out.

 

[MTPharmHunter]

I was out all of last weekend, saw at least 60-70 mule deer does. Lots of groups of 10-12 does with no bucks around. Its a new area for me so I'm not sure if there aren't many bucks around or if they aren't rutting right now...good luck

 

[HUNTMAN]

any day now it is going to break loose. I have seen both mulies and whitetail chasing but mostly little guys. Good luck.

 

[CabinFever]

Whitetails are definately chasing as of last weekend, haven't seen as much evidence with the muleys yet.

 

[----]

I hunted region 2 last week for whitetail and didn't see any rut action, found one fresh scrape.

Just a couple hours ago I watched a couple really nice bucks pushing does around in the Bozeman area.

It should be on big time by this weekend, and be good through Thanksgiving. I've had a hard time being patient this year!

 

[belly-deep]

I've seen mule deer acting rutty since the 11/2/12.

Haven't seen the whiteys doing much tho...this weekend they should start really going

 

[wingman1]

The mule buck I shot on the 11th was tending a doe. Saw one whitey all swelled up working a doe but that's it. I've only hunted one day this year so I can't help you much.

 

[notellm]

I have never hunted so hard to see a buck in my life up here in the flathead. Hunted friday all day, seen 3 diffrent lions 3 does. Saturday 2 does one spike about a inch long. Sunday 4 does and a spike by forked and 7 wolves........ashamed to say i shot right over the alpha males back! Three of the wolves were blue. I have yet to see a rub or ground scrape? Working nights so i hike gated roads for a couple hours in the mornings too.

 

[Jon Boy]

Saw a couple bucks this past weekend chasing tail, rip curling and tearing up trees. Pretty awesome sight actually

 

[BuzzH]

I've kept hunting journals for nearly 2 decades with specific information on the whitetail rut in Montana. The most buck activity that I have seen is from November 18th-22nd, its literally like someone throws a switch. I've shot a vast majority of my best bucks during that 5 day time frame, weather conditions, etc. dont seem to influence it much, if at all.

After the 22nd the buck activity seems to decrease with most of the older bucks brushed up with a doe or two. The younger bucks are still out looking around, but the bigger ones have already figured out dominance by then.

Keep in mind that these are not river-bottom/ag field deer, but deer that live in the coniferous forests of Western Montana. IMO, they behave much differently. They migrate into areas with high doe densities from a lot of surrounding country, and its nearly impossible to pattern a specific buck. I dont think most of the bucks even bother to set up scrape lines, as I simply dont see a lot of scrapes and never have.

I've never once shot a buck that I'd seen previously and with talking to some of the other good whitetail hunters that I know in that part of the world, they all say the same thing. Typically any buck they kill, the first time they've actually seen the buck is the day they kill them.

Also, I spent the last weekend in my spot, knowing I was a good week too early for anything close to peak activity. The bucks I saw were around does, but definately not chasing does or showing signs of ruttting. The best buck I saw was a 6x6 with a split g-2 on his right side. He looked to be a 130-135 class buck but was very young with great potential so he got a pass.

To mirror what notellm said, predators are having a huge impact on whitetails in the area I hunt. In over 30 years hunting there, I've never seen a wolf track...this is 100% a lion issue. My brother and I hunted together in 3 major drainages in 3 days and cut 5 different lion tracks the first day, 6 sets the second day, and one the last day. We saw ONE doe with two fawns, several with one fawn, and quite a few with no fawns. The deer we saw were extremely healthy looking though.

I talked in length with the warden for the area and he said the FWP recognizes the lion problem and has doubled the permit numbers from 22 to 44...but even he admitted that it wont be enough as the success rate on lions will likely be around 50%. Lions need to be significantly reduced.

I know I can still kill mature deer in my spot, but only because I've hunted the same area since 1979 and likely know the country as well, if not better, than anyone alive.

 

[steamfitter]

I have noticed also since i moved to montana from nebreaska the deer dont really make any scrapes i thought maybe it was me not looking in right place thanks for that tidbit of info. I was out this morning and saw 2 fawns and a spike. I dont see wolf or lion tracks but we have a lot of coyotes so im sure they a re putting hurting on fawns.Im sure there are lions and wolves but i really dont look for them.Well at least i get to be in the woods and not at work although i need to go back to work haha now i might as well wait till after season is over.

 

[TheTone]

Granted I'm in Idaho, but hunting really similar country to western Montana, I started seeing scrapes about a week ago, but have also observed very little deer movement. Our weather has been all over the place this month from hot, to rainy and a couple almost blizzard days. I have yet to see a mature buck, have seen a couple dead ones, but mostly small bucks being harvested. One of these days it will really happen though. The best day I've ever seen for rut activity was a few years ago on November 20th for what its worth.

 

[mtlion]

I have noticed also since i moved to montana from nebreaska the deer dont really make any scrapes i thought maybe it was me not looking in right place thanks for that tidbit of info.

I don't have nearly the experience with whitetail west of the divide that buzz has, but this is not true of all MT whitetail. East of the divide they are typically associated with riparian areas (river/creek bottoms) that are mostly deciduous, typically lots of cottonwood and some aspen. The bucks living there definitely make scrapes.

 

[BuzzH]

mtlion,

I think you're right on with WT east of the divide.

They do make scrapes where I hunt, just not nearly what you'd expect to see. When the deer populations were at their peak in around 2006, I remember I killed the 22nd whitetail buck 4 point or better, that I'd seen from daylight to about 3:00 pm that day.

With that many bucks around you should be seeing scrapes everywhere. Just not the case, there are SOME, but not many.

A couple pics...not typical whitetail country. I'd say 90% of the 121 whitetails my family and a few friends have killed in this area are within 2-3 miles of these 2 pictures:

 

[----]

I kept getting distracted at work today. If the deer in Western Montana are going half as crazy as the bucks in the center of the state, this weekend's going to be an absolute blast.

 

[Kneetopia]

Man, I had absolutely no luck in seeing any rut activity last Thursday to Sunday. I hunted 3 seperate spots within an hour +- of MSO that usually turn up deer and I saw nothing indicating that the rut was happening.

THanks for the info BuzzH. I typically have faded interest on deer towards the end of the season, I need to change that.

 

[ismith]

The ruts in full swing around Helena.

 

[notellm]

I clearly live in the wrong part of MT for big game hunting. Not lack of trying........have to send my kenetrex in to get rebuilt for the 3rd time in a year!

 

[Bambistew]

Bucks were running around like nuts this morning. One even ran into Accubond.

 

[BuzzH]

One even ran into Accubond.

Was there anything left to pack?