Central and Northwestern Deer Season Data

Tipmoose

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Pre-emptive warning....keep the discussion to the data. Not the poster. Thanks.
 

Eggman

Twelve Pointer
Interesting to see a 11 day difference in peak breeding dates for different counties in this unit.
 
appmtnhntr

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
What I've seen over the last 10 years of hunting the NW season areas... (Disclaimer: My thoughts are only based on my personal observations and the hunting of close friends)
My "Rut" dates are based on the PEAK of rutting activity that I've seen. Includes deer activity (chasing/breeding/new traveling bucks), and sign (heavy active community scrapes and fresh horning along scrape lines):

Watauga: My hard rule for the peak of rut activity is on or about November 3rd-7th... (Above 4,500')
~~My experience is rut activity is DEAD before rifle season opens at Thanksgiving...

Ashe: Bout right on what the NCWRC said. November 15th-19th (Above 4,000')

Alleghany: True peak is December 3rd - 8th. Has been for the 5 years I've hunted up there. (Above 2,800)

Surry: November 20th-24th

All that being said, it's awesome to be able to hunt in each of these counties (along with 3 counties in the Western Season) throughout the season since I can usually pinpoint which areas are going have the best rutting going on at any given time.
Let's me look at the weather and take an educated guess on where I'd have the best chance to get some good rut activity each weekend of season

Adding in Burke and McDowell counties, specifically speaking of the higher elevations of Pisgah NF. It's the week of Thanksgiving, and no one is going to tell me different. Scraping/chasing/everything is happening that week on the mountains...
But, deer are already putting down great sign in early-mid October during blackpowder. Seen plenty of really nice bucks killed running active scrape lines during the October musket season.

Avery: Last week of October for the high elevations. Smack in the middle of the second bow season...By the time thanksgiving rolls around all the sign is old and dry, and never see bucks tending does.
We hunt the food in November in Avery if we want to kill a buck...

I also grouse hunt after deer closes in all these areas and I just don't see enough fresh sign after deer season to convince me that there's a "late rut" in December that amounts to much...
Sure there are some deer that put sign down all the way into January, but I don't believe that that's the norm.

Again, I'm not a biologist, just someone that pays attention so I don't burn a Saturday in Watauga when I know I should be in Burke...
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Dr Shaw is the one pushing for changes.

He said hunters indicated a preference for a longer gun season in the survey and biologist don’t think this would have a significant impact on the deer population.
Click to expand...

“Deer hunters want to have their cake and eat it too,” he said, explaining that in general they want a larger and healthy deer population and older bucks but not fewer days to hunt or greater restrictions. “But, of course, the world doesn’t work that way.”
Click to expand...
 
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QBD2

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
Why leave out the last 3 years I wonder?

As an aside, all the qdma had changed basically nothing, as it pertains to killing mature deer. Folks might be letting 1.5yr olds walk, but they're whacking them at 2.5...
 
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