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08-03-2005, 04:50 AM
| #1 |
| Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oneida, TN
Posts: 23
|  The Rut What do you think causes the rut in whitetails? In the past few years, there's been a lot of talk around Dr. Charles J. Alsheimer's lunar theory . . . that is, that the full moon closest to the fall equinox causes the does to go into their estrous cycle. Then there's Leonard Rue III's theory of photoperiodism, which basically states that the estrous cycle is triggered by lengthening nighttime hours in the fall. My personal theory is that it is temperatures that send the does into their estrous cycle and trigger the rut. What say you?
__________________ You must be the change you wish to see in the world -- Ghandi |
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08-08-2005, 06:55 AM
| #2 |
| Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16
| not sure about all those theories, although you may be right on the temperatures. |
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08-08-2005, 07:06 AM
| #3 |
| Member Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 32
| I don't know about the full moon theory. What if it was cloudy for a few nights and you couldn't see the moon? Anyways, I think the temperature theory makes sense. |
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08-08-2005, 02:08 PM
| #4 |
| Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oneida, TN
Posts: 23
| Well supposedly, the gravitational pull when the moon is full changes animals. At least I think it is the gravitational pull that is different when the moon is full; I'm no scientist by any means. But strange behavior in animals when the moon is full isn't just for werewolf flicks; there have been a lot of "differences" noted in animals when the moon gets full. I reckon that's where the lunar theory comes from. But my problem with it is that there are some years, at least in my area, when the rut will be early, and some years when it will be late. The "hunter's moon" occurs at just about the same time each year. So it just doesn't add up, in my opinion.
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08-25-2005, 03:04 AM
| #5 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: claxton georgia
Posts: 89
 | one cannot judge the rut on the calender because the calender is not exact...thus the reason for leap year.i also think that temperature doesnt have an effect on it either. our winters the last couple of years here in the south certanly havent been what you would call winter and yet the rut goes on.i think it is geneticaly brought on and is programmed in the deer at birth sort of like a migratory bird. if you are married you will notice that your wifes cycle is not on the exact day and time each month.thats something only mother nature knows the answer to.
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