Christmas may be only six weeks away, but the biggest day of the year for deer hunters happens the day after tomorrow. This is the day that most of us have anticipated since January.

    From the aspect of the rut, it looks quite promising. If the biological history of our herd stays the same, then these coming nine days will be dead center of the annual mating ritual.

    It seems that many who love to hunt deer still have a difficult time defining when and what the rut is all about. I suppose that the saturation of hunting shows on television hasn’t helped much, so let me give it a stab.

    We hear a lot about the “pre-rut” and that’s where the confusion starts. Many think this means that bucks are running amok at this time and that’s completely incorrect. Bucks are establishing territory during this period. They occasionally clash, but you should remember that only matched bucks tend to fight. Size very much matters to deer and when a big antlered buck walks up, smaller framed bucks tend to act as if they’re not interested and quickly leave. Usually the “pre-rut” is the time that you find rub lines and scrapes in the woods.  Eager bucks anticipating estrus does want to leave calling cards everywhere just in case. There is some chasing of does during this period, but the females are non-receptive, leaving the bucks to figuratively pound their chests.

    Next comes the “chasing” phase of the rut. This is when the does are right on the cusp of estrus. Bucks begin their flehming activity (lip curling) and incessantly chase does in order to be available at that magic moment estrus begins. As the estrus cycle lasts only 24 to 36 hours, bucks begin a frantic quest to hit that time period. Does are not ready to mate and thus don’t want to be bothered. This is the most dangerous time of the year for whitetails as the drive is insatiable and deer are more prone to be stuck by cars at this time. Rub lines and scrape lines close up as bucks are far too busy to care for them.

    Everything changes within two days of actual estrus. Does begin to give off pheromones and stop running. This is the “tending” stage of the rut which is followed up by the actual mating process. For gun hunters, this is the ideal time to hunt does. Smart hunters don’t shoot does at this time, but hunt them in hopes of finding an amorous boyfriend trailing blindly behind. This is the time of the year that even the most seasoned monarch of the woods will do stupid things leading to his antlers being placed on a stand in someone’s trophy room.

    I do have other stories to tell and surprisingly, this one is about fishing. Jeffrey Brown of Viola was fishing a private pond near his home when he hooked into a bucket mouth, citation sized largemouth. The 5 pound 9 ounce lunker hit a crankbait and became Jeffrey’s prize for the season.

    From the hunting side, the youth deer hunt Nov. 1 proved bountiful to several young hunters. Anthony Lang, 13, of Dover scored with a nice 125 pound, seven-pointer.

    I’m particularly pleased when young women hunters get into the action. Fourteen-year-old Ellie McNatt, a National Honor Society member and sophomore at Seaford Christian Academy is just as familiar with a 12 gauge H&R slug gun as she is with a textbook. Sitting on stand at her family farm west of town, the sun had only been up minutes when the fat yearling six-pointer came into her sights. Ellie scored an “A” in marksmanship and her first deer and first buck became one in the same.

    As I say each year, please be careful out there. One species of creature doing stupid things is enough for our wonderful wild lands. Wear your hunter orange as if your life depended on it – it does. Watch your shots and be sure of your target. Let’s continue to ruin it for the antihunting crowd and make this another incident-free hunting season in our Small Wonder. I want your picture attached to this article next week. Watch out for your fellow hunter. It might be me.