Trickle rut and no snow on Opening Day

“We’ll be hunting with daytime temperatures in the upper 40’s and 50s”

By Oak Duke,

Snow on the opening day of deer season seems to be a thing of the past, and this year there will be none. None for Opening Day, and none in the extended forecasts for the regular deer season in Western New York state.

There’s been a dearth of rain, so the ground is firm, no mud to speak of, better walking for man and traction for machines.  

For those of us who pursue the white-tailed deer, snow cover gives us an edge, and believe me, we need all the edge we can get to bring home venison on Opening Day, which is Saturday, November 16, 2024 this year.

Snow gives shooters a real advantage.  

Whitetails are tough to see even under the best circumstances in normal autumnal conditions. They are wonderfully camouflaged, move either with lighting speed, or sneak quietly past us. It’s rare indeed to see them for more than a couple minutes at a time. And bucks it seems, with their iconic antlers, we see for only a few seconds.

Snow extends our sight down through the woods. Increases our range.

Gives us reach.

Empowers our grasp.

Traditionally deer hunters have loved, hoped, and longed for a tracking snow.

Not only can we see the whitetail better, we can read the snow like a book. It’s a lot tougher to read the story of the deer woods in dry leaves than it is to read the deer’s story in the snow. 

Unseasonably warm deer seasons seem the norm now.

And tend to make things more problematical in a number of other ways too. Of course we can sit in a stand longer, but what good is that if the deer aren’t moving? 

For one thing, these mild opening days, with temperatures approaching 60’s F. and solidly in the 50’s F. makes it iffy to hang deer. This weekend’s forecast is exactly that.

Meat deteriorates rapidly and successful hunters will need to have their venison processed immediately with these warm temps.

Many deer hunters choose to process the animals themselves. Connoisseurs of meat, prefer to age their venison, checking their hanging deer daily as if it was a cask of vino in a wine cellar.

But temperatures have to be right, in the right range; to produce good meat. Good hanging temperatures are in the upper 30’s F. and deer should not be hung in direct sunlight because even when the air is cold, the winter sun heats the meat, hide on or hide off.

Freeze large, two liter or gallon sized plastic soda and juice bottles and insert them into the deer carcass body cavity to keep the venison cool prior to processing… much less messy than melting ice. And when the water inside melts, rotate another frozen bottle into the cavity. 

Deer hunters are prepared to dress for the cold. This year, however, it appears not so much. We’ll be hunting with daytime temperatures in the upper 40’s and 50s, day-after-day through the season.

Contrarily, whitetails always have their heaviest coats on during hunting season no matter what. Their daytime activity becomes depressed during the daytime when ambient daytime temps are warm under bright sunny skies.  They’ll prefer to move at night and bed during the day.

The deer and the whitetail hunter, this year is experiencing what is called a Trickle Rut.

A Trickle Rut is when females of the specie cycle their estrus in starts and stops throughout October, November and even December.

Expect to see rutting action, but don’t be surprised if it’s nonexistent. Crap-shoot this year.

We experienced a good mid-October rut, running up to early November, then in spurts as is typical in Trickle Rut years. Another peak should occur on opening weekend this year under the Full Moon, which is the day before, November 15^th this year.

So the woods will be lit up by the big moon, almost like daylight, when we take our pre-dawn stands this year.

Regulation changes started last season include shooting hours, one-half hour before sunrise and ending one half hour after sunset. Times of course vary across New York, depending upon location and throughout the season. Simply Goggle sunset of the hunting spot’s location and then do the math to know the correct time.

Secondly, all deer hunters are required to wear blaze orange. Sensible, a no-brainer, as well as the law.

New this year is that the iconic back tag is no longer required and hunters either print out their own licenses on regular paper or have a license-issuing agent do it.

Paper of course will deteriorate quickly, tagged to a deer, tear, fall off, or become illegible. So, simply carry a couple plastic sandwich bags and when ready to use, insert the signed license in the bag, then zip-tie the now protected license to the deer’s leg or antler.