I know we often talk about the start and peak of the primary rut which I believe to usually be late Oct. / early Nov. peaking about 2nd/3rd week of Nov. but what are your thoughts on the secondary rut, when it starts/peaks/ends. I think it starts about end of first week in Dec. and peaks the 2nd/2nd.5 week of Dec. That said, I've seen a buck in North Texas chasing as late as the last day of season. By far, I prefer the primary rut, but have learned to appreciate the sometimes hot activity of the secondary Dec. rut. What are your thoughts THF??

I never notice much of a secondary rut.

I hear you Free, think it's far fewer doe that come into estrus, but I have seen some really intense chasing on those younger doe that come in late. As many as 3-4 bucks chasing at a time.

I know it’s a thing, but I rarely see much activity. Many people will report not seeing a primary rut. Depending on how often a person hunts and other factors it’s easy to understand.

There is definitely a peak, I personally believe its related to the moon phase. However there are far too many doe for them to all get bred. The last two years i have witnessed bucks locked onto doe into February. The amount of deer in ntx is crazy.

yep, it varies greatly across the state so it seems. My observation around central Texas is that the does that dropped fawns early, will have an initial estrus cycle in early to mid Oct. ... this tends to break up the bachelor groups and some of those does get bred. Most hunters will miss this first round unless archery or MLD or spend a lot of time in the woods scouting in prep for the regular season. Then the main event is usually early to mid Nov. what most will call the first rut where there is heavy chasing. The does that go unbred will cycle again in 28ish days, or early to mid Dec., then again early mid Jan, repeat into Feb.

as I have mentioned before, my uncle was not an avid hunter, just wanted meat for the family. He would go sit in his tree stand starting late Sept. every day after work (his ranch was under 10 minutes from his house & work), when he started seeing the bachelor groups breaking up, sparring and does seemed to be attracting the bucks, he would mark it on his calendar and not go back to the woods until about 28 days later (usually early to mid Nov.), he would usually shoot 2 bucks that day and his hunting was over as that would feed his family. This is back in the day where separate doe permits were required and he passed those along to his lease hunters.

our east Texas place is pretty similar in timing as above, but out at my Ozona place, usually runs a couple weeks later (mid-late Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan.) ...

We see the 2nd rut roughly start 30 days after the primary rut. Seems to me the activity during the 2nd rut depends on your buck doe ratio, obviously the lower the ratio the better the 2nd rut can be. In the NE TX Panhandle the bucks really get active chasing the 2nd week in November through Thanksgiving week.

In Briscoe County, I killed my buck on November 20th, he was chasing a doe. Two days later, I saw another buck mount a doe and on 12-3 my hunting partner saw a buck mount a doe. Our lease is about 25 sq. miles, and this activity was spread all over the ranch.

I see deer get bred through the rut window which extends from late October to sometimes as late as February. I never see a second peak large enough to call it a second “rut”.

Saw a really nice buck dogging a doe Sunday afternoon just outside of Gatesville. He was full on stupid but I don't think the doe was having any of it.

I believe it. The bucks are always ready, the does set the stage and like someone said, I believe it's related to the photoperiod....the length of the daylight, which is why it occurs at approximately the same time every year in that specific area.

One of the things I love about hunting whitetails in Texas is the length of the rut. Up north they have a very distinct time-period of rut activity. At least where I hunt, I see some sort of rut action from October until January. It may not be as pronounced as northern states, but it's lengthier. I don't know that I buy into the 'first/second' rut. Now this may happen to a certain extent in a very specific area, but I think there are does coming into estrous throughout the season at different times. It varies according to the deer, weather, and geographic region. There will be peaks and valleys, but breeding activity doesn't start/stop/start/stop. This is just what I see with my own two eyes. I don't read too many articles about this stuff.

my understanding is that does that were not bred in there first cycle, will be back in season 28 days later. We see as much or more activity from the 15th of December until the end of season as we will in November. It seems like we see larger bucks during this time.

^^^I find all this to be true. In Throckmorton those dates are close. In SE Okla Im still learning but from what Ive read its the same but many claim it to be just a little earlier. My observations put it close in that time frame.

^^^Concur with all that. The bucks are ready, willing and able the entire time they are in hard antler. Its up to the does to time the actual breeding. The actual breeding is done at the same times every year within a given area. Your visual observations may or may not confirm it for you.