Ask The Biologist

Seeing Spots

Seeing Spots

By Bob Humphrey

Several factors make the Southern rut a confusing, drawn-out process.

QUESTION: I live and hunt in central Louisiana, Area 6. October starts our bow season, and every doe I see has spotted fawns with her. Even during my hunt on Nov. 2, the does still had spotted fawns. If a deer carries a fetus 200 days and these fawns are a month or so old, does that mean the doe bred in early March? Our rut is around the first of the year, so does that math add up? — Evans M.

ANSWER: Trying to identify peak rut and breeding dates can be tricky, particularly in the South, where environmental factors like winter severity and duration have less of an impact, and where some populations are the result of deer transplanted from other states. What you end up with is a hodge-podge of breeding periods.

According to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Scott Durham, “In Louisiana, deer breed from September to February, depending on the area, habitat and herd parameters.”

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries also prepared an illustrative map with rut data. Breeding peaks in late October in southwestern Louisiana and late November in much of the northwestern portion of the state. There’s a late-December peak in the southeastern and north-central regions, and in pockets of the northwestern part of the state. The last peak, in late January, occurs in a band roughly along the state’s eastern fringe.

Bear in mind these are peak breeding dates. Does could be bred a week or two outside of this window. Furthermore, does not bred during the first peak will likely come into estrus again 28 days later. That puts you into early March in some areas, which could explain your situation.

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