By Nick Simonson

You may have noticed this year that the North Dakota firearms deer season is set to start a little bit later than usual, with the 16.5-day season beginning at noon on Fri. Nov. 10 and wrapping up one half hour after sunset on Sun. Nov. 26 following the Thanksgiving holiday.  While this times up to the annual framework setting the start date of the season on the Friday nearest to the Veterans Day holiday – which this year falls on a Saturday, making the firearms deer season opener the latest it can possibly be – the mixture of holidays and the latest possible firearms season will also align more closely with the peak of the rut in the state, according to agents of the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F). 

“We have heard quite a few reports of bucks that are already chasing does, so I think we’re going to come into a pretty good rut right as the season starts,” says Casey Anderson, NDG&F Wildlife Division Chief, “we probably won’t have to wait until the last weekend this time to be in the full swing of things.  It will probably be right in the middle of our season this year,” he concludes.

The rut, or breeding season for both white-tailed and mule deer in the state, typically begins in September, with the peak of breeding activity occurring in November, and wrapping up in December.  During this time, does go into estrous, emitting pheromones and scent that they are ready to breed, and bucks become more aggressive, chasing after those does. The male deer will often compete, locking antlers and engaging in physical contests to determine dominance in a geographical area where does reside.  Additionally, as the rut ramps up and more does become receptive to breeding, bucks become more active, often moving about during the day and in the dark, seeking out their mates. This presents the best opportunity for hunters to catch them in the open during the daylight hours.

“We’re probably going to see a little more of the rut throughout most of the rifle season, and so that could essentially affect hunting because deer are more likely to be out moving around during shooting hours as rut starts up,” Anderson relates.

With the month of November, and particularly the back half of the month, seeing the highest point of this rutting activity, the timing of the 2023 gun season falling more toward that peak will likely be advantageous to hunters.  While some equate moon phase and cold weather as triggers for the rut, the breeding season’s peak is most dependent on the change in hormones in a deer’s body brought on by decreasing daylight, or photoperiod, which occurs in autumn across North America. These hormones set the physical process in motion which drives the rut.  And while the rut drives some careless behavior by bucks, all deer are influenced by moon phase and by changes in the weather, but those environmental factors are often more corollary to the rut and not causes of the mating season.

“Photoperiod or length of days is that trigger or cue to start the breeding season for our male white-tailed deer and mule deer,” explains Jason Smith, NDG&F Big Game Biologist, adding that “moon phase has something to do with movement of deer and with weather conditions it always seems like you get that cold snap or snow on the ground and that seems to tie into movements a bit more.”

November’s two major moon phases fall on either end of the firearms deer hunting season, with the new moon being shortly after its start on Mon. Nov. 13 and the full moon landing on Mon. Nov. 27, just after the season closes, with both major moon phases coinciding with increased animal activity in the days leading up to and after each one. Combined with the rut, hunters can expect to see more deer movement on the first and last weekend of the 16.5-day season which runs deeper into the month this year.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: On the Lookout.  Bucks will likely be in full rut as the firearms season progresses into the month of November.  This year the gun season starts at its latest possible date, Nov. 10, and runs until Nov. 26. Simonson Photo.