The Elk Rut

E-mails and calls from friends and contacts say that bull elk are shedding elk in central Colorado. Good friend, and Christian Outoorsman Fellowship of America (COFA) co-founder, says he has a 340 score bull feeding in his meadow 60 yards from his back patio. He hopes to get him from there very soon. Another man tells me he saw bulls with cows the other day, but did not hear a single bugle.

Bulls do not have to bugle if they already have cows with them, But, they will often bugle if a cow is close to estrus, but will not let him mount her. He bugles to reinforce his position as a the dominant in the area, and keep her close and entice her to breed with him when she is ready. This results in peak bugling as mmor and more cowscome into estrus, and mkes the bull easy to locate, and sometimes to call in. to ding out when peak elk buglign ocur wher you hunt Google "Peak Elk Bugling Dates" or log on to www.TRMichels.com, and click that link. You'll find elk hunting tips there too.

Whitetail Deer Rut Here Now

The "rut" as defined by scientists, is the time frame when any rut-relatee activity occurs, from beginning to end. Those activities include rubbing of antlers on trees, making scrapes by pawing the ground, and actual breeding. This means the rut here in Minnesotta is from about September 1 through the last weekend of January in many locations, when fawns may get bred late in the season. .

Whitetail deer here in the Midwest should be shedding velvet, As soon as they do, they will start rubbing and actually pawing the ground at tradtional scrapes, which can often be found at the edges of openings, meadows and agricultural fields. These "first time" scrapes may not look like a scrape, becasue all there will be is a bit of grass or leaves pawed toward th back of the scrape, without much bare ground, if any. If you know where there were scrapes in previoius years, go there and look, particularly for overhanging branches about 3 feet off the ground. I often find them on short red oak trees in semi-open areas and along wooded edges - for some reason.

Many hunters never see these scrapes, because they are not out there looking for them, becasue they may believe scraping only occcurs from late October into December. If you are not out there looking - you will not find them. They are a good place to look for a rub route, which you can setup on when the season opens in early September..

Black Bear Reward of $5000 Offered

I hear the the volunteers arrived for the "Protect Minnesota Research Bears" campaign,with a reward offered for not killing collard research bears. If you have not signed up yet - you can log on to my Facebook page of that name for more information, or ask around in towns in the Ely area for the volunteers, who will gladly enter you in the drawing to win $5000 if none of the bears is iki9lle or wounded during the unting season. every bear h uner with a permti in that area is eligible. .

If you have questons about deer, elk, turkey, waterfowl or black bear bhiology or behavior, or hunhting tips, log on to our site at www.TRMichels.com, There are literally dozens of articles there. Or log on to the "T.R.'s Hunting Tips Talk
Forum" (which you can access from our home page) and ask there. I try to answer ever question there - because I am here to help.

God bless dn good hunhting,

T.R.