Nov. 03–Q. After speaking with a friend who was out West elk hunting, the question arose and we were wondering if the elk across the country rutted at the same times? I know that deer rut differently in different states.
A. I ran your question by Bill Jensen, big game biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, and one of my “go-to” sources for all things related to big game, and here’s what he had to say.
“The rut is triggered by length of daylight conditions (photoperiod) and starts two weeks before the fall equinox (Sept. 22-24 each year) and lasts about 20 days.
“This places the starting date about Sept. 10 and the peak about Sept. 17.
“To make it easy for people — and me — to remember, I just say the peak of the rut is about Sept. 15.”
As for the question of whether the rut occurs differently in different states, Jensen had this to say:
“When elk/red deer have been translocated to the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., New Zealand) they switch to the spring equinox.”
Across North America, by comparison, there’s not much difference in the timing of the rut, Jensen said.
“There may be a few days difference, but for all practical purposes, they are all about the same time,” he said.
If you have a question for Talkin’ with Dokken, call (701) 780-1148 or send an email to [email protected].