Bield Hunt · Whitetail rut dates
The whitetail rut, by state.
Pre-rut, peak breeding, post-rut, and late-rut windows for whitetail by state and zone. Drawn from state agency fetal-rate studies and published breeding-data summaries — we always defer to the official agency for the most current numbers.
Northeast
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has the most rigorously documented rut in North America — peak conception lands Nov 13–15 statewide, year after year.
New York
New York's rut peaks Nov 10–20 statewide — the second week of November is the safest bet for prime activity.
Maryland
Maryland's rut peaks November 8–16 across the state, with the Eastern Shore running a touch earlier than the western mountains.
Maine
Maine's rut peaks November 10–20, with the big-woods northern zones running a few days behind the populated southern counties.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire's rut peaks November 10–20, with northern zones lagging southern zones by a few days.
Vermont
Vermont's rut peaks November 10–20, with the Northeast Kingdom running a few days behind the Champlain Valley.
Connecticut
Connecticut's rut peaks November 8–18 statewide — uniform across the state's small geographic footprint.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island's rut peaks November 8–18 — small state, single tight window.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts's rut peaks November 8–18 statewide — a tight window across a small but deer-rich state.
New Jersey
New Jersey's rut peaks early — November 5–15 — with surprisingly little zone variation across the state.
Delaware
Delaware's rut peaks early — November 1–15 — making it one of the earliest peak windows in the Mid-Atlantic.
Mid-South
Virginia
Virginia's rut peaks around November 13–16 statewide, with the western mountains running a touch later than tidewater.
West Virginia
West Virginia's rut peaks remarkably uniformly across the state — Nov 13–17 in most counties.
Kentucky
Kentucky's rut peaks around the second week of November statewide — a tight window for one of the country's premier whitetail states.
Tennessee
Tennessee runs a noticeably later rut than its northern neighbors — peak conception clusters around November 18–25.
Arkansas
Arkansas's rut runs early November in the Ozarks to late November in the Coastal Plain — the spread depends on which side of the state you hunt.
Southeast
North Carolina
North Carolina has the most dramatic rut variation east of the Mississippi — coastal bucks peak in October while mountain bucks peak nearly a month later.
South Carolina
South Carolina's coastal bucks peak weeks before the upstate — one of the most dramatic rut spreads in the Southeast.
Georgia
Georgia's rut runs late October in the south to mid-November in the mountains — a 3-week spread depending on where you hunt.
Alabama
Alabama has one of the latest and most variable ruts in the country — some zones peak in November, others not until late January.
Mississippi
Mississippi's rut runs late by southern standards — peak breeding lands anywhere from mid-December to mid-January depending on the zone.
Florida
Florida has the most extreme rut variation in the country — bucks peak in July in some zones and February in others.
Louisiana
Louisiana's rut is the most parish-variable in the South — some areas peak in October, others not until January.
Midwest
Ohio
Ohio's rut peaks November 5–15 — one of the most consistent and productive windows in the country.
Indiana
Indiana's rut peaks early — around November 3–15 — putting it a few days ahead of most Midwestern neighbors.
Illinois
Illinois's rut peaks November 8–15 — a tight window in the country's most productive trophy whitetail state.
Michigan
Michigan's rut peaks November 5–20, with the Upper Peninsula running a week behind the southern Lower Peninsula.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin's rut peaks November 5–20, with the Northern Forest zone running about a week behind the Driftless and Central Farmland.
Iowa
Iowa's rut peaks November 5–15 — a tight window in the state hunters travel from across the country to draw a tag in.
Minnesota
Minnesota's rut peaks November 5–20, with the far north running about a week behind southern farmland counties.
Missouri
Missouri's rut peaks around November 8–18, with the row-crop north running tight to the second week of November and the Ozarks slightly later.
Plains
North Dakota
North Dakota's whitetail rut peaks November 5–15, with prairie bucks running tight to the first half of November.
South Dakota
South Dakota's whitetail rut peaks November 5–15 across East River and West River, with the Black Hills running a few days later.
Nebraska
Nebraska's whitetail rut peaks November 5–15 — tight, predictable, and visible in the open prairie habitat.
Kansas
Kansas's whitetail rut peaks November 8–18 — the heart of the country's most productive trophy whitetail window.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma's whitetail rut runs from early November in the northeast to mid-November statewide — a meaningful regional spread.
Texas
Texas has one of the most regionally variable whitetail ruts in the country — Pineywoods bucks peak in October while South Texas bucks peak in late December.
West
Colorado
Colorado's whitetail rut peaks November 10–20 in the eastern plains river bottoms — the only part of the state where huntable whitetail populations exist.
Montana
Montana's whitetail rut peaks November 10–22 — late and tight, with river-bottom bucks running visibly.
Wyoming
Wyoming's whitetail rut peaks November 10–20 in the eastern river drainages, where huntable whitetail populations are established.
Idaho
Idaho's whitetail rut peaks November 10–22 in the panhandle and northern river country — late and concentrated.
Washington
Washington's whitetail rut peaks November 5–20 in the northeast — most of the state is blacktail and mule deer country.
Oregon
Oregon's whitetail rut peaks November 5–20, but whitetail country is limited to the northeast and lower Columbia River drainages.
California
California is blacktail and mule deer country — there are no established whitetail populations. Rut dates here refer to those species.
Utah
Utah is mule deer country — the rut peaks November 10–22 across the state. Whitetail populations are not established here.
Nevada
Nevada is mule deer country — the rut peaks November 10–22. Whitetail populations are not established in the state.
Arizona
Arizona is famous for Coues whitetail — a small whitetail subspecies whose rut peaks in late December to mid-January, dramatically later than typical whitetail.
New Mexico
New Mexico has both mule deer (statewide) and Coues whitetail (southwest mountains). The Coues rut runs dramatically late — peak conception is in late December and January.
Bield Hunt earns its predictions.
14-day free trial. No credit card. Cancel anytime.