Each year the Dougherty's of NorthCountry Whitetails put together their famous Rut Report following deer activity throughout the season. This year's Rut Report starts soon:

Well, it’s about time to fire up the old rut tracking machine for another year. Due to popular demand we will once again be writing our weekly deer report to keep you wired in to what’s going on at Kindred Spirits, and what is happening rut wise.

We will also be hosting a blog on the website of a new national magazine called Whitetails Only. The blog will be tracking the rut and will feature 3 live cameras operating at an “undefined” location in southwestern NY. Craig is the new Publisher of the magazine and Neil will be directing a variety of field projects for the organization.

Our weekly deer report will be more “personal” than our Whitetails Only blog. Many of you are close personal friends (and that’s how we like it) and most of you have been to Kindred Spirits. The report we send you each week will have more detail than our national blog. In addition to our weekly report we will also be posting some updates and camera photos of Kindred Spirits locations on our website that will not be seen on the Whitetails Only site and will not be in our weekly report.

Now, we need your help. We pay special attention to the “unique” bucks that show up on our cameras. They seem to ramp up as the rut approaches and peak slightly before breeding time. They are great indicators of the rut. We would like you to start tracking your unique bucks as we track ours.

Start counting now and finish on Oct. 4. That is your “unique buck baseline”. Let’s say 20 uniques by Oct. 4. After the 4th count every newcomer (you might add 1 or 2 or more each week) your cameras pick up. Tally only the uniques your cameras pick up each week until Dec. 15th. Tip, you might want to copy a “mug shot” of each unique as he shows up as well as all the bucks in your initial survey. Some bucks leave early only to show up at a later date. Keeping a mug file will help you keep track of who is coming and going.

We will develop a reporting form for you as the season progresses and asking you to fill it out when the season ends. It will really be cool to keep track of uniques and this will serve as a pilot for a large national study we will be kicking off next year with our new magazine. Imagine, thousands of hunters tracking buck activity as the rut develops, peaks and ends.

Best regards,
NorthCountry Whitetails