Rut dates · 2026

When is the deer rut in your state?

Peak breeding dates from state wildlife agencies and published studies — every date links to where it came from. Where nobody has published one, we say so instead of guessing.

How to read these dates

Biologists date the rut by conception: they back-date from fetuses or fawn births to when does were bred. A single date is the peak — the day the most does were bred. A range covers most of the breeding.

Bucks travel hardest in the days leading up to and during that peak — in a 2025 Wisconsin GPS study, buck movement topped out in the week before peak breeding ended. Weather and local deer density shift it year to year, and a state's coastal or southern counties can run weeks earlier than its average.

Agency / study comes from a state wildlife agency or a peer-reviewed study. Secondary is a biologist quoted in the press or a federal fact sheet — useful, but weaker.

AK AR CA CO MN MT NC UT VA VT WA WI

One page per state: Alaska · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Minnesota · Montana · North Carolina · Utah · Virginia · Vermont · Washington · Wisconsin

Alaska

Sitka black-tailed deer

Southeast Alaska Agency ≈ Nov 24 Peak breeding in does that have fawned before. The same report notes the exact timing isn't precisely known. Source: ADF&G, Reproductive Potential of Sitka Black-tailed Deer in Southeast Alaska (1987)

Kodiak and Prince William Sound: no published peak date found.

Arkansas

White-tailed deer

Western Arkansas Agency Oct 28 – Nov 21 The range of peak conception dates across most western counties. Source: AGFC (2018)

Eastern Arkansas Agency Nov 22 – Dec 14 Latest along the Mississippi River counties. AGFC doesn't define exactly where west ends and east begins. Source: AGFC (2018)

California

Mule deer and black-tailed deer

No published peak date found. The state's 2002 deer hunting guide says the rut runs anywhere from October in the coastal mountains to January in the southern deserts (CDFG, Hunting Deer in California) — check your zone's herd plan.

Colorado

Mule deer

Statewide Secondary Mid-Nov – mid-Dec The breeding window, not a peak. Colorado Parks & Wildlife doesn't publish dates. Source: USDA NRCS Colorado, Mule Deer fact sheet

Minnesota

White-tailed deer

Statewide Agency November – early December The breeding season. The DNR doesn't publish a peak date or a regional split. Source: MN DNR, Natural history of deer in Minnesota

Montana

Mule deer and white-tailed deer

Mule deer · Missouri River Breaks Agency Nov 21 – Dec 1 Three-quarters of litters were conceived in this window; middle date about Nov 25. One study area. Source: MT FWP, Mule Deer in the Missouri River Breaks (1989)

Whitetails · statewide Agency Mid – late November In western Montana, late November to early December. Source: Montana Field Guide, White-tailed Deer

Whitetails · Northwest Secondary ≈ Nov 21 Statistical peak of conceptions, as reported in the press. Source: Spokesman-Review (2010)

North Carolina

White-tailed deer · peak conception by zone, updated 2025

Southeastern AgencyOct 31Coastal counties earlier — Brunswick and Carteret about Oct 17.

Northeastern AgencyNov 8Coastal counties up to four weeks earlier — Hyde about Oct 4, Tyrrell Oct 16.

Central AgencyNov 15

Northwestern AgencyNov 25

Western AgencyDec 5Some mountain counties run later — Macon about Dec 19.

Source: NCWRC, Estimated Peak Conception Dates (2025) — zone averages; the source has dates by county.

Utah

Mule deer

Statewide Agency Mid-November "The rut or breeding period for mule deer peaks in mid-November." Source: Utah DWR, Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan 2024–2030

Virginia

White-tailed deer

Statewide Agency ≈ Nov 16 Back-calculated from peak fawning; DWR also describes breeding as concentrated in the last two weeks of November. No regional split. Source: VA DWR (2025)

Vermont

White-tailed deer

Statewide Secondary Third week of November Peak of conception, per a Vermont Fish & Wildlife biologist. Source: Northern Woodlands (2010)

Washington

White-tailed deer

Northeast · whitetails Secondary ≈ Nov 23 Statistical peak of conceptions, as reported in the press. Source: Spokesman-Review (2010)

Mule deer and black-tailed deer: no published peak date found.

Wisconsin

White-tailed deer

Southwest (Dane, Iowa, Grant) Study Oct 23 – Nov 12 Breeding season from DNR study deer, 2017–2020. Buck movement peaked the week of Nov 5–11. Source: Hunsaker et al., Ecology and Evolution (2025)

Central Study Nov 8 – Dec 5 Old data (1970s–80s); adult does peaked Nov 15–21. Source: Clark, UW–Stevens Point thesis (1981)

Northern Wisconsin: no published peak date found.

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