Since we launched Deer Feeding Chart in 2011, we have had over one million Deer Feeding Chart searches by Zip Code from deer hunters across the United States. Our hypotheses is that this data can be useful to help you pinpoint the whitetail rut in your area and determine peak hunting weeks.
We have grouped each historical Deer Feeding Chart Zip Code hit by US County and summed the year to year data for each week for each county. This approach matches numerous scientific studies, including the recent QDMA study No Link Between Moon Phase and Rut Peak, which shows that the rut is driven primarily by the photoperiod (the length of time of the day) and not by the "Rutting Moon".
Because the length of daylight is always the same for a given day every year, the photoperiod approach makes the whitetail rut timing very predictable. According to the QDMA study the average center of breeding fell within a 7 day period every single year, and for eight of the nine years it fell in the same 4 day period. We believe the Deer Feeding Chart “peak hunter activity" sheds a unique light on the "peak breeding activity" theory. Happy deer hunting!
Enter your Zip Code below to see the Peak Rut Dates for your location.