MS Hunters - How well does this match up with when you see the rut?

Might be accurate but you do not want to hunt during the conception time because they are locked down. You want to hunt the week to 2 weeks prior that is the chasing and searching stage. My $.02

It's pretty accurate. I hunt the North and Central Delta primarily and that is pretty spot on...for an average.

I find it to pretty close. I hunt in Jefferson County.

For Perry County (dark green area) it's about right. That week is when I've seen the most bucks.

I always thought it had something to do with the end of hounding season, but it could have been the rut.

Fairly accurate but I think late. We rut right around Christmas. We are about where Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin counties meet.

I hunt in Wilkinson county so that's pretty accurate. I take my vacation every year, the week after Christmas. That's when it gets right

Every few years they conduct the survey on our farm near Port Gibson. They come out in late Feb and shoot 6-8 does and measure the fetuses. That gives them the conception date.

I remember them doing it twice and one year it was Dec 24th and another year it was Dec 26th. We have always seen the most bucks and the biggest bucks from Dec 20th to Jan 1st.

So from my perspective and with regards to the rut, it is spot on.

When in doubt, cheat towards earlier than those dates. If conception date is Dec 25th, they are usually chasing hard by the 15th-20th. But it can drop off dramatically after the 1st. So if you graph it, it would look like a ski jump. Long, slow climb and then a cliff on the back side.

Ive shot bucks chasing from Dec 22nd to last week of January.

All your does wont be hot the same day. Just for shits and giggles lets say they are all within 5 days. bucks may lock down for 3 days with a doe but when he is done he is gonna be up looking for more. If at all possible and can be done safely, the first week of Jan is when I do a lot of stalking. Ive killed two really nice bucks that were bedded with a doe. One on Jan 4th and another on Jan 10th.

I think hunting any day from Christmas week through Jan in South west Mississippi it prime time

Yeah I know I'm over thinking it, there's never been a tightly defined rut in this area anyway. Really just gotta make a decision and roll with it.