Louisiana Whitetail Rut Dates & Deer Movement
Louisiana's rut runs from October in the southwest to late January in the river bottoms. LDWF dates breeding from fetal measurements, and its breeding-date map shades the southwest pinelands and coastal prairie earliest, the northwest hills in late November and early December, the Delta and Florida Parishes from mid-December into mid-January, and the Mississippi and Atchafalaya bottoms in January. The windows below follow that map.
Rut windows by region
Southwest Prairie and Pines
Oct 10 to Nov 20
Peak: late October to early November
Calcasieu, Beauregard, Allen, Vernon and the coastal marsh breed earliest in the state. A strip along the Gulf in Cameron is shaded as early as September 26.
Northwest Hills
Nov 7 to Dec 18
Peak: late November to early December
Most of the north from Caddo to Union is shaded November 21 to December 4. Natchitoches, Rapides and De Soto run earlier, and Bienville, Lincoln and Ouachita later.
Delta and Florida Parishes
Dec 5 to Jan 15
Peak: late December to early January
Tensas, Madison and West Carroll center on December 19 to January 1, the Florida Parishes on January 2 to 15. The coastal marsh below New Orleans falls in the same span.
Mississippi and Atchafalaya Bottoms
Jan 2 to 29
Peak: mid-January
Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, Iberville, St. Martin and the river parishes. A few pockets near West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee run to February 12.
Regional estimates, and your area can vary. Where these dates come from is below.
2026 season: archery opens in some zones late August, and later in others. Source: Louisiana season dates (LDWF). Seasons and zones change, so confirm with the agency before you hunt.
Where do the Louisiana rut dates come from?
LDWF dates the rut from fetal measurements, since a fetus's length shows when its doe was bred. Its map, filled in with targeted sampling since 2006, shades each area by its average two-week peak, though breeding runs longer.
The southwest is earliest, October into mid-November, with a Gulf strip from late September. The northwest follows in late November and early December, the Delta and Florida Parishes in late December and early January, and the river bottoms in January. LDWF says bucks move most one to two weeks before peak breeding. The cards above follow its map.
Sources: LDWF, estimated deer breeding periods; LDWF Louisiana deer breeding dates map; LDWF, deer research, management and reports.
How do the 2026 seasons in Louisiana line up with the rut?
LDWF sets seasons by deer area, partly by breeding period, and the 2026 to 2027 dates run:
- Southwest (Areas 3, 7, 8, 10): Archery September 19 to January 15. Gun October 17 to January 3, still hunt only through November 29 (all season in Area 10)
- Northwest (Area 2): Archery October 1 to January 31. Gun October 31 to January 17, still hunt only through December 9
- Delta and Florida Parishes (Areas 1, 4): Archery October 1 to January 31. Gun November 21 to January 24, dogs only December 12 to January 3, where allowed
- River bottoms and southeast (Areas 5, 6, 9): Archery October 1 to February 15, bucks only to October 15. Gun November 21 to January 24, bucks only from December 21 in Areas 5 and 9
- Primitive firearms: October 10 to 16 in the southwest, October 24 to 30 in Area 2, November 14 to 20 elsewhere, and a second week in January
The southwest and northwest peaks fall in archery and still-hunt gun seasons, the Delta and Florida Parishes in the late gun season, and the river bottoms in the last gun days and late archery.
Sources: LDWF 2026-2027 deer hunting schedule (PDF); LDWF, deer research, management and reports; LDWF Louisiana deer report, 2024-2025 (PDF); LDWF Louisiana deer breeding dates map.
How many deer do Louisiana hunters take?
Louisiana hunters reported just under 144,000 deer in the 2024 to 2025 season, up 5 percent and a record for the second year running, about 16,500 of them from public land.
Reported deer are a minimum. LDWF's hunter survey put the season's take at about 239,000, 56 percent of them bucks.
Where is the public ground in Louisiana?
LDWF manages deer hunting on more than 1.5 million acres and holds lottery hunts on its WMAs every year. WMA deer hunting is still hunt only, and bucks-only seasons line up with the rut on most WMAs.
Kisatchie National Forest adds about 604,000 acres under its own Forest Service rules, and 23 national wildlife refuges cover more than 550,000 acres, each with its own hunt permit.
Sources: LDWF Louisiana deer report, 2024-2025 (PDF); LDWF, deer research, management and reports; LDWF 2026-2027 Louisiana hunting and WMA regulations (PDF).
Which Louisiana rules change a rut hunt?
- The limit is six deer a season, three antlered at most, except Area 1 (two antlered), Area 4 (four deer, two antlered) and Area 10 (three deer, two antlered). One hardened antler showing, or velvet antlers 3 inches or longer, makes a legal buck.
- Baiting is banned on every WMA and federal refuge. Inside CWD Management Zones it is allowed only September 1 to March 31 this season.
- Crossbows are legal archery gear.
- In gun season, anyone carrying a centerfire or primitive firearm, buckshot or slugs needs 400 square inches of hunter orange or blaze pink, or a cap on private land, where elevated stands are exempt.
- CWD was first found in 2022, and LDWF has confirmed 55 cases so far, 52 in Tensas Parish. Whole carcasses cannot leave a CWD Management Zone or come in from another state.
- Natural deer urine scents are banned unless certified free of detectable CWD through the Responsible Hunting Scent Association or Archery Trade Association program.
- High water can close the Atchafalaya Basin (15 to 18 feet at Butte LaRose) and limit land east of US 65 in East Carroll and part of Madison to archery at Vicksburg flood stage.
Sources: LDWF 2026-2027 Louisiana hunting and WMA regulations (PDF); LDWF, chronic wasting disease; LDWF deer hunter's guide for CWD management zones (PDF); LDWF quick guide for hunting in a CWD management zone, 2026 (PDF).
Checked against the linked sources on September 30, 2026. Seasons and rules change every year, so confirm with the agency before you hunt.
Turn the Louisiana dates into a plan
A date on a calendar can't tell you which spot to sit. RackIQ weighs the rut phase for your part of Louisiana against the wind, your way in, the pressure already on the ground and what you've seen there, then says hunt it or save it. The Scored Call™ is checked afterward, and every hunt you log makes the next call sharper.
Free to start.
Common questions
When is the rut in north Louisiana?
It depends on the side. On LDWF's map most of the northwest, from Caddo to Union, breeds November 21 to December 4, the interior around Bienville, Lincoln and Ouachita December 5 to 18, and the northeast Delta mostly December 19 to January 1.
When does the rut peak in the Mississippi River bottoms?
In January. LDWF's map shades the Mississippi and Atchafalaya bottoms January 2 to 29, with small pockets near West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee running to February 12.
Where does the Louisiana rut start first?
In the southwest. LDWF's map shades the pinelands and prairie around Calcasieu, Beauregard and Allen mostly October 24 to November 6, the coastal marsh mostly October 10 to November 6, and a strip along the Gulf as early as September 26.
Keep reading
Rut dates for other states: West Virginia · Colorado · Virginia · Maryland · or see every state.
On what moves deer once you are out there: The Rut Clock, The 48-Hour Window, and the rest of Field Notes.