Early reports of fawning dates are reinforcing the fact that Charles Alsheimer's lunar-based rut predictions were nearly spot-on for most of the whitetail breeding activity in areas north of the 35th parallel.

D&DH readers might recall that in the October 2007 "Rut Hunting" issue of the magazine, Alsheimer predicted the breeding phase would primarily fall within the seven-day window of Nov. 4 through 10. He made this prediction based off the fact that the second full moon after the autumnal equinox would occur on Oct. 26. Over the past week (May 19 to 24), many readers have reported seeing newborn fawns dot the landscape. We've had reports all the way from New York west to the Dakotas. With a gestational period of approximately 195 days, these does would have been bred precisely within the predicted dates.

Alsheimer's new predictions for 2008 are revealed in our annual Whitetail Calendar. To order your copy, call 800-250-9159, or pre-order by visiting our on-line store.

Dan Schmidt, D&DH Editor