Here are my observations hunting in 1B and 3A the past week for whatever it's worth.
10/30 - Yearling bucks wandering. Big buck checks a doe and leaves her. Not ready yet and not interested in harassing her. I couldn't get a shot.
11/1 - Does still with fawns. Tells me not getting chased hard yet.
11/2 - Cousin is retarded. Ruins the morning. Don't go out in evening.
11/4 - Does with fawns again. Yearling bucks still stupid and wandering.
11/5 - Yearling bucks start harassing does enough to separate from fawns. Getting close. Spikes are everywhere.
11/6 - 2.5 yr old wandering. Nose not to the ground. Not interested in grunts. No does seen.
11/7 - Yearlings as usual. Just doing the same old same old. Right before dark all heck breaks loose. First hot doe of year runs past my stand with a nice buck right on her tail. Too slow with the draw and they are gone. Bummed. 5 minutes later next buck shows up trailing them. Not shooter, borderline even legal. Runs between my ladder and tree. 5 minutes later, absolute brute comes trailing them all. Checks up in clearing to locate the scent = you're mine.
I honestly think the first hot doe was a couple days later this year than in the past where I hunt. Still, it occurred in the single digit November days and that's when I take my vacation every year. Obviously I have no way of knowing it was the first hot doe of the area, but I'm thinking it had to have been one of the first. I was on stand 90% of the daylight Mon - Thurs and it was the first real craziness observed. The buck I shot was way bigger than anything we had on camera all year. That indicated to me that he might have come from a distance looking for a screw.
Now I gotta go get dressed for a wedding. Who gets married in the rut anyway?
post edited by Claypool313 - 2013/11/09 16:16:27