One had a pin on him...further, rut intensity

Buddies boy shot his first with a bow last night.   Nice mature doe.
 
I had a fella come underneath me last night at dark.   Pulled back on him, he stopped at 8 yards.  I settled the pin then pulled my head away to double take the length of tines.  They were about 6 inches.  Let the bow down.  Just a little too small.  About a 14" 8 point.   Big deer.
 
Of the two deer I've seen so far, both bucks, they are moving with the search intensity with the fastest pace a deer could walk.   They are still showing enough control to not move until dark, but this type of attitude of the bucks reminds me of the end of October.  That buck last night walked right on top of acorns with his nose to the ground.  Stopped only one time.
 
I enjoy the discussions about rutting.. and laugh when people talk about a possible early rut.   It's funny because eveyone seems to be talking about some different aspect of the rut.   It remains unchanged that 90% of our doe get bred on November 15 +/- 2-3 days..according to studies.   But the intensity of the rut changes from year to year, and even day to day.  Of the two bucks I've seen so far, the area has just as many bucks as doe.   I would think that has alot to do with rut intensity.   Let's hear about your encounters with bucks so far this year, and how they've acted.

I have only seen one deer from the stand so far and that was a decent 14" wide, fairly high 6 pt. last night.  I only hunted Sat. AM/PM and yesterday AM/PM.   I did bump several deer on my way in and out yesterday AM but never saw what they were and none "blew" at me.  Also saw a couple new, decent rublines and 4 or 5 fresh scrapes that appear in the same place at the same time every year.

The 6 pt. wasn't eating just walking but, not the fast paced full search mode.  It was kind of leisurely but he didn't stop much and he followed my exact path in.  At least my scent control was fairly decent.  With the light winds he should have probably smelled me yesterday with the heavy air as he was about a yard from the base of my tree.  He never knew I was there.  I was messing with my camera and didn't have it on "sport" mode so the pics I got of him are blurry since he was moving.  I'll try not to make that mistake again.  Looked to be a late born buck and maybe just now 2 yrs old or a very decent 1.5 yr old.  He had a decent size body but, who knows.  All the deer in this area are well fed.  At least I finally broke the ice and saw a deer from the stand.  Granted, my stand sites right now all have about a max. of 20 yds visibility with all the leaves on. 

It will get better!
 
Forgot to mention, he moved through early, 5:15pm, and I wasn't sure if I could have drew on him based on how my stand was set.  I purposely leave the seat of my summit bushmaster climber pretty low so I have some clearance for close to the tree shots.  Well, I practice drew when the buck was gone and yeah, I could get a shot but upon my let down, one screw from my tru nok popped out and the arrow popped off the nock.  Luckily, the whisker biscuit had enough friction to retain it at the fletch but, I need to get a replacement screw.  I went over everything before I started practicing this summer but, I never checked those tiny screws, which I usually do.  The little things I tell ya...good thing a bruiser didn't come by last night, I would have had to let him walk.  Luckily, my nocking point is well worn on the serving and the one screw stayed in place so I put it back together in the stand (using the tip of an old knife - I didn't have my multi-tool with my, figures) and it is where it is supposed to be.  I'll swing by Gander today and get a new screw (and lock-tite both of them in) and fling some arrows tonight when I get home from work to confirm that it is hitting right. 

I have seen three bucks thus far. 2 1.5y/o 4 points and 1 2.5y/o 8 point.  The four points were dogging does pretty early in the evening.  The nice 8 point moved at last light by himself, feeding along.
 
Now, there is a story to the 8 point that is currently playing out.  I should have some final closure by this evening and will filll ya all in. 

I saw 2 tonight both walking fast.The old man saw 2 nice eights walking really fast by him they wouldn't stop plus it was to dark to see his sight.That's twice he saw these boys i'm going have to kill them for him lol.

Saw my first buck last nite at 6:12pm. To green to get a look at the rack, but I could see some horns through the binos. Worked the edge of a field down into the creek bottom I was in. Never any closer than 70-80 yrds. Walk and stop. Walk and stop. Never showed any signs of looking for does. It was the only deer I saw last nite.