Hows the rut going in your area?

[tjm]

Well i'll start out south central Mn.4 bucks chasing a doe around for 20 minutes none stop.3 outa those 4 all got to breed her that was sunday.This morning i saw 2 bucks chase a doe for 3/4 mile across a picked bean field.Both doe looked to be 5 or 6 year olds.Might even been the same doe i have no idea they were 2 miles apart

Couple bucks i been try'n to set up on for the fm guys have been working a scrape line just at sunset.Have not seen hide nor hair of them in the AM though.

Most of the bucks are either alone or following the doe around.Did not see 2 bucks together the last 3 days.Thats a 1st this season

Sunday morning i heard some good antler sounds way off in the distance.This was about 1/2 hour before shooting time it lasted a good 5 minutes

As far as buck movements i would say the evening has been better all weekend.Mornings are realy slow right now where i'm at

[jbtwins24]

last night was hecka crazy. i was sitting in my ground blind on the side of a bean field. ever since 6:30 i had more deer then i thought just coming in and out. i dont know that this has to do with the rut but im thinking it does. about two dozen deer running on the other hillside and finally came down to the fields at once. it was like something was chasen these deer around but didnt know what. it sucks when all of these deer come out because not one was in shoot distance. 4 huge bucks and couldnt do anything to get them in. its kinda nice to see two huge bucks fighting. i dont think i could get out of the field until 8:30 because they were still out there, i didnt want to spook them.

[Tippman]

I saw two mature 8 ptr's last night hanging out together yet as friends...Until I shot one of them. 204 lbs, my biggest as far as weight.

[Bassboy1645]

a few rubs and finally a sracpe i found! Deer activity is minimal so far and all of our bucks and does are spottedo nthe roads after dark around ely area.

[Gofishleech]

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Well i'll start out south central Mn.4 bucks chasing a doe around for 20 minutes none stop.3 outa those 4 all got to breed her that was sunday.This morning i saw 2 bucks chase a doe for 3/4 mile across a picked bean field.Both doe looked to be 5 or 6 year olds.Might even been the same doe i have no idea they were 2 miles apart

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Bucks breeding a doe, early Ouctober???????? Man you must have a great area. I have been reading all your post and I must admitt I am starting to wonder - who is this guy tjm ?

[harvey lee]

In North Dakota where I hunt I have seen some bucks sparing,some scrapes and more rubs.I have seen more bucks together in groups than running alone.I have not noticed any bucks chasing does yet.

I would guess with the month slipping away and the colder weather coming that the buck activity should start to pick up.

We will see this weekend as I am going back Friday for 3 more days along with 3 other guys so we should notice something going on.

[slimngrizzly]

Ive noticed more activity on the cameras lately. Feeding, scraping, and moving. And the Necks are getting WAY bigger now. As far as in the stand, I have observed very little to do with the rut. I believe in the October Lull, and this is it. This cold may help things, but all the photos Ive got of the 3 1/2 yr olds plus, all middle of the night.

2 weeks before the action starts, this is just forplay. Now is a time where you can easily do more harm than good by hunting your "good" spots. Be patient, its coming.....

[WalleyeWeasel]

"3 outa those 4 all got to breed her"

STORIES.......STORIES.........

This guy has "THE JIMMER" syndrom !!

Everyone knows a dude named Jimmer who is over-exagerative and has to out-do everybody, you know the i saw 3 bucks and he saw 5 bucks kinda guy.......c'mon, everyone, post up-your Jimmer stories.......

[tjm]

Well i have seen breeding going on 1st of October.The doe that comes into heat this early is normaly a mature doe like 5 or 6 year olds.I dont mean chasing either i mean actualy seeing the buck ontop and she stands

Why do ya think you see all kinds of different sized fawns.Because not all doe come into heat at the same time frame.Some come in early some late some get missed and most come into heat around the 5-15th of Nov

I'm the guy you will see sitting on the side of the road a lot with a spotting scope looking at deer.My little note book reminds me whats going on in the area from year to year.I can sit and look for a couple miles with a spotting scope from a knob.Your the guy who honks and shakes your head at me cause ya gotta go around me.I'm learning and your wondering why i'm parked there

I see all kinds of things while i'm out that i have never read in a magazine.I also read magazines that have nothing to do with the area i hunt so it does me no good.Only way your going to actualy learn more is to do it hands on

3 guys that were with me this past weekend said the same thing you just did.Never seen that this early.They also said they have never seen a buck actualy on top either let alone 3 outa the 4 bucks got to breed 1 doe.Now they have been hunting for about 20 years.That alone sums it up to me why they prety much dont have big bucks on the wall.

No home work.Not spending time out in the field but complain why they never shoot a big buck.Maybe there just unlucky cause the areas they hunt have big bucks

Do you think Harvey shoots big bucks because he has the best area or do ya think he shoots big bucks because he knows his area.It dont matter how good the area is you gotta know it to shoot 1

You keep this in the back of your head until spring.I'll bet we have 1 long rut this year meaning things will pick up as the days get closer to Nov but things will be stretched out more then normal.You wont see big bucks holding out like they normaly do until later in the rut.I think the bucks will be running at a good pace come this weekend thru mid Dec.I'll also say were going to have an early spring

All the signs are in the field you just gotta remember from years back the signs you saw and what happens when you see this

I got a call from a friend that was out hunting yesterday afternoon and this morning.He told me he saw a buck mount a big doe at 6:25pm last night.It was a 10 pointer that would score about 140's.He also saw 5 more small bucks follow her path back into the woods by the time it got dark out.This morning he saw O deer.So his ? to me was do ya think i spooked the deer away.Answer NO it's the moon phase.The main deer movement will be around 10 am for the next few days in are area.Next week you'll see deer movement around 2-3pm(afternoon)Same thing every month guys/gals.Only thing that changes this are storms

[harvey lee]

tjm states some very good findings.I have hunted this same area for many years and know where my stand is going every year.I have one very good buck stand for rifle and it is a 100% guarantee that the guy sitting in that stand on opening day will shot a very nice buck.It has happened for the past 6 years.

I also do many hours of watching ans scouting for the bigger boys and it does pay off.

My son has had a stand up in one spot for the last two years and last week we moved it for the last time as we have patterned these bucks many times.When the wind is right he will move in for the kill.

There is I will admit some luck to this game,but you can also create your own luck by doing your homework.

[doser]

I have deer hunted with Harvey and he is "LUCKY"

[harvey lee]

Chad,sometimes I would rather be lucky than good and I dont even know if I would call myself good.Maybe above average.

[KOTTKE]

I can't report on any rut activity in the central carver county area because all I am seeing is Does and Fawns. I mean I have hunted these same stands for 10 years and can't believe what I am seeing. The woods seem to be crawling with little does. there everywhere. I don't know if this is just me or is anyone else seeing the same thing. Typically this time of year I'm on 1 or 2 good bucks. just waiting, not this year, I must have pissed of the deer gods or something.

[fishermn]

Does can come into estrus several times before they are bred. I dont see it as unreasonable that this may have already started, at least in a few deer...

[BLACKJACK]

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There is I will admit some luck to this game,but you can also create your own luck by doing your homework.

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I agree 100% with you on this Harvey!!! Why do the same guys consistantly shoot bucks, nice bucks, every year? Scouting and time in the field!!!

[harvey lee]

Time in the field will make a huge difference.I spend approx 30-35 days deer hunting if the weather permits and I should shoot more deer than the hunter that only hunts 2-3 weekends a year.Heck I am in the field 5 times more and if I do things correctly then I should also be shooting more game.

[bigbucks]

Exactly! I don't shoot big bucks, although I'm working on it, but I hunt a lot & shoot a lot of does. I don't figure I'm lucky at all. I know I'll spend enough time in the woods that I'll shoot a few deer, unless I really screw up a lot more than normal. Guys do get lucky & shoot a deer or two, but the guys that shoot a lot of deer have made their own luck.

[HunterLee]

I know some kind of rut is taking place. My brother saw 170 class 10 pointer chasing a doe all around at about 4:30pm on Saturday night. I saw a very big 9 pointer running around all stupid the same night. To bad he was a little to far away. Next night called in two small 6 pointers with the lil can call. They were going at it pretty good. One got a whiff of my doe scent and went nuts over it. Then gave them a light grunt they got kinda jittery. Gave them more dominant grunt and they took off. They must of thought that big 10 pointer was there cause they just looked around. But 3 miles away i saw 4 bucks one decent 10, two 8's and a six, just standing around and eating. So something is going on, either the "mini" rut or the start of the normal rut. But either way certain bucks both big and small are chasing.

[Rotwieler]

i havent seen too much activity. there has been an increase in rubs in the last few days. last week i saw two decent eights together on the side of the road. i hunt outside of duluth by the way.

[bigbucks]

I forgot to reply to the actually question yesterday, got a little excited about the other post I guess.

I saw a 6 pointer working a licking branch Tuesday night, couldn't tell if he was scraping or not. He was sort of chasing a couple of other deer, but not very seriously. I did eventually get him intersted enough to come over with grunts & a can call, but it was kind of casual thing. He didn't come running in. He was still dead if I wanted him.

[Rotwieler]

i just saw three buck together on the side of the road tonight. there was a nice ten and eight, and a little bit smaller eight. they were just standing inside of the treeline and close together. doesnt seem there getting competative for area yet.

[Jim Hudson]

Up here it is pretty much the same as everywhere else in the mid-west.. The October lull.. Most buck sightings are early in the morning, late evening, or after dark. Did poke around the woods a bit lately and seen some rubs and one small scrape. In two weeks, we should see a lot more activity. Halloween, or a few days on either side, is always the start of the best time to be in the woods for heavy pre-rut activity and into the first stage of the chase stage. Lots of acorns this year though, and most activity has been in the hardwoods.

TJM on average how often do you see this type of behavior, early breeding of does? Seeing how I used to live, breathe, eat, and crap deer hunting until I switched gears into more fall fishing a few years ago, I only witnessed this once. I know that some does do cycle early, but very few to say the least experience this. I would feel sorry for those does that do get stuck early and are bred up in this area, just because the fawns would be born one full month before normal fawns are dropped. Not good for survival, and if you are witnessing a lot of this, there could be something goofy going on. But I am curious to see if this is a yearly trend or just an off the wall encounter?

[B. Amish]

i know of 2 sets of bucks found locked together in west central minnesota, one set of the two is making its way to the wall and i'm not sure what happened to the other set. both sets were found last week. 3 of the 4 bucks were still alive.

[harvey lee]

We shot 1 doe and she was a little sticky on the knee glands.Not many new scrapes,the necks seemed to be swelling some and a few smaller bucks running doe's.We will go back in four more days and I believe things should start to pick up a little more.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I did a bunch of walking around in the woods trying to find new stuff to hunt.. didn;'t find a lot for scrapes.. but found a few areas with a lot of rubs.

[xedge2002]

I was out pheasant hunting yesterday and seen a scrape that looked fresh and the branch above it looked like it had been chewed early in the morning. I posted some pics of bucks fighting I got on my trail cam in the trail cam pics of the deer-bear forum.

[tjm]

All i can say is (I'm glad no one new was hunting with me over the weekend)Talk about dead

Lots of new scrapes/rubs all being used after dark.more like after 10pm and before 6pm because i ran the spot light during leagl hours and never saw 1 buck nor realy saw much for deer in general.

Yesterday afternoon i put some doe pee on a new scrape.No deer showed up last night.I put my bow in the farmers house and got out the spot light.At 8:23pm the deer came outa the cover by 9pm i saw 18 bucks 9 does/fawns by 10pm i saw 34 bucks 12 does/fawns

This morning i went back to the stand i sat yesterday afternoon.I looked at the scrape i put some pee on and it had opened to the size of a truck hood over night.After a 45 minute sit it started to rain(down poor)so i headed out for a drive.20 minutes later it was day break and i saw 14 bucks in the 1st 25 minutes everyone had there nose to the ground and hauling azz across picked fields searchin.I never did see 1 doe at this time.

Grinding my teeth we left are stands now i look out on a fence line and see 150" monster body buck nose on top of a does back her tail sticking straight out his neck the size of a barrel.I turn around down the road a 1/4 mile came back.No deer they had fled into the standing corn

I hope this is the sign of better days ahead because i can honestly say the past 3 days were ugly for us.I cant recall in the last 15 years anything this bad that many days in a row.Then this morning i see all this and it just had to rain and we had to be home by noon anyways."Figures"

We tried small sets of atlers with no luck.Set i had luck on score about 150" and the 2 bucks that came in 1 being antlers had just broke the hair line and he figured he was the stud of the area.The other had 1 fork he also figured he was the stud and who dared to be in his back yard.Little do they know whats ahead of them in the next few weeks.I was so upset at the bad hunting we were having i threw 1 antler at the fork horn buck just so he knows what comming when he hears the thunder.He never looked back as he high tailed outa the area.That was the only thing that put a smile on my face the whole weekend.

[slimngrizzly]

at least you saw a 150", it gets ya pumped anyway!!!

[Greybeard53]

Spent a couple days on our hunting land up near Onamia this weekend. Saw several very fresh ground scrapes, tree rubs and lots of deer. Mostly does and fawns, but one very heavy bodied buck (didn't get a very good look at his rack). My 15 year old son arrowed a nice big doe on saturday evening. He's taken two bucks with a rifle, but this was his first deer with a bow, so that made it a great weekend.

All this deer activity has me really pumped up for the upcoming weeks. In fact, I'm pretty sure my own neck is beginning to swell up.

[Dahitman44]

Made it out to my stand late, again. Had a buck right behind me rubbing on a tree and snorting. Never came out.

Just stating to see rubs -- no scrapes yet.

Hawley/Perham area.