It's started to fire up in SW Iowa.

IAhuntr · 11-06-2008, 08:48 PM

just an fyito those wanting a rut update. Spentmost of the day on stand and about 9:30 Ihad a doe come flying by witha nice 150-ish bruiser in hot pursuit. Saw several other shooters as well throughout the day and while driving between stand sites. Some with their nose to the ground, some working scrape lines,others guarding does from smaller bucks. I was attempting to fill a couple doe tags, but the wind and aggressive buck movement had most of them in hiding. The cold weather seems to have flipped the switch for the bucks at least. Good luck to everyone in the woods the next couple days.

SouthDakotaHunter · 11-06-2008, 08:50 PM

Awesome, thanks for the update! Gear is packed and ready to head to south central IA tomorrow!!! Can't wait, especially after your post!

cody_lee · 11-06-2008, 08:54 PM

NW corner of the state here, and we've been noticing some pretty extreme ground scrapes on the edges of our deer plot. I've also seen some very nice scrapes on trees as well. We have a lot of activity in the morning, and I can watch half a dozen doe at night, but haven't seen any bucks. I've got my Moultrie tree cam over the biggest scrape but am having troubles with the camera. This scrape started out at 2-3 square feet and is easily nearing 10 sq ft, with at least half a dozen other small ones near by, so the activity is there, I just can't time it.

IAhuntr · 11-07-2008, 07:07 AM

Got a pic from yesterdays hunt.This is thebig buck that came bychasing the doe. I stopped him with a mouth grunt and got him to turn toward me with a snort wheeze. Picture isn't the greatest, buy you can clearly see his G2's and just outside you can see his mainbeams. Monster buck with a huge neck. He stood for about 20 seconds before deciding the doe was going to be a bit more fun than a buck fight. Of course before he left he stood there offereing a beauty of a 35 yard quartering away shot just for kicks because he must have known I already filled my buck tag.

AF Hunter · 11-07-2008, 07:16 AM

Unfortunately, I don't have rights to any deep woods here and the wind is killing me!!!!!! It's been blowing so hard here, I think the American Flag in the front yard is permanently positioned in the gale force position.[:@]

IAhuntr · 11-07-2008, 07:23 AM

Yep the wind picked up about noon yesterday here as well and hasn't stopped yet. I didn't see any doe moving in the p.m. but right at dark I saw three big boys standing out in the open despite the wind. As soon as the wind dies down I'll be back at it. Got a pocket full of doe tags and the cold front will have them on the move.