Back to the original topic lol.......
By my observations...the rut this year was normal...however...with the deer pressure in/near town, they seemed to rut a week or so earlier than the deer "out" in the woods, most likely due to thefact that you can readily see them.The twelve pointerI shot this year was LATE November...Like Dan mentioned...the rut really doesnt get going hard until mid Nov.
There are big deer here , yes a few locals prefer to shoot the "little" bucks, I dont think so much for the taste... Most of them do not know how to hunt a mature buck ( this is my opinion )some will shoot the first one they see. ( key word being some )
Toaquite a fewof thefolks around here,shooting a buck means youwill have pepperettes and deer sausage for ice fishing.With any area you are going to get the "roadwarriors", heck thats howI started deer hunting, I never knew better. Gradually over time I started reading more, walking to more remote areas, and hey guess what, I started seeing more and more deer, I also started taking more mature bucks. I have eaten tag soup numerous times...and I live here.
As far as shooting a smaller buck, that is a personal limitation that most folks will criticize, however, what is "small to you" might be big to someone else and vicsa versa(sp?). ( God I hope I am not opening a can o worms with that statement )
Ipersonally have not hunted/been able to hunt outside of my home area/province. I do not know what it is like to only be able to hunt a certain acreage.We are blessed up here withthe amount of public land we can hunt. I do know the areas I hunt are huge. I have walkednumerous milesin a day, most of that scouting, and not encountered a single person.I have also gone out hunting and walked into every Tom, Dave, and Henry out there. Yes the hunting pressure has increased around here. It increases every year. Does it make me hunt harder and farther away from high traffic areas, you bet it does.

Do I get "mad" or upset that someone shot a spiker? Not at all, that was his/her choice to take that deer. Who knows, it might have been their very first deer. I am not one to judge. Not everyone has the fortune of dropping a 150class 8pointer as thier very first deer, yes it has happened.
I have not had the oportunity of meeting any of you, except Dan. If any of you guys happen into this neck of the woods, feel free to drop me a line.
Laters
Reese