At our land inGA the past 2 times i have been out i have seen 2 groups of does. the first was a group of 3 just casually walking and the this morning i saw another group of 3 walking. they didnt have their tails up or look nervous. does this mean since they still seem so cool, that the rut has not kicked in in our area, or does this have nothing to do with it.

One other question, this has to do with land. We own a piece of property that has become very overgrown. There are many areas that is almost impossible to get through because it is so thick and full of thorns. these areas are mostly in planted pines. my question was is it better to leave the thickness alone or should we find a way either through chemicals or something else to thin these areas out. i just saw a show saying a heavily overgrown area can not support deer or some other wildlife well at all. thanks for any help

Buckfever, seeing those does will not indicate the status of the rut in my opinion. Here in Illinois the rut is about at the midway point so I think your rut should begin in the next 2 weeks. As far as your land goes, the thick areas will be great for bedding areas but may be lacking in food production. You need both types of areas to have a successful deer habitat. Don't put too much emphasis on food plots without considering bedding also. Remember the 3 things for survival, food, water and shelter. You might have a local whitetail organization in your area to check on the status of all 3 things on your land.

Buckfever, the rut is not quite full swing here in NC but the cooler weather in the last few days has helped. You should see signs soon. As far as the land goes, if the thick areas a large enough, you can clear a pathway large enough for small equipment or atv to get through. Go to about the center area and clear a larger area for food plot. I clear cut some timber due to age and a storm we had. There was an 80acre,40 acre and a 60 acre cut. I pushed a path deep into each one and then cleared out larger areas inside the cutovers. I plant spring and fall plots in the middle of these thick cutovers which I had re-seeded with pinetrees. Makes great bedding and good food source with cover all around. Deer feel comfortable moving in and out at all times of the day. Hunt pathway and plots during gun season because trees are not large enough for stands yet and find travel routes on edges where they enter/exit and hunt there with bow. Deer love traveling the edges of cutoverswhere it joinsstanding timber. Just my $.02 's worth.