early in

Today I did my 11th (I think it is)all day (6:00AM -5:00PM)sit since Oct 16th. Again, despite PERFECT hunting conditions, I saw NO deer today. There's noquestion, I'm putting in my time! The sad thing is, I'm going into the woods in the morning expecting not to see anything at this point. Quite frankly, I'm as disappointedas I've ever been in regards to hunting.
For those who think the upcoming full moon (Thurs) is going to get things going, I sure hope so. Because us Pa guys only have 3 days left to get it done before our early season is over. I sure hope this doesn't become the 2008 PaRut That Wasn't.[&o]

HuntingEd

Tonight was the first night I've seen good rut action, and even that it wasnt real action, it was just a young 8 pt running off some does, and chasing them around, he was grunting and all that, then a 7 pt equal size came in to the can...

I think the moon Thursday night might actually be the trick, I think its going to turn on hard by friday/sat... just judging by what I saw today... Its REAL close.

IAhuntr

I just got in the housefrom another doe hunt. Now that I'm actually wanting to take one, they have really changed their behavior due to the pressure from the bucks and I'm not finding them as easily as a couple weeks ago. I saw a single doe tonight, but had no less than 8-10 different bucks around my stand. A big 150-ish ten pointwas tending to the lone doe while bucks of all various sizes were doing fly-bys on her. I had bucks snorting, grunting, posturing, and all-out fighting. All in the last 40 minutes of daylight. The most activity I've seen this year.

Germ

What if it's cloudy and the deer cannot see the moon? Then what?

HuntingEd

I was thinking the same thing tonight as the cloud cover rolled in... I guess we'll find out, maybe the does just need some spooning to get going???

I'm a skeptic of the moon theory, I'm curious to see if it works, this is the first year I've payed attention to it... I guess the proof will be in my fri/sat sits..

Cougar Mag

I've seen more pre-rut activity this late in the season than I can remember in recent years. I've put numerous hours into the woods and have only heard one buck grunt while he was trailing and not chasing a doe. I've seen several bucks but no serious chasing whatsoever. It better hurry cause I go back to work next week and my wife is getting a little fed up with the morning/evening routine.

matt068

Seen 6 doe and 2 bucks w/ about 60 hours on stand scraping but not running does at all I guess I'm not alone as noticed by previous posts on this thread

MOTOWNHONKEY

Germ. it's the moons gravitational pull on the bucks pickle. Clouds don't matter.

CCPaHunter

Early in
I don't know what to tell you. Maybe a new hunting area? I'm not trying to be funny. The activity is strong and all day. No chasing but seeking. This week alone:
Monday:6 bucks[four 8 pointers a 10" spike and an unknown] Passed on one of the eights that offered aclose in shot.
Tuesday: only hunted a few hours. One nice eight at three in the afternoon.
Today:Passed on good eight at twelve feet at 8:AM. Saw a monster tearing up a tree at 11:45. Saw two more eights and a six later this afternoon.

Last week was good also.

My problem is the same as some of the guys in the other post about having set my goals to high. I was discussing this with Buddie earlier today while admiring his third nice buck in two weeks. I've seen and passed on more nice bucks than a lot of guys see in a year or two or maybe three.Keep at it. It only take a minute to turn your season around.GOOD LUCK Ken

louddrummer69

I've seen some rutting activity but just yesterday I saw a family group of does with mamma's button buck still with her. I'm still seeing doe groups together. I did see a 1.5 year old buck chasing a doe pretty hard yesterday. I've been pretty disappointed. I took 6 days off of work and only saw one shooter and scared the monster 160' I was after. I just wish bow season was just a little longer but rifle starts here in MO the 15th. Boo!