Official Rut Thread
 

I didn't see an offical thread anywhere dealing with the rut so I'm starting one.

Just post when you start seeing it happening or you get that buck to come to the doe in esterus scent.

Anyone yet? I haven't been out in the last couple of days so I don't know what's going on yet.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I haven't been out since ML season, but I have the next 2 weeks off of work. I will be hunting just about every day so I will post some updates.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Cool. I'll be out tomorrow around noon. I'm getting off work early. It's the rut man. You have to know your priorities. :D

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

It's definately picking up. I'm sure random does have been bred already. Peak is still about 15 days off give or take.

Prerut is now, peak rut is considered when about 90% of the doe population are in estrous. I've witness a heated battle between 2 gorgeous bucks, I shot the smaller a week later, just this past Thursday. He came on a string to my River Valley Deer Flute, grunts and bleats from 200 yards.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Field & Stream had an excellent article on hunting the rut. It had just the info I was looking for. It started listing the 5 best days to hunt the "rut". It then talked about scents and calls (and other things) and which to use and when (ie - use bleat calls in this part of rut and don't use it during this part, use estrus scent during ..., use buck urineat these times, etc.). Best, concise info I have seen. If you have general questions on the rut, go grab a copy.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Well I went out tonight and didn't see squat. Nothing moved except squirrels tonight. I was in stand at 2:30 and was there for 2.5 to 3 hours. As I was walking back to the truck I could hear deer moving in the thick stuff.

I had put out some Tinks 69 Doe in Estrus Gel near where I hung my stand. Nothing. Maybe still to early here in MD. Anyone else?

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I think it was the weather more that anything. I planned on sitting all day but I did not see anything by 11am and I was sweating my butt of in my stand so I took the afternoon off and did some fishing. Went back out for the evening hunt and didn't see anything. Tomorrow isn't going to be any better but we should see cold weather starting Wednesday. I this cold snap at the end of this week will get things rolling and you will see some seeking and chasing.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I hope to go out Sat then. I can't get a free day till the weekend. :-( I hate school.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Its still prerut, so only a few does are beginning to become in heat. Within the next few weeks, we should see things pick up here in MD. I've seen plenty of sign, but I think that most of it has been created by the smaller bucks.

I agree with Lefty that these 2-3 days of warm weather may slow things down a bit, but by the weekend, it should be a little cooler and hopefully things pick up. My guess is that the second and third weeks of November are going to be a great time to be in the woods.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

At our camp we all have seen small bucks chasing does. It's starting to heat up out there.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

You know it's getting close when you start seeing all the dead deer along the highway.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I hunt in MD and Pa. Its been pretty dead in MD as far as I can tell, which is good thatmeans no trickle rut there this year. It should be super hot after the full moon as long it stays cool. In Pa on 10/30 I saw a nice 2.5 meanandering thru the area but did not even smell the does that were all around me. In the PM I did see a young buck pushing a doe at 3:30 pm.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

andesman,

Some parts of Maryland have had pretty good activity going back about a week. But it is great to hear that for many it hasn't gotten underway much yet. I am ready to take some vacation and stick one like you wouldn't believe!!!

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

went out last night and saw a huge 130 " class running a doe all over the field for about 45 mins

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I think it's started - the pre-rut that is. The last 3 days have seen temps in the 70's and today is no different. It's 70 right now as I write this![:@] Dang MD weather. Hopefully we'll get some real action once the cooler weather hits - of course it's supposed to be gusting winds the entire time it's here.[:@]

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Heard that we should be back down in the 30s for overnight lows within the next day or two.:D I think that tonight is the last relatively warm night (59) and then things should get back to normal. Should make for a NICE and CRISP all day hunt saturday.

Good luck to anyone heading out tomorrow... if I get out of work early enough, I might head up to the spot I hunt up Northern Harford County to test my luck.

Where are you hunting in Harford Dave?

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

SAT , SUN and Monday best days. Be in the woods this weekend. Full moon.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Hammy, I'm splitting my time hunting mostly in Forest Hill and Baldwin. I'm off for 3 weeks which began this past Saturday. Of course, the weather has sucked and I've had a bad cold the entire time. I'm planning on going out in the wind this afternoon and see what effect the cooler temps are having. The next few days should be great!

Where are you headed -- Darlington/ Norrisville?

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

man im itching to go. trying to get work done today so i can take tomorrow off. gonna hunt saturday for sure...and thinking about sunday too. weather is looking GREAT.

BTW i hunt in northern baltimore county and we have seen and killed many nice bucks over the last 5-6 years. hoping this rut produces another wall hanger for me. i want to get a good buck with my bow!

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

heading out to around 1.30 going to try some james river valley out , and some miss doe pee let you no whats going on trying a new spot today , very light pressure during bow but shotgun look out ;)

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I am probably going to be up late on Friday. I wonder if I'll see any action if I sleep in and go out a little later after sunrise? Maybe I'll just suck it up and get 3 hours of sleep and go anyway normal time.:D

Decisions decisions...

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Good luck whatever you decide come Saturday Sax! I think that I am going to hunt from like 10A until dusk on Saturday. If I feel extra crazy, I might get out in the woods before first light and stay out all day. I bought me a Summit Viper SS a few weeks back and I could stay in that climber all day.:D Let us know how today turned out in MD if you went out Dave.

As for me, I hunt either the Edgewood area (near where I grew up) and Pylesville. I'm going up to Pylesville right now to do some quick scouting and see if there is any new sign around my spot. Hoping that I see something worthwhile! I think I'll be hunting up Pylesville come Saturday because there is an old grey buck that some others have spotted and I'm hoping that his juices start flowing this weekend while I'm in the tree. :D

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

i think were going to see alot of deer this weekend, the temp/wind looks perfect for the NE

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

up here in mont county i seen two lil bucks fightin second week ml.an my cuz that same day seen a spike nugin does.but down the shore i havent seen no sign as of yet.ill let u no wat i se this weekend.ill be goin fri throw sun.i think u can hunt priv land dis sunday

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I hunted tonight and saw 4 bucks and was able to take a big 7pt. None of the bucks showed much indication of being in the rut. They all just wandered in feeding, the big one I shot did grunt twice when he saw a doe behind me and was making his was over to her when he ran into a Lefty's Carbon Express. I will post some pics tomorrow.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Feeling the chill in the air has me amped for an all day hunt Saturday.:D AHHHHHHHHHHH I can't wait.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

well with the first day of cool weather i noticed no rut activity. plenty of deer moving tho, i seen about 12-13 this morning. missed a doe at 10yards because of a tree branch i couldnt see in my peep sight GRRRR...and ruined my arrow to boot.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I didn't see squat today. I was in stand from 10am to 4pm. Nothing was moving except squirrels. No rut yet I don't think.[:@][&:]

Anyone else go out today?

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I saw a total of 20+ deer between about 1145 and 515. The first deer I saw within 15 minutes of getting settled was a nice 8 that I passed up because we have an agreement to shoot does first on this property. Needless to say, no doe presented me with a worthy shot. [:@]

I tell you what though, the seek and chase part of the rut is DEFINITELY in! I can't count how many does I saw getting pushed by anything from a spike to a 6 pointer. After 5, all you heard and saw were the bucks pushing the does all over the place. With what I saw tonight, the pre-rut is definitely in where I am hunting and I imagine that this week and the next two should be great weeks to be out. Might have to call out of work one of these days. ;)

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

hunted baltimore county again today...ZERO sign of the rut starting. had a small half rack (what would have been an 8pt) come by me at 60yds, then about half hour later 3 little ones came in and bedded down next to me. no bucks really pushing does tho. kinda disappointing.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Hopefully there will be something happening in my neck of the woods on monday I just emailed the office and I'm now off the whole day. :-)

I would really love to get a deer with the bow. I've never done that and I've been out like crazy trying. I've noticed I'm becoming a better gun hunter because of it.

Let's see if I can't stick something on Monday.:) That would be my first this year too. :D

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I hunted all day on Sat, didn't see anything untill 2pm when a nice 10pt chased 2 doe by my stand, I couldn't get him to stop for a shot. Ended up passing a 6pt that was working a scrapline I was positioned near. I think things are starting to warm up, hopefully the weather will stay good and it should really start rolling as the week progresses.

Here is the 7pt I killed last Thursday, he was feeding through an oak flat but a doe behind me caught his attention and he came right towards her. Unfortunatly for him he had to get through me to get to her and it didn't work out to well for him. :D:D Not a giant but a solid public land buck....

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

i didnt hunt disweekend.but i did sit in the woods.my friend lives on the edge of downspark.in 2 hours 1 seen 3 bucks.they were all huge.10 6 8 pointers.i was shock aint never seen deer that big ever.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Wow that's nice that you can hunt near downs park. I don't live too far away from there. I'm off of Edwin Raynor BLVD. There is even a dead button buck on Edwin Raynor which happens more frequently now. I wish they'd let us bow hunt those woods.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I was out all day on Saturday the 4th. I didn't smell any hint of estrous does in the woods yet. I saw a young buck sneaking through at first light all alone. I saw a group of 2 does and four fawns. They were just feeding along, no bucks followed them either. I then saw a nice big buck from a distance that looked like he was spooked, he was just sneaking through like he was trying to leave the area. He never stopped to smell anything. I then saw 2 fawns and a forkhorn that were feeding together. I saw two insignificant scrapes in a field edge. They were small and barely scuffed the grass from the dirt. All in all, the pre-rut is just beginning in my woods. This year is similar to a season some years ago where there was barely any evidence of a rut until almost December.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Well Satruday morning I had a young 6 pt bed down about 50 yards from me and just watch does go by him with no interest. But at 4 pm, a stampede of 15 does came through with a nice 8 pt bringing up the rear. He didn't respond to my grunt and of course I left my can in the truck. He was not letting those does alone for anything.They ended up coming by me at about 20 yards, but I was going to take a shot at a running buck. He ended up chasin them out in the fields. Hopefully I see him again. He was definitely a shooter.

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

I was out all day today (dawn to 3pm) and only saw one doe. She was not being pestered or anything. Just walking without a care in the world. If she had come 20 yards closer she would have been at the edge of my range. DOH. Looks like the next chance I get will be Friday if it doesn't rain and if the warm weather doesn't come back long.[&:]

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Great deer there lefty. Btw I'm just down the road from you here in Falling Waters. Take care

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

Listening to everyone the rut seems to be slow or late in getting here. Is this true?[&:]

RE: Official Rut Thread
 

i hope not, im getting ready to head out to beltsville to hopefully get my wall hanger.. i was out the weekend before last and grunted in 3 spikes and 2 4 pointers lets hope big papa is in... ""the mood""