I found something scouting I have never found before,sperm on a leaf. I kid you not I was scouting an area I'll be gun hunting and looked down and there it was on a leaf.

wow you have a good eye

Great time to work scents.

We're on the edge of the last bit of the rut. Bucks will still be interested in does that are in estrous. Another day or so, and it's post-rut.

I'm in the middle of the Fingerlakes. I shot a buck over a mock scrape two weeks ago. In the past week I've seen5 different bucks chasing does in wide open fieldsduring the middle of the afternoon. I'm also seeing new scrapes in my area every couple of days. The weather doesn't seem to be slowing anything down where I'm at. One buck wasactingso crazy heran through my goose decoys while I was goose hunting in a huge winterwheat field. I think Saturdays opener is going to be very productive here.

The rubs are prevalent in Jefferson county. i was out this morning and saw several, along with broken branches. They weren't there last weekend. Anybody have a handle on when Charles Alsheimer says when the rut starts?

Peak of the seeking/chasing stage was 11/07/06 - 11/14/06 (according to Alsheimer). The actual breeding period was to start the week of 11/14/06.

From what I sawI would say it was even a few days to a weekearlier than that.I saw the mostbuck activity from 10/28 - 11/07. A lot of bucks hanging with hot does now it seems to me. I only saw 1 buck (monster) from 11/08/06- 11/17/06 during bowseason. Gun opened today so it's like winning the lottery anyway [8D].