I hunt souther Erie county and on the 27th of October the bucks were grunting and chasing doe all day long. I had 6 bucks within 20 yards of my stand all chasing doe. I harvested my buck at 6:15 pm on that day. Since then i have been filming for family and friends and have seen no such sign. I am going out tommorow to film for a friend, hopefully they will be on the move. Last week i filmed a 14 pointer but he only came within 60 yards. I would love to see him again.

From what I've been reading here it seems like western NY is THE place to hunt! Do you guys hunt in suburban areas up there, in example, small woodlots surrounding Syracuse, Buffalo or Rochester? It seems like you guys are swarmed by deer. Most of us are lucky to see a buck or two in a season, nevermind having half a dozen or more bucks come around in one morning! You guys should consider yourselves real lucky because that's not exactly how the hunting is for the rest of us in NY.

Rut was definitely going on in Colden, NY this last weekend. Woods are tore up with scrapes and Rubs. last Sunday morning I saw a doe walk by my stand with a 6pt buck hot on her heels, and a few minutes later another 6pt buck that seemed to be following them both. Unfortunately none of them ever came into shooting range. Later I saw3 of what I thought were young does walk by my stand and I passed on taking a shot as they were relatively small deer. About an hour later the same 3 showed up and as the last few hunting hours of my 3rdyear of archery season were passing away I decided to take one of the deer even if they were young since I have yet to harvest a deer with mybow ever; that was about to change. Ipicked what seemed to be the biggest one, as they all were standing about 20 yards away and I could have easily taken any of them. With a nice double lung shot, I sealed the fate of my target. After about an hour we followed the blood trail (or more like highway) and found the deer a few hundred yards away. When I went to gut the animal I was surprised to realize it was actually a button buck and not a doe. Which explains why it was with the other yearlings, who I'd seen only as a pair many times before. It was probably chasing looking to mate with one of both of them. So not only did I get my first bow kill, but also not that I'm really excited or proud of it but my first buttonbuck as well. I hunt WNY area and don't usually see half dozen bucks a day, I'm lucky to see a few in a season. Some days am happy to even see a doe, seeing like 8 deer last Sunday like I did in Colden is defintely not the norm for me.

Seeing deer and rutting signs (rubs/scrapes) I've noticed also increases with your skill/practice/time in the woods. If you put in the time to really learn how to read the signs and pattern the deer you'll see a lot more. I'venoticed since I started hunting 3 years ago I see a lot more this year then the first and more then the second year as well. Probably the only reason I saw any deer the first year was a combination of luck and the fact that I had my brother-in-law who had lots of hunting experience to help me out. I got my stand position picked out this year in what I thought was a good spot and seemed to be not bad placementjust off of a trail that was between what seemed to be bedding areas and some grazing areas. I saw deer out ofmy stand3 hunting days in a row very early, unfortunately they were always behind the stand where I couldn't shoot. I noticed they were coming by really early too. So what did I do? For starters I made sure I was in the woods and to my stand well before daylight, and also the next time out I brought my climber and set up about 30 yards from my permanent stand right behind it facing the other way, and I see tons of deer that day (and to be honest I wouldn't have probably seen any of them from my other stand). I was even able to harvest my first bow killed deer ever that day. It is amazing what 30 yards distance and facing the other way can do. If I hadn't been in my other stand those 3 days though, or checking the deer signs I would have never been able to put myself in that position to see and take that deer though. I by no means claim to be a better hunter then anyone and I've sat many a day seeing nothing, but my point is deer are out there the better you can educate yourself as to their ways you might improve your chances of seeing deer. Also remember those days you don't see anything you can take away a lesson from too, on those day you know where the deer aren't traveling.