Bucks chasing does in Va.!!!!!
 

I was hunting Sat. morning on my lease in Culpepper Co. and had three bucks chase a doe within 30 yds of my stand. The first buck was a nice 16" eight pointer, the second a really nice wide eight and the last was a bruiser of a Ten point with at least a 20" spread. The bucks chased the doe into a thicket and surrounded her and would not let her go. They kept messing with her and she kept trying to get away until finally she did with the bucks hot on her. I never could get a decent shot and never saw them again. It is just killing me to have to work all week while this is going on. I think I might be coming down with the swine flu.......

It's good to hear that they're finally on the move! I'm hunting just one county over and there's been very little action and very little sign. The sad part is I've seen more deer in the past week behind my house than I've seen where I hunt. It won't be long now. I can feel it!

I haven't seen much in the woods but thats probably due to lack of time in the woods(work) but have seen more deer, especially bucks, hit on the side of the road. Hopefully there will be some great movement this weekend and it won't rain for the third Saturday in a row. I am getting pretty waterlogged!!! lol

Havent been able to hunt much, and the weather has sucked. But last night i went with a friend to make some adjustments on a stand to move it closer to a creek. In the process two bucks came trotting through, noses to the ground. They were seeking. They paid no attention to us and trotted by at 20 yards while we were working on the stand. I grunted at one, it just looked up at us and then kept on his way, didnt care! there starting to forget the rest of the world exist. Good sign things are starting. Also, saw an old doe whose rear end was all ruffled up, she might have gone in early, could explain why the bucks were going a little crazy on sunday. To bad it was Sunday, and VA wont drop that law.

ive been in the woods pretty much every day . I hunt mostly in charlotte county and i havent seen any chasing yet , I have been seeing more rubs but not much in the way of scrapes .My friend and i watched 2 small bucks sparring a few nights ago guess they were trying to show off for the ladies that were with them . Well im off to the stand to see what i encounter today . well good luck and good hunting, always strap in

A friend of mine just arrowed the biggest buck of his life over in Locust Grove yesterday. It was a really nice seven pointer and the buck weighed a whopping 211 lbs. It was following a doe with a yearling. He also shot a bear out of the same stand the Monday before last.

We have been seeing lots of scrapes and rubs for the past two weeks. The rain has been messing my hunts up as I can usually only go during the weekends. I am taking a half day off tomorrow so I can get an evening hunt in. Best of luck to everyone!!

I am off the rest of the week after today. Hopefully I timed this time off correctly and the rain will hold off.

Got my first archery buck tonight. Buck came in after sitting on stand for 5 minutes...put tinks gel doe urine on my shoes.

Congratulations to you NOVA! Any pics?

I'm hoping next week has some action. I'll be off for the first two weeks of November. Good luck to all and congrats on the buck NOVA.

Things are starting to warm up a little for sure. Give it another two weeks and it should be rocking. I hope so as I plan on hunting everyday of the second week of muzzle loader this season. Hopefully the weather will break by then too.

yeah i've got some pics on my phone but i don't know how to put them on here. any help?

Saw more bucks than normal on the way home from work.. all of them on the move with noses in the dirt. Seems early to me.. but it is what it is. I'm gonna try to hunt in the morning if I can stay up all night.

Seems like the bucks are still running together down here.Wont be long though.Have been seeing quite alot of movement.

Saw three new rubs yesterday evening. If the weather cools off about the 2nd week in November The rut will bein full swing in Patrick County.

Went out this afternoon (1:00 pm) in Fairfax and wasn't in the stand 10 minutes when I had a doe come in behind me. Double lunged her and while tracking her I had a 6 pointer come down the same trail. He saw me and went back the way he came. I found my deer, dragged her to a creek and while field dressing her the same buck snuck up behind me again. I didn't want to leave so I got back into the stand and was settled by 2:00 pm. About an hour I saw a really nice 8 pointer up on a ridge, I grunted and snort wheezed at him. He came my way for a little bit but decided to go on. He heard my calling and was looking but just wasn't in the mood. An hour after that I had 3 does come from the area the buck walked too and they had a little spike chasing them around. Not real hard but he seemed like he didn't know what to do. I then had a button buck come in to 12 yards but I didn't shoot him and then finally saw another 8 pointer in the same area as the first one. Again I grunted, snort wheezed, and also lightly rattled at him. He keep looking but wouldnt come my way. I don't think it was the same buck because he didn't have the same mass as the other. It was a good day in the woods for me, earned my buck for Fairfax and also put some good meat in the freezer. A side note, there were still a lot of acorns dropping in the woods. Hopefully we can get some colder weather so the action really heats up. Good luck to everyone.

Was working today and saw a NIICCEEE buck chasing 3 doe in some guys yard right at dark. The first chasing I have seen in Sussex Co.

Saturday the bucks were chasing does in Lunenburg. I was in a cutover with does running all around me and grunting going on all in the pines. I had easy shots at does and an easy shot at a spike but let them walk. The big ones never presented an y shot opportunities.

Be there this week, good to here!

Prince William County
Witnessed 2 bucks chaseing and mating the same doe, semi close to manassas battlefields.

....the same doe....what a little tramp! :happy0157: :barmy:

6 or 7 times. That's a step up from a tramp. To bad the 12 pointer, that was out of range, didn't have any interests in breeding at that time.

It's on!!
 

It's on like Donkey Kong right now in Southampton county....Grab your bow and head to the woods!

We harvested a few cull bucks on one of our tracts yesterday -both of them were only growing racks on one side and they were the same last year. Neither one of them wanted anything to do with the does in the field. Our group also took a doe yesterday who showed no sign of coming in. Several others in our group saw some bucks of various sizes but no chasing at all. Rut is acting funny this year in our neck of the woods.

I saw a nice 8 pointer with a doe who was in estrus on Saturday. No running/chasing around though. I saw her with her tail flickering and straight out then she looked behind her. 5 minutes later he followed her and they both bedded down in a small thickit in a green field. I grunted and rattled and he only looked my way but that was it. This was on the Fauquier/Culpepper line out by SouthWales GC. They were only about 100 yds away but couldn't pull either one across the river too me. Didn't see any other rut activity all day.

I did have one of the best days hunting without harvesting a thing. Saw 9 deer total, 12 turkeys, and heard coyotes both in the morning and evening. Plus the best was I watched a Bald Eagle flying up and down the river bottom. That was great.

flips - Sounds like you had a great day afield! If you enjoy watching eagles you should come hunt with us some. Where we hunt along the river is one of the biggest nesting regions for the bald eagles in the Northern Neck. We see Eagles almost every day, most days we see them through out the day, I have watched youngs on what appeared to be training flights and I have had the pleasire of watching them fish wih great success. It is truly awsome to see and I feel honored to be witness to all of this!

This past Sat. after our workday my son and i took the long way home and saw a buck chasing a doe pretty good.

Justin,

I have hunted in the Northern Neck before and have seen them all the time too. In fact my family is from down there around Kilmarnock area. I have hunted all around White Stone, Irvington, Weems areas. I shot the wide buck in my avatar on the right side just out of town limits just off Rt 3 on the road going down to boys camp down there.

Hopefully the warm weather won't screw us up too much. I plan on hunting on Wednesday and it is supposed to get colder with a front moving in.

Do you get back down here to hunt much anymore? I know what you are saying about the weather. I am hoping that Wed and Friday will be decent days, hopefully wed will turn things on around here. We are seeing deer just not really any chasing other than opening day of BP when I watche a youngin (1.5 or so) chase two little does around the field while they tried to eat. But it seems it has shut off again. But I have seen it do this in the past and when it hits it hits hard and furious so I am keeping my fingers crossed

Eng I guess I don't get a call, check ya dang messages!!!!!

Sorry Dave, ever since they changed the format and I do not get a pop up telling me I have messages I do think about chekcing them that often. I will give you a call this afternoon or tomorrow, or you can call me tomorrow I will be free during the day.

By the way the rut sucks this year. They keep turning on and off around here, like a light switch. I have not seen a crappy rut like this in years.

i agree w/ you about the rut. been to several counties so far around NOVA and have not seen the chasing or even nudging that i have seen in years past. This weather forecast sucks. I had planned on taking wed-friday off to hunt.

You guys got that right. I can't remember a more frustrating Rut here in VA. I actually saw a buck breeding a doe on Oct. 29 and then my father-in-law took a nice buck on Halloween. That buck was bedded down with a doe and jumped up when I walked past. He went the wrong direction. Since then not much at all. I am guessing that maybe things will heat up the week of the 2oth if the weather cooperates. So much for the rest of this week with the rain.:bash:

Supposedly it is 100% Wednesday and Thursday and 60% chance Friday. Then Saturday it isn't supposed to rain after lunch.

The deer should be raring to go after three to four days of rain.

Or when 5,000 hounds are running through the woods :happy0001:

Saw a bunch of chasing in Fairfax first week of November. No activity at all in Central Virginia(Fluvanna). Whacked a nice 8 pt with the string rifle Wednesday November 4th in Fairfax. Hunting season is over after the first week of dogs being in the woods that is unless you've got an urban archery spot. Good luck guys and gals.

va5326--i talked to my friend Buck last thurs(or friday) and he said that Morlen was having its worst year in many as far as quantity and quaility. i think he said that the total for archery and muzzleader was maybee 8 deer. this is from at least 35 members hunting for the year. i think he said that a small 7 pointer was the biggest buck taken. maybee it picked up for them on saturday w/ the dogs.

I saw Buck but didn't have a chance to talk to him. A buddy of mine shot a nice 8 pt out of the Gold Mine on Saturday of the ML opener. Surpringly enough most of the guys have been passing on the slicks and small boys. Nothing else of any size though. The deer have definitely diminished as a result of overhunting. I've had better luck just hunting my urban areas in NOVA. Oh well. The coyotes are now in the Fork Union area as well. Not sure if they are having an affect or not.

Bow hunted in Rockbridge county last Wed thru Sat while the coast was getting pounded with wind and rain, the weather there was just breezy with a slight drizzle on Wed and Thur. Friday and Saturday was perfect. Saw plenty of deer, but not what I was looking for. Found several fresh scrapes and saw some nervous acting does but nothing chasing them. Hunted near a turnip food plot that had 31 deer in it at one point. Two largest bucks were 2 6 points. They wanted nothing to do with the does and acted like they were best buddies. No signs of aggression. Most aggressive deer in the plot were 2 spikes sparring...then they'd lick each others face as if to apologize. As with much of this group, I don't know what to think of this rut.

Hunted in Pittsylvania county this past Wednesday-Saturday. Weather stunk but saw lots of deer. Tons of yearlings and a 2 1/2 yo 6 that needed another year or two. No rutting action at all to speak of. Saw young bucks around multiple does without a care in the world.