Hey VAHunter - yes, that's the hard part...WHEN to take off. I'm a contractor, so when I don't work, I don't get paid. To come home empty-handed after not earning any money is a pretty crummy feeling. I have off tomorrow but I don't have to take it and not sure I will. The temps are supposed to be up next week as well, and I have two days off then. Just not sure what to do.

deerdoghunter - I really hope we do not have a stop and start rut again. But with these temps, we very well might.

Knocked down a doe the other evening. Hunting yesterday morning I left early to help a buddy track a small buck he shot. Walking out I saw a doe running down the hill to my left. I got ready to aim when I saw her look back and I saw a huge Buck chasing her. Needless to say I am putting a climber in that area. I walked back later and saw big scrapes and scratches. Its funny I was originally mad because my buddy's shot echo sppoked the does that was grazing to me. Had he not shot I would not have walked out early and saw the big buck! Saturday morning can not come soon enough!

Long story short is that the Rut is on!!

Man I feel for you and I'm sure your luck will turn around. In some ways though you have a good situation....I have to plan my days off a year in advance.....Heck, I'm already looking at moon phases and such for next year...LOL.

Look at it this way....we can't control the weather, moon phases, nor the mating habits of the whitetail. Bout the only thing we can do is get out and hunt!

I'm glad all of you are having some luck.

I've been hunting hard and I burned myself out a little in the early season with several days of being completely skunked. I've seen about 1/4th the number of deer this year that I saw last year, which gets discouraging. I did get a small buck last week, which I am thankful for, but I was really hoping that this year would be the year that I'd get a decent size buck. The rain, the rut (later than it was last year), the temperature, and now my job all seem to be working against me. Oh well it isn't over yet.

Still a lot of season left to go. Keep up the hard work as it will eventually pay off.

I plan to be on the stand first thing saturday morning in one area and move to another spot for the evening sit.

Also gotta check my trail cam tomorrow after work or today to see what kind of activity I got going on.

I hunted all day yesterday also, 2 different spots. Didn't see but a fox & a yearling in the a.m. and in when I was climbing my afternoon tree, a 3 pointer came in to investigate. A doe and another yearling followed a couple hrs. later. W/ the full moon, the deer should be feeding heavy at night and not moving as much as they normally would during the day. What really makes me wonder though is I'm not seeing the dead deer on the side of the roads like I was 2 weeks ago (in Northern VA).

My buddy killed a really nice 8pt and I shot a Mac DADDY 6 pt on Friday. It was a great Veterans day considering I'm a Veteran. I'll post pictures when I'm done hunting (vacation time) in a few weeks. This upcoming week is really going to heat up with rut activity! Spend ALL DAY in the woods.

I hope so. Weather forecast is rainy in my area on Tuesday and Wednesday, then a huge temp drop - high of 49 on Thursday and maybe colder on Friday.

I might pull one last all day sit until after Thanksgiving. I'll miss the rifle opener and Thanksgiving weekend due to family commitments.

The bucks around me are in full rut. Have been seeing 2 bucks, at least I think they are 2 different ones, chasing does all around my area. Had to pass on a nice 8 ptr last night that was trailing a doe at 30 yards from me. I shot a smaller buck on Saturday and I have to shoot a doe before I can shoot another buck. I knew I would regret shooting the smaller buck but didn't think I would regret it the first time I am back hunting after shooting it.