Bath county here. We' ve had a nice easy rain for the last two days, and it promises to be cool during the day and dipping down into the freezing temperatures at night for the next week or so.

The rain has made it much easier to be quiet in the woods, but you will need something to sit on or your butt will get soaked.

I' ve seen more rubs this year than the last two years combined. They seem to be in the lower areas.

I tend to see them feeding around ten-eleven o' clock in the morning, around two in the afternoon and just before the sun goes down. but I expect them to go more and more nocturnal as the hunters hit the woods.

My season starts tomorrow, but I have seen quite a few does taken during early bow season...But overall, there has not been alot of pressure on the critters. Squirrel and Pheasant season has been in for awhile so they are starting to get a little skittish, but not overly so.

One of my best indicators is the deer that walk around my yard. I can usually tell when they are really starting to take notice of the hunters as they stop coming around...as of right now, they are still not very timid.

It also looks like it' s gonna be a good year for bear. I talk with several of the other local business owners pretty often and there has been some twenty or so bear tagged so far.

I have seen Deer everywhere I am in Harrisonburg Va. My uncle seen 3 10 pointers and a 8 point all together and I saw a 6 point or a 8 point saturday the first day of bp. I couldn' t tell how many points because I was shaking so much haha. I don' t think deer are moving very much this year where Iam at. Acorns everywhere!!!! I hope mOnday that buck will be a gonner.

Killed my 2nd deer of the season yesterday. seeing plenty, hope to use all my tags this year

Been going out all season. Saw a six pointer a week ago. Saw two does in my yard Friday. Killed a doe yesterday morning at 9:30. Can' t really complain about my luck. I' m getting ready for Saturday and the start of General firearms season.

David

Saw two bucks and three does today and yesterday, they spot me while walking to my spot both days, I' m taking a different approach tomorrow

I very angry boy lives in Weyers Cave. Tuesday I went out into our field to see if I might see a deer or two and to my surprise the biggest buck I ever saw before eating corn dropped from shelling our corn. I was on my way to the spot I wanted to sitI was in my truck and decided to try getting closer and got within range and did. I put my muzzleloader out the window and saw a rack just way out past the ears and pointing toward the sky I decided not to count points cause he seen me and I thought I better shoot quick. I put a cap on my muzzleloader and put it on fire. I found where I wanted to shoot and then POW my cap went off but not my powder. I hurry up and put another cap on and pow nothing again for my powder. That buck then left and there I was almost crying haha and I said words not invented yet. I was so dissapointed. But hopefully next time huh. wel I better stop talking about it might start to make me cry again

Duckgrowers -

Hmmmm - unless I misunderstood something in your post, it sounds like you were trying to shoot from your truck. That' s specifically listed as an unlawful method in the VDGIF regulations (http://www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/....html#unlawful). I hope you don' t get into trouble doing such things.

Do we have poachers among us??? Shooting from trucks and " killing five already" . Might oughta try posting at poachers.net.

Saw a little 6 ptr seeking some does that were out in front of me. He sniffed everyone of them and just kept going. I looks like the does are not in yet in Bedford. Some of my buddies are seeing nice ones but not me .

I think you guys missed something. It sounded like he shot from his truck on his farm. That is not illegal. That would be a gasoline powered mobile ground blind. as for killing 5. if you buy bonus tags you can kill as many doe as you can find. And landowners can get damage stamps as well.

Poacher is a big ugly word to throw at someone. Use it when appropriate.

I went thru an ugly costody battle last year. I won. My 13 year old' s grandfather is a big hunter. I did some squirrel hunting in September and she mentioned it to him. He told her the season hadn' t started yet and that I was poaching. (interesting I think, since I know he has shot more than his legal daily limit before and gone to get his wife to tag it) My daughter didn' t miss a beat. She told him that he must not have read the season dates properly because her father does not poach.

Goood luck all. AND PLEASE BE SAFETY CONCIOUS. There are gonna be a lot of anxious hunters out Saturday. Lets all be safe.

David

*shew* you guys started to scare me. It was on our farm. I hardly go hunting to a national forest or anything like that. I don' t like hunting that way anyway. Sometimes seeing big bucks overwhelms me. Good luck to everyone anyway.