Well, once again, I struck out.... [:-] I spent the day in Powhatan for a change of pace. I went there instead of my favorite spot in Cumberland (wind was wrong for my spot in CSF anyways). There was absolutely NOTHING happening! I mean, here it is the middle of November, the rut is in full swing, but the bucks are not moving! I rattled, grunted, and did every trick I knew how, and there was just nothing going on! It reached 60 degrees and I was roasting by lunchtime! [:'(] I assume the big bucks went nocturnal due to general firearms season and also due to the wide ranging temps.

Anyway, if you check my hunting log again...

http://members.aol.com/ammonc/Hunting-log.html

...you'll see that I decided to blow off some frustration and leave Powhatan WMA at lunchtime and head to the range at Amelia to double check my Marlin 30-30 on the range. Good thing too - I was shooting Remington Core-Lokt 170gr rounds, and for some reason, they were hitting 1" down, 1" right at 100 yards. I probably knocked the scope off true zero or ever so slightly biffed it out in the field. But I got it dialed back in in no time. Two guys were at the range too and they were complaining about the WMA and the heat and how they think the big bucks are bedded down too. They spent all morning in Amelia and never saw anything but tree rats.

Perhaps, deerdogva is right.... Maybe dogs are needed in this case, to push the big bucks out of their bedding and get them moving.

Anyway, let me do a spin-off of that TV commercial with the old lady yelling "where's the beef?".....

WHERE'S THE DEER?!?!?!

Butch A.

hey butch,
did i actually here a suggestion of running dogs might be good sometimes. just kiddin with ya. but ya the rut has been happening mainly at night. There plenty of good sign but mainly during the night. your best bet is to catch them early in the morning in the afternoon. Thats just the signs i've found. by mid day the deer are in the swamp or bedded and not moving. but good luck butch

I've been seeing many of bucks during the day while driving. From Orange County to Reston. Almost slammed into a nice 8 or 10 point in between here and Culpeper on the way home yesterday. Saw quite a few deer at Massanutten this weekend as well. Shot a huge bodied deer that was just a spike and had seen 6 other bucks on the way back up the mountain during our drag from hell.

I hit the woods about 3:30 this afternoon, walked my trail that goes along the top of the swamp, happened to look down and the deer were all getting up, must have been atleast 10 or 15 deer all together, they split in two packs and they didnt come to me before it got dark. I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can sneak up on them

i got an 8 pt this morning(120 lbs dressed) in loudoun county this morning. the buck was in full rut and walking out in the open at 7:30 am. this is usually the only time of the year that this will happen. i took the deer to the local processing station and saw at least 6 bucks w/ 10 or more points w/ over 20 inch spreads. most came from loudoun and fauquier counties.

i got a real nice 8 last week during bp season. it was my best deer ever. got to love those cold temps we had last week.

Oh sure.... sure.... Rub it in, o2be!

I'd love to go up to Loudon, where there's 900,000 deer, but getting access is another story. I've heard pretty much all of it is private property, but then again, I could be wrong.

I think they should rename the WMA (Wildlife Management Area) title and make WMA stand for "Wildlife? My a$$!" - 'cause I'll be dam*ed if I ever see anything when I go to a WMA. They get so pressured and heavily hunted, that whatever is in there is permanently bedded down or seriously nocturnal or just simply leaves the whole place and returns at 9:00pm at night! [:-][&o]

Butch A.

didnt mean to rub it in, butch. loudoun is a great place to hunt if you can find permission. i belong to 3 hunting clubs(none in loudoun), and have only hunted at 2 of them for a total of 4 days. i am glad that i dont have to do the wma thing. i would go crazy(questioning my sanity) going thru what your going thru w/ the dogs, other hunters, and lack of deer.. 1 thing i can say about loudoun is you at least see a deer 98% of the time. they may not be in bow/rifle range-but at least that helps pass the long hours on stand.

Seeing plenty of deer in Clarke as well. I missed a nice buck.... well thats another story[:@] I did however get a a 3pt that had a very big body. My brother shot a doe with his Contender. It was his first harvest with it.

Thanks.... Yeah, looking back at my hunting log, Cumberland State Forest is where I have seen deer and missed on that big 8 pointer. I know I am still relatively a "newbie" (this is my 3rd year) - but in three years on WMA's you'd think I'd at least see something! [:-]

My wife was mentioning about me going hunting all the time and always coming home empty handed... She actually asked me if I would consider looking into one of those outfitter deals and/or guide services. Wow, major major $$$$ for that stuff! [&:]

Butch A.