deer season has been slow not that cold real windy and acorns are everywhere i hunt south arkansas an no camps are really seeing deer so i ask what do i do the rut is either over or not here yet i c does with no bucks chasing how do i hunt this problem i saw 10 deer this weekend spikes an a four pointer and does but nothing worth shooting rubs are light any suggestions

I don't know where exactly youre hunting but i hunt south arkansas also. i saw over a hundred deer this weekend. killed a 7 pt with a 17 inside spread and a little over 18 out.
They were everywhere this past weekend. I will be back saturday.
and youre right they are not rutting . the buck i killed had swollen tarsals and smelled ripe but went to eating acorns even though there wer some 8 does in the area at the time.
The all mighty biologist know it alls are wrong as usual. every doe i saw had yearlings with them. one even let them suck. now what that tells me is a lot of does bred late last year. hummm december and jan rut? YEAH! but the all mighty biologist with the AG&F will tell you they are in rut now. NOT!!!!!!
Good luck and keep hunting especially next month late season. the last muzzle loader season into jan. IMO will be the best time to catch a real buck moving.

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL

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Fear not, fellow Arkie, the bucks are there and I have seen plenty of rutting activity. The buck that I killed opening weekend was bird dogging a small doe right up to the point where I introduced him to my 25-06.
Hudge, a lot of biologists would have us to believe that the deer herd was decimated by the ice storm from a while back, but I just haven't seen it. Our deer population is strong and getting stronger where I live and hunt. What I do know is that the first few days of gun season was hot and windy, which we all know is lousy hunting conditions, and I think that hurt deer sightings. I think guys that didn't do well early will start seeing deer now. I don't know about any conspiracy that the AG&F might have going on, but I don't like most Oliver Stone movies either, so what do I know.

From northwest Arkansas -> I'm finding lots of rubs and a few scrapes. Witnessed rutting activity in early October - several evenings I watched bucks chase does around my pasture, but again that was October. Have seen no rutting activity since modern gun opened. Have seen a number of deer though. Opening weekend of modern gun was met with warm weather last year too, and I saw some serious rutting, bucks chasing does etc. on opening day. Watched a buck take a nap for two hours till some more does came by. Anyway, I am not seeing the rutting activity right now, hopefully it will be a later one - I prefer to hunt in cold weather anyhow.

Hudge throughout the ice storm and after i was in the woods.( something the biologists apperently don't do) i never saw any dead deer . i did however see alot of live deer trying to find food.
I believe the weather the last few years and the change in habitat caused by heavy clearcutting has changed deer activity. the heavy clearcutting is nice for a few years until it gets so thick no person could walk through it. well deer can live in it and they do. they thrive in it .
the same stand i have seen so many deer so far this year on ,last year i didnt see but 10 the whole season and i was hunting more last year.
And i thought originally with the bumper acorn crop deer would be scarce . not so for some unknown reason.
Oh and one more observation i have made. all the does i have seen are very young does. no real big 5 or 6 year olds. i am beginning to believe that the older does are coming into estrus and staying in the thickets. i have found that in south arkansas the deer tend to breed in the thickets. the does fee less pressure if they run those boys through the brush.. and one reason i think this is i havent hunted by thickets yet but a friend has. he heard alot of deer activity like crashing through the brush and grunting. but saw few deer . i think he saw only 7 saturday morning.
arkansasdeerguy do you hunt with a climbing stand? if not buy one!if so stay out of pretty bottoms and clearcuts. find thick areas that you can see down into from 20 to 30 ft or higher. sit and wait . you may be surprised at what you see in those ugly thick ,nasty areas that no other hunters want to hunt. Deer are like goats. think like a goat!

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL

Me and my father went to N. Ankansas from Iowa on the opening week-end of modern gun. We took two nice bucks. Did not see a large supply of deer. The first Sat. was warm and windy and we seen nothing. The next Sunday my father took a ten point buck probably 2.5 years old. The next orining I took a small 6. He was chasing a doe, he was in hot pursuit, actually he chased her 150 yards to my stand.

That doe looked at me in relief after I shot that Buck, I found it amusing she really stopped and looked around cathing her breath.

We were diffinitly seeing some early rut activity. The rut in central Iowa has just peaked and starting to wind down.

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hudge i bet it is cold right now!
I spent two weeks in billings in jan ! no way i was moving there!

SOUTH ARKANSAS REBEL

Soark, it ain't cold until beer freezes while you are drinking it. We call that &quot;ICE FISHING SEASON&quot; in these parts<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>!