3b

[fsh4trout]

Anyone getting ready for the 3B season? I'll be in 348. Does Anyone have any idea about possible rut activity, will it be over? Seeing all the pictures and stories has really gotten me stoked for opening day. Good luck to all.

[zepman]

I'm in 348 also...right outside Peterson. Haven't heard much about the rut going on over there but I'm sure it'll still be going good...usually is.

I'm more concerned about the standing corn than anything. Hope the farmers are able to get really busy this week. I'll bet it saved lot's and lot's of deer over the past two weekends. Heading over friday morning...I'm jacked already.

[picksbigwagon]

I used to hunt 346 across the river from downtown houston, this will be a big year for 3B, or they are just as spooked as ever since I am sure people pushed a lot of timber and probably some fields trying to find a deer.....

[fsh4trout]

Another factor is the additional weekend added to 3A. I've heard of a few people that swithched seasons. This may be good or bad depending on how you view hunting pressure. If this is true, deer may be in their more natural patterns, not running from place to place getting shot at.Or they might hunker down in the standing corn and noone will see anything. Time will tell.

[hartner62]

I'll be out in 344. I was down last weekend and talked to a few relatives that said the rut was still on heavy, so hopefully it is still on for this weekend. Also, the farmers are out in full force harvesting crops.

[jloomis]

rut is just startin to get heavy as of thursday and friday last week. i was there in 346 from tues thru sat. i shot a nice 10 pt on fri morning. thursday had little bucks chasing does around me. i think you should be in good hands for the b season. talk to lots of hunters also and they say they didn't see any rut behavior for the a season. plus most of all the corn should be down for you guys. good luck and stay safe!!!!

[MIKE IN lINO III]

I'll be in 349, hoping to see lots of deer.

[picksbigwagon]

Good luck everyone, Mike, when you stop at good times, make sure if Sasa is you waitress or your bartender, that you give her grief.....and then tell her Uncle Big Tom says hello.....

[96trigger]

boys, I think 3B will be good this year. We are some of the ship jumpers, but are some of the only ones that had real good success over 3A. We went 7 for 7. However, In our very local area the corn was all out, in most places, there were still very large tracts of corn. Many of the hunters complained that the deer didn't leave the corn fields. Much of the corn has been taken out this week. Registration numbers appeared to be down. Last Saturday I shot a doe with a buck hot on her tail. The rut is still going.

I thought that I would see an absolute ton of hunters during 3A this year because of the switch. I didn't see nearly as many as I thought. About the same as normal to be honest. I might go out with the bow yet in another area. This was zone 342, I am not sure how the rest of zone 3 was. Good luck, go get them.

[Hench]

I'll be down in 342 starting Saturday. Talking to a buddy that hunts the same property in 3A got two 6 pointers and a doe, but passed up on "a lot". Man!....I'm stoked.

[96trigger]

Hench, where in 342?

[Ron Burgundy]

Where around Peterson? I grew up there. I stay at my moms in Peterson because its 1/2 way to Blackhammer-349 where I'll be hunting. Hopefully all week.

[Hench]

Just north of Plainview near Theilman.

[96trigger]

I hunted in that area a little bit, mostly bow season, the big farms out there have been picking like crazy the last week. Most of the corn was in that area during 3A. You should have good hunting.

I was also suprised at the lack of cars I saw on Cty Rd 4 between Plainview and Lake City. I thought it would be packed with cars parked along side of the road. I saw 3 on opening morning, I'm sure there were plenty on top, but still thought I would see more. Some of the Zumbro Bottoms got hit hard, but that place is huge. Good luck.

[Hench]

I'm in the valley between Plainview and Theilman. We stay in Plainview and once in awhile we'll spend some time in Whitewater but there is generally too many people in the wma. We used to have permission to hunt some private land (until it was sold) that bordered up to Whitewater that was awesome. It was nice because not many people got back to that part of the wma unless you accessed it from private land.

[fsh4trout]

Well, I arrived at about 6:40, walked up the trail, happened to look to my left and there was a doe not 15 yards away. I froze with my gun in my right hand no where near ready to shoot, I hadn't planned on walking right up to a deer. She busted and there he was, a big tall buck at least 8 points. Well they vacated the area promptly, offering no shot oppurtunity. As I picked my jaw up off the ground I wondered if he was tending the doe. I don't think that bucks and does just hang out together this time of year. What do you fellas think?

[96trigger]

Souns like he was tending. You cauld have caught them in the chase, then she busted you and stopped trying to figure you out, when she bolted, so did the buck. I have seen some chasing, but also some tending. Been very quiet down here, don't see the deer in the trucks or hear the shots. Foggy and kind of crappy yesterday, rained last night, the woods will be quiet.

[hartner62]

I just got back and this is the first year we didn't get one on opening weekend. The fog was insane and some guy even walked right off of one of the bluffs and got hurt pretty bad. I only saw 5 deer on stand and that is by far the least amount ever. I had two does at 11 yards that I passed on opening morning hoping that a buck would be behind them but I regret passing now. Good thing is that the farmers that surround the properties that we hunt are going to be out picking this week. Hopefully next weekend will be better.

[fsh4trout]

I didn't see many deer either. Two doe fawns came in midmorning on Saturday but I did not want to shoot a doe the first day. Sunday I did not see a single deer, but I was on public land that is pretty thick so a deer could be 100 yards away but completely out of sight. Hunting Pressure is pretty high when there are 3 hunters on the same bluff within 200 hundred yards of each other. Corn was still standing in the two nearest fields so they could have been bedding in there. Oh well, season is not over.

[bassNspear]

we had 7 guys and seen 2 deer! It sucks!!

[96trigger]

hartner, saw the sheriff, then the ambulance and fire and rescue crew drive by the house about 7:30 Sat morning. Was this a guy you were hunting with? I heard yesterday that somebody fell off a cliff, but didn't know who it was. Sucks to hear, and there are some major drop offs around these bluffs.

[zepman]

I sat all day on my stand on Saturday without seeing a single deer. I didn't think that was possible in the area we hunt...now I know it is. Tremendous fog also in our area...didn't break until @ 10:30 and made it very difficult to see or hear anything even if they were moving. I didn't hear a single shot until 7:30 in the morning...very few after that all day.

Sunday I sat without seeing a deer until @ 10:00 when the woods seemed to come alive. I passed on about 8-10 does waiting for that buck to show up with one of them or following their trail. At straight up noon an eight pointer came in with two does and I took him with about a 50 yard shot. Not a huge buck but a nice solid 3 1/2 year old deer that I was very proud to take.

Our group of 11 hunters has alot of work to do yet as we only tagged two deer for the entire weekend. Hopefully, this week will provide some more opportunities for all of us.

[bassNspear]

ya, i have sat every morning till 10 and havent seen a deer yet! We have 8 tags to fill!

[hartner62]

The guy wasn't with us and was from Cottage Grove but I talked with one of the locals that got him out of there and he said that the guy kissed every rock on the way down and will be eating with a straw for awhile. I guess he fell over 20 ft. and it took over 2 hours to get him out. Not a great way to start your morning.

Some nice deer did get taken this year though and with all of the corn it means that many more big bucks will be around next year.

[96trigger]

yeah, there is still lots of corn in. The weather this week will not help the farmers. However, the ML hunters might have a great season. Lots of places got pushed last weekend. I expect more to get pushed this weekend when the ML 3A hunters team up with the 3B hunters. Last year it was just a mob or orange everywhere.