Rut Reports

[hunter322]

Was out workin on the stands tonight, deer sign everywhere! Saw alot of rubs, and scrapes. Heck one of the scrapes i saw was 4' in diameter! Checked the cameras and we got a nice giant on there and a bunch of little bucks but they are all nocturnal no day time movement yet.

[birdswacker]

Hunter, are you on the east or west side of 35? I'm on the west and not seeing squat.

[Bear55]

Worst last weekend of Oct in years, was on deer but no good bucks and very little buck sign in any of my spots. There has to be a hot doe somewhere pulling them all of them away from me.

[Stratosman]

Hunted am and pm in an area I havn't been in yet this year, a 100 yard wide funnel between two doe bedding areas, this morning 3 bucks, all 8's and 2.5 yo, a couple does. Nothing chasing or following. Tonight, 4 does and one little sixer. Should be a good week!

[B-man715]

Going strong in NW Wisconsin!

Here is a crappy cell pic of a big woods public land buck I dropped the string on this evening

Tomorrow I'll get some good daylight pics and post the story!

[96trigger]

Was better tonight. Had 3 deer feeding in front of my stand early. Kicked them out walking in. Had another deer below me, caught a short glimpse of it when I grunted. It wanted nothing to do with that. Couldn't tell what it was but it was not big. Had someone on 4 wheeler right at prime time in the field at the bottom of the bluff. Heard voices down below me, Idon't think that helped. Maybe someone got a deer down there. There is another stand 100 yards from mine across the fence line.

[Jeff13]

Hunted hard out all day. Nothing to show for it. Tracks and all over even hunted a fresh scrape tonight. Thought for sure it was going to happen today.

All my cameras though have all my buck activity between midnight and 2:30 AM the last few days though. A little disappointed today.

[96trigger]

Hang in there, that's how I felt yesterday. Its going to pop very soon, then the fun begins.

[no bait nate]

Hunted yesterday morning until noon. Saw over a dozen does working the areas all around me and had 4 different bucks show themselves. Two of the bucks showed withing minutes of rattling sequences. Very exciting having them rush in looking for trouble. To bad the biggest buck was only a tall six that will be great in a couple of years.

The evening was less eventful with just a handful of does working the field and a small fork trying to rub some bark with his tines. It wasn't working well for him but fun to watch from 10 yds away.

[hockeybc69]

4 of us hunted this weekend.... Not even a sign of rut while one stand.

5 cams, there is definitely more buck activity in the last few days...... all at night.

[hunter322]

birdswacker, i live on the east side of 35 and also hunt the east side of 35 down by hugo.

[Big Country]

Active bucks in the Duluth area. A friend had two bucks fighting in front of him a few days ago. When they finished he drilled the big 8 that dressed out at 190. Went with my son yesterday to an area my parents hunt. Bucks are tearing the trees up all over. Opener should be fun in these parts. BC

[Cheetah]

There were lots of small bucks being seen the past few days where I hunt. I finally had a couple come by me last night at 12yd and 5yd but couldn't get a shot on the one I wanted without spooking him. I saw one doe being chased hard by what looked like a big bodied buck on Friday night but I couldn't see the antlers from where I was. I'm planning on taking this coming Friday off again to get out in the woods.

[skee0025]

I was at my dads place over by Pepin WI this weekend and had Does chased through the front yard on both Saturday and Sunday night just at dusk. We also had a nice sized Buck walk out of a standing corn field at 1:30 in the afternoon.

[archerystud]

I missed a nice 8 this morning, inside spread out to the ears, decent mass and height. I guess you can still make rookie mistakes after 30 years of hunting. To be honest I'd like something a little bigger and it was a clean miss.

My peep wasn't turned and then I rushed the shot. But this buck had no idea I was there and he was cruising. He probably would have given me another shot except he could see me reaching for another arrow. I should have let him pass and I will be I could have grunted him back in. He was on a mission.

I'm going to switch to another property, I'll see what the action is like over there.

[wannafish2]

Hunted last 3 weekends and only saw 1 good buck the 1st weekend out. gotta be more than just that one...had 12 does and fawns in the field one night so I hope a couple of them get ready soon. taking this Thursday and Friday off instead of during gun season knowing I'll have the farm all to myself...crossin my fingers to take my first deer with a bow - this is my 3rd season...I may take a doe here soon if I don't get something with antlers walking around soon.

[MattL]

I hunted hard all day Saturday, Sunday, and today until 11 without much to show for it. Been seeing a few deer but all smaller bucks and does. Not a lot of chasing going on yet. Every deer I saw was between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM with the exception of 1 buck at 9:30 AM.

[birdswacker]

Hunter,

I saw one little rub this evening and nothing else.

[96trigger]

Going out this morning for an all day sit. Will post the report tonight.

[RumRiverRat]

Going out this morning for an all day sit. Will post the report tonight.

Spent all of legal time hunting yesterday, plan on doing the same today.

Saw the same giant 12 point I saw a couple days ago, I thought I had my stand in a good place to intercept him but no such luck. He was 95 yards away according to the range finder.

Let a really nice 8 point walk within 25 yards while I was sitting in a ground blind eating a sammich. I was tempted to take him, but I am holding out for a 10 point or better. I hope that 8 makes it through the season and stays on my property. He could be a giant next year.

Lots of scrapes showing up.

I made a mock scrape and have a dripper on it. Plan on hunting from a ground blind since the wind is going to be perfect for that spot today.

Hoping to lure in that 12 pointer.

[archerystud]

Saw 2 does and 4 fawns last night, was a bit surprised that I didn't get at least a small buck wandering through. Did a little grunting and nothing.

Nada this morning. Kind of disappointing as I got out there early this morning and never even heard anything walk through. Still better than being at work!!!

2 monster corn fields got picked about 2 miles East of me and they were picking the third (last one) as I drove in this morning. Also have one monster one south of me. Hopefully that one gets picked next.

[hockeybc69]

My buddy spent the entire day on stand yesterday on our farm in Ottertail County... never saw a deer.

He is currently out again, not a deer today either....

So much for prerut/rut daytime activity... Maybe we are in a core area with homosexual bucks... I dont get it at all..... I dont even bother taking the 2 or 3 days off prior to rifle season to archery hunt any more. Simply have never seen squat for rut activity.

Extremely puzzling...

[InTheNorthwoods]

My buddy spent the entire day on stand yesterday on our farm in Ottertail County... never saw a deer.

He is currently out again, not a deer today either....

So much for prerut/rut daytime activity... Maybe we are in a core area with homosexual bucks... I dont get it at all..... I dont even bother taking the 2 or 3 days off prior to rifle season to archery hunt any more. Simply have never seen squat for rut activity.

Extremely puzzling...

Typical late October reports. Some folks see wild chasing scenes while others see nothing resembling rut behavior. One hot doe in the woods can make the deer go wild, and some areas seem to "pop" earlier than other areas. Where we hunt, it always seems like the second weekend of gun season sees more bucks throwing caution to the wind, chasing and tending does. Other than that, its a slow progression to the high-point of rut activity.

[surewood]

Had a buck grunting and doing some chasing this morning.

[rbs]

Hunted this morning till 10:30am and no bucks came thru. Pulled my card from my camera that is just below my stand on the trail the deer use most and what do you know...a shooter came thru twice once at 730 last night and once at 230am this morning. Same deer for sure, still at night. I will be there this afternoon and most of the day Wed. Hope he comes in before I go up north rifle hunting Thursday!