Bucks are a runnin

[harvey lee]

I spent the last 5 days in North Dakota over the gun opener archery hunting with my son and a few of his friends.

Jay, a friend of Clint's, shot a 3x2 with a very large body.

Timmy, another friend of Clint's shot a nice doe.

Clint let a few go and the last day, didn't see the buck he was looking for. His standards are a bit higher then the rest of us.

Every one went home Sunday aft and I stayed as I thought Monday was going to be a nice day with less wind. Well, 14 degrees and a 20 plus mph wind was not as nice as I was looking for but it all turned out great.

I was set up in a spot I have hunted before but not alot.I was seeing alot of deer with both bucks and does running about but just did not have a good shot. Sunday morning I got a shot at a nice doe but the tree was a bit in the way and I had to lean a bit but figured I could make the shot. I drew back an noticed a small twig between my string and limb but thought it would be ok. Not, I gut shot the doe and never recovered it. BAD DEAL.

This morning after 30 mintues in the stand a shot a nice bodied 9 pointer as he was moving through the woods lookin for a mate.

We all saw numerous bucks pushing does through the woods and I would say if one is looking to catch a buck in rut, now is the time. This was one of our better years for seeing bucks moving through the woods on the opener.

Every day it either rained all day or snowed on us. The wind was enough for all the days blowing from 13-30mph. Not the best weather but since the bucks were chasing, everything turned out well for our first archery weekend in ND this season.

[TylerS]

Rut was HOT and heavy where we hunted. Scrapes everywhere. Never seen so much activity.

11:53 a.m. Friday had a dog blaze by at 20 yards with three bucks hot on her tail. At 12:03, had a spike come within 50 feet, spot me, zip around and bust the doe that was trailing him. Missed a doe broadside at 75 yards 15 minutes later. Saw another doe skirt the edge at 1 p.m. A fawn snuck around a bit later. Got busted by a spike buck at 1:30 coming from the north, then shot my big doe at 1:35 immediately after that.

Uncle got his big 4x5 at 12:02. Other uncle shot a nice-bodied deer at 4 p.m. It was the 11th buck he saw Friday evening and he finally pulled the trigger because it was getting late and he was freezing.

All told I'd say we saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 45-50 deer between the four of us Friday evening. A ton less people around, too, so I know the deer weren't moving from pushers.