RUT REPORTS

[O.T.C.]

I'd say after getting an extremely muddy truck last night before dark there's definitely rutting behavior going on, saw 7 bucks and however many does and fawns and the bucks were acting very odd, 2 of 7 were 100% focused on a doe and 1 of those 2 was running off the fawn. Get back and 1 of our farming neighbors stopped in his mud soaked rig, he watched 5 bucks, some were fighting etc. and there was 1 doe, the largest buck kept running off the smaller bucks, he said it was quite the scene, a scene he has never seen before, about 20 minutes went by the bigger buck was now grunting and chasing the doe further away from the smaller bucks and they hit a small patch of weeds in the combined cornfield and she bedded down as did this 9 pointer. The weather felt rutty kinda yesterday, so it seems things have begun as other locals are reporting pretty much the same thing, buck here or there chasing a doe and other bucks hoping to. A friend of mine riding with last night I said I sure wish I was out hunting, he said "in this weather" wet snow and wind, we round corner Number 1 and there's a buck at 4:30 etc. another mile theres another 1 and then a buck chasing a doe around a bit 9 deer in that field etc. You could feel it in the air. But now if we get warmer temps and mildness will it slow the legal light sightings idk. 

[snapcrackpop]

Zzzzzzzzzzzz ...  South Central MN today.

[ozzie]

Haven't had much activity on the land that I am hunting.  Have seen a few does as I was leaving the land and 1 other deer in stand one early morning this past weekend but other than that the activity on the land I hunt ceased when they picked the beans.  There is corn still up on the other side of a swamp I have view of so I am thinking that is where most of the deer have gone.  This is in the Princeton area.

[O.T.C.]

I'm in the Princeton area also and it was buck central last night. Going on the Milaca tour tonight. So much of this "rut" is happening when we're sound asleep. There is definitely a pattern showing what % idk but does are getting bred before the orange army hits the woods and more so when it opens a touch later like Nov. 7th this year, we're creeping to earlier openers again for gun hunting which will = a less % of does bred by that opening day.

[DonBo]

Just now, over lunch break, I checked on a piece of property I just got permission to hunt.  High noon, right out in the open, a B & C contender. OMG, maybe the biggest buck I've ever seen.  Lots of rubs visible from his driveway. 

I'm getting a scratchy throat, think I'm gonna have to go home a bit early today.

[O.T.C.]

Donbo you are carrying an illness that takes until November 6th at 5:30PM to recover from !!!!!!!!!!! A lady I work with added they had a buck make a scrape in their backyard about 6:00PM last night under a pine branch, her husband was drooling she said, must have been a spike. Don you look like %$#@, you must leave right now or risk spreading that botulism to the others. PS. Eat 2 and 1/3 cans of sauerkraut and you can call in a brutal stomach ache in the morning to boot.

[DonBo]

Thanks for the tips OTC. I did get out of work quick enough to set a new stand. Had a forkie trolling through, grunted him in but passed. Then I saw HIM again. He chased a couple does one time around the hay field then vanished back the way he came from. Never closer than 150 yds. 

I'm going to have to work in the morning, but can hit it hard after that.

 

[Cheetah]

DonBo, you still got the same truck?  

[Majestic]

Them pics are cool Sturg, they look like they are right out of a book!

[DonBo]

DonBo, you still got the same truck?  

ummmm, no. Driiving a Prius now   a pink one.

[96trigger]

Went out this morning, rattled in 2 little bucks on two separate occasions.  Saw 2 does as well, probably yearlings, but man, the lead doe was cagey. I'm not seeing the explosion of scrapes that indicate the rut is in full swing.  Couple of scrapes here and there, but nothing like what I see when the bucks get super active.  Checked some spots where there are always scrapes, some had them, some didn't. 

[fire29]

I'm out today. Going to sit all day. Haven't seen anything yet.  There are a couple new scrapes on my way in. Havnt seen any dead, hit by cars yet either. 

[Fishalittle]

Big buck chasing a doe hard this morning but only in the open for a little bit.....steered her right into the woods/swamp. To bad it was 200 yards from my bow stand this morning.....

[O.T.C.]

Oh man Donbo that forky as I was reading, was waiting for then another buck stepped out and took over the pursuit, wouldn't be surprised if once dark a larger buck took control of that doe situation. Skipped muddy truck part 2 as daughter had to name her new flock of kittens and rake yard with daddy. I'm sure turning down the right road or trail eventually you'd see some form of rutting type activity. 

[MNHunter65]

Was out in Lino Lakes yesterday for an evening sit. Lots of scrapes around, but didn't see any deer.

[Majestic]

Just got in from my morning hunt, sat until noon.  About the first 10 minutes of shooting light I seen a big bodied deer come through some thick stuff but I couldn't tell if it had a rack. About 45 minutes later I hear some grunting and crashing coming my way from that same direction as the first deer I seen earlier was heading. It was two bucks chasing a doe, a smaller 6-8 pt basket was on her tail with a bigger 8 (120")  behind him, they came within 40 yds and busted to my right.  Just a few minutes later a different smaller doe came from that same directions on a full run and went into a thicket to my left, two more bucks were chasing after her, not sure if they were the same two I had just seen or two new ones but they were on a different doe for sure but they looked similar to the two I just seen.

The bigger 8 only bothered with that one for about 10 minutes until I seen him creeping back by himself in the direction it all originally started from, I grunted at him a few times and he looked my way but kept walking where he came from. I waited about 20-30 minutes and rattled, nothing responded. I looked at my phone and it was 9am.

I was thinking about heading out around 10:30 since there was no action since 9. Talked myself out of it a few times and at 10:50 a bigger 8 (130"-140") stepped right out into my 20 yard opening and was nibbling on some grasses and twigs, he then made a scrape and played around on a lick branch for about 10 minutes before heading out to my left where the other deer had previously chased that doe. I gave him a pass since this was my first sit of the season and the very 1st time I've hunted this new stand.  I hung around for another hour after he left but it was pretty dead and I was getting hungry. 

So it's definitely heating up here in SE MN, I witnessed chasing and scraping today. On the way out I noticed 2 new scrapes right on my entry/exit trail that weren't there just a few days ago when I went down there to open up some lanes. I'll be back down there tomorrow morning waiting for a BOSS BUCK!!

 

[96trigger]

I am pretty sure that if the wind would stay low, one could sit and see deer all day today.  

[O.T.C.]

I concur Trigger, always the for sure at this time of year is the uncles who drive school bus around central MN, they always can provide the best info cuz they should be watching the road which they are but they always know when the daylight cruising begins, they just get to cover a lot of ground at the prime times of the day. They are reporting plenty of buck sightings and doe chasing. I think this recent weather helped even though we know it's driven by length of day, but localized weather plays a role in it. Gets too warm and it's bed down ville quite often, they have packed a lot of fat on and moving in warmer temps isn't ideal I don't think for em. In no hurry to eat when it's warmer and I hear warmer is on the way :(. for next week.

[fr0sty]

Saw does and fawns feeding together mid morning today south of st. stephen.  No bucks following.

Edited October 31, 2015 by fr0sty

[NELS-BELLS]

My son and I hunted the Murphy Hanrehan bow hunt in Savage yesterday and today, and my son only saw one doe.  I didn't see any deer.    We were on stand from well before sunrise to dark.  We moved to a different area mid day.  I talked to a few other hunters who all shared the same experience.  I have hunted this special hunt many times and this is the first time that I have not seen a deer.  Only 8 deer registered on Friday night.  

Its safe to say they weren't moving very much in that area.  Hope things pick up!  Only a week until the orange army takes to the woods.

Nels

[sportfish]

I'm on a 3 sit skunk !  ! ! What the heck .. A lot of scrapes but the cameras have slowed way down .. Tried grunts , can calls and rattled too . I will wait until Thursday when it cools down 

[eyedr]

Had the strangest thing happen tonight. I hunt a little 40 acre patch of woods.  I bow hunted it last year and have gun hunted it for the past 5 years. I see deer usually but tonight a doe and a fawn came in and the woods opened up. I had 16 does and fawns all around me coming from every direction. I had 8 of them within 15 yards. I don't have any food plots and I'm really not close to a food source. I have never seen this many deer on this property.  Probably 5 or 6 of the does we're walking around with their tails up, peeing all over the place. I was like they were marking the area. Never saw a buck. I took the day off Friday and will be in stand all day. The wind will be wrong for the stand I was in tonight but with all the does in the area, I'm hopeful. 

[fr0sty]

Saw two fresh roadkills on hwy 10 between little falls and motley.

[Jeff13]

Sat this evening nothing until 10 minutes left of shooting time, nice buck came out but took a wrong turn and headed the other way on me. Scrapes all over the field edge I was hunting. Surprised not to see any does tonight. Pretty quiet except for the last few minutes. Does in the ditches on the way home, and a few road kills. I hunted just west of Princeton.

[birdswacker]

I've had luck seeing does and the big shooter I've been waiting for but he didn't come into my range last week. Also lots of pictures the last 2 weeks but only little guys and does during the daylight the big boys are still nocturnal. I'm hunting private land in the north metro. Still waiting for the farmer to pick the corn which will be a few days with all the rain we got.