KirkV Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 This has probably been one of the strangest ruts I have ever seen go down here in Illinois. Ther are so many factors that could contribute to it I do not even know where to start. I am seeing small bucks and does and lots of does with yearlings still tagging along with them. Usually the does have booted the yearlings by the time the rut comes around. No mature bucks are on the prowl during the daylight at our place and I am getting pictures of bucks at 2:30 or so in the morning moving through our area. I am soooooo depressed at only seeing deer moving at first and last light it is not funny. The possible contributing factors are a really warm fall, lots of leaves still on the trees and green brose still in the timber. This will cause the deer to hangup in the timber and hit the picked corn late in the evening just before dark. The deer using the food plot are almost non existant during the day but may come to it for 10-15 minutes at dark and then leave. The majority of the does that pass me doe not have bucks on their tails and do not even have one following a few minutes behind. But I jumped up one doe the other day that had 4 bucks,2 shooters with her. It is almost like the mojority of our does are not in yet and the deer are not migrating through our timber to get to the food sources. Sorry for the long post but I am pulling out what little hair I have left. I am hoping the second shotgun period will be better and more does will be in with bucks running them. Anybody else have any other idea's what in the world is happening or is it just me? Kirk:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Kinda sounds like my season... Here in NE MO. Usually deer have and are killing our food plots right now but not this year. And yes I am still seeing mature does with fawns... When I do see a lone doe no buck to be found with her:( I will agree its been a very very strange year:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilhnter Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I hunt in southern Illinois and they are chasing pretty good down here. We've seen good bucks and small bucks chasing, but unfortunatley we haven't been able to get a shot off a big buck yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemodeerhuntersneighbor Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I think a quite a few of the does were bred the last week of october and the first few days of november around here. I had several pics of big bucks chasing does on my cameras and saw several mature bucks chasing does. Then the big boys quit moving at all during daylight until about november 8th then they started cruising big time for 4 or 5 days and then they got locked down with the rest of the does that had just came into heat b/c nobody is seeing any big deer around here anymore. I guess that is what is commonly referred to as a trickle rut which makes things tough sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetucker Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 having the same prob here in maine.lastweek we got one that was chasing a doe.he was huge.but today was out hunting seen a doe about 40 yrds away from my blind watched her for about 45mins and no buck even came close.but our weather has been really screwed up.good luck and happy safe hunting.wish we were like some other states have a good population and can get more than 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I couldn't agree with you more. The same thing is going on here in Central Iowa. I had 7 different does come by this morning with no bucks following. Seeing alot of small bucks. What chasing there has been-NOT MUCH was little bucks. I haven't seen the big ones since opening day pheasant season, which we kicked up. I think they may already be bred or rut is going to fall more into our shotgun season this year. I gave up sitting all day when I don't see nothing more than I did when hunting a couple hrs in morning and before dark. This bow season is such a drag!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 Been another crazy one here too. Seems the up and down rutting activity here is becoming the norm as the weather gets more and more inconsistent from year to year. There was chasing going on here back earlier this month, typically our rut hits around the third week of November, right now used to be the most prime time. Middle of last week, was seeing a lot of movement during daylight when the overnight temps were dipping down below the freezing mark. Now we are in the 40's overnight and daytime temps are near 70, seems the daylight activity has come to an abrupt stop just in time for our gun season:(. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 I'm seeing a lot of the same symptoms Kirk. I've only seen one chase scene so far, and that was November 2nd. I saw 2 does and 3 fawns walking in my neighbor's field Wednesday, and nothing was on their tail. I've seen tons of midget bucks out cruising, but only 1 shooter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natethebowhunter Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 that is exactly what is going on here in southern wisconsin. i have seen young bucks chasing does for a week now but none of the big ones and most of the does still are hanging with their fawns. i saw 14 doe opening morning without bucks behind them. dad saw a small 8 point with a few does. i dont know if they have hit the rut yet or not. kinda confused on it. i sure hope this weekend is a little better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyman Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I live about 20 miles from the Olin Corp. (makers of Winchester ammo) and they own a big chunk of ground that is strictly off limits to hunting. It is lousy with unpressured deer. I had some errands to run in the area so i drove by about 8:30 this morning (the day after Thanksgiving). In about a half mile stretch, i saw 3 different bucks, including a big 8 pointer and an even bigger 10 pointer chasing does. It looks like the rut is a little later than usual, but looks to be raging in my neck of the woods here in Southwestern Illinois. Hopefully, it will last until next weekend when our second season rolls around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve1025 Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 Amen I hear what your saying. Even stranger is the fact that all of our 6pts are still hanging around together on rather peaceful terms. No fights and no does. My guys are feeding around 7p and you can't find them during the day. My friend happened to wake two of them that were bedding on opening day (7am) for firearms. Needless to say, they ran side by side for about 40yds before the final one took his last nap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.