Illinois rut


6sixpoint_nobrows

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I live in central illinois and was wondering if some Illinois boys. . and girls could give me an update on what the rut is looking like. i have been finding a lot of rubs and scrapes, but how are the bucks responding to calling? anyone having any luck. i have tickled the horns a little bit but with no luck. i grunted some the other night and had a doe come in to investigate and harvested her. Hoping for a good cold weekend to get the deer movin and maybe slam a big boy!

Kyle

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I have been finding scrapes since the first week of October...mind you however, that where i hunt is overloaded with immature bucks...I put some cams over these scrapes and ended up getting some decent pics of bucks and does hitting em at both night and day, and that was over the last 2 1/2 weeks. Started seeing rubs about 2 weeks ago, but really started to see them widespread around the property about 4-5 days ago...I haven't even touched my grunt call or rattle bag yet, but will give it a whirl this week. I'm thinking its safe to say that the pre-rut is just about underway...

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I hunt a lot at Rend Lake area which is all public hunting. I saw about 9 shooter bucks before season started, and haven't saw any of them yet since season started. I had a small 9 pointer about 100" is the biggest I've saw. Found about 30 rubs the week before season and have found some newer ones in the last week. I haven't found a single scrape yet though. Good luck to you guys in the coming weeks

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I am seeing alot of rubs and scrapes they just started popping up over the last couple days,I saw a big 8 pointer about a 140 or 145 he keeps coming out about 6:00 every night I don't hunt and when I do he doesn't,I had 14 does come out last night hit the grunt call and had to small bucks come out and start fighting so I would say pre rut isn't to far off!

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Well all of this is getting encouraging! its been a little on the warmer side so im hoping we can get the temperatures to drop some and get these deer on there feet, not to mention a lot of the corn still standing. looks like they are calling for rain the rest of the week so i guess we"ll see. good luck everyone maybe we can use this thread as a Il rut update post. .

Kyle

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Very early to say if its started fully yet but there are signs that its close!! Rattled in a decent buck yesterday, and have seen a few scrapes and rubs pop up lately so its ready to pop!! Just talked to a buddy and he is on his way to his hunting spot and seen about 5 deer standing out in field!! Thats a good sign that the deer are starting to move earlier in the day!!

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Lastnight I went to a stand I haven't hunted much this year. Last time i was there was about a week and a half ago. On the way to my stand i counted 12 scrapes and lost count of the rubs i saw. Prolly lil bucks comin in, but when the rut is full bore its a main travel area for big bucks. Last year i had trail camera pics of 5 different shooters goin through this area. Needles to say i went out and put a camera up as soon as i got off work today. Its not far off and will be seeing mature deer on there feet during daylight hours.

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Kyle, I called all weekend and had 3 1.5 yr old bucks respond. I think next weekend the pre-rut will be rockin and the big boys will start responding to the antlers.

Thats what im talking about! im going out tomorrow morning ( i got work off :) ) and im gonna hit the horns and do some more grunting, i just have a good feeling about tommorow. with all this rain im thinking the deer will be moving good in the morning.

Kyle

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Kyle, I called all weekend and had 3 1.5 yr old bucks respond. I think next weekend the pre-rut will be rockin and the big boys will start responding to the antlers.

Same thing here...had a little booger come out at about 60 yds, and start heading into the prairie, so i grabbed the can and the grunt call just to play with him, and he responded well...did a total 180 and circled around my tree...walked past 4 yds away from my tree...its always fun to jerk them young dudes around....

WE NEED DRY WEATHER TO GET THESE DARN CROPS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is killing me right now...

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I have been having real good luck with the rattling/grunt/snort combinations. I have rattled in 4 bucks over the last 3 weeks. The 160 incher that I shot and lost...a 130 inch buck on this Saturday morning and 2 forkhorns Sunday morning.

Scraps and rubs have been active for about 2 weeks...but a few does are in estrous already in Southern IL. My buddy saw a buck breeding a doe as he was jogging down the bike trail in town over the weekend. Maybe the cold weather is just making them real horny.

The real hot time of the year for central/southern Il. is Nov. 5th thru 15th IMHO. You might as well stick it out in the stand all day from about November 1st thru gun season b/c a buck will stay with a doe for half a day and breed her a few times and then be on the move for his next love affair. You stay in the tree and a bruiser is bound to come trotting by at any time.

Good luck everyone...I am over my deppression from losing the 160inch 8pt.....after a few xanax.

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I've see zero scrapes and zero rubs.

No/little deer movement or activity during day hours for 2 weeks now.

I expect the rut to be right on time (starting around November 7th) as usual. I also expect things to start heating up some time this week.

Same here. Found one scrape yesterday and very few rubs. I guess this is what's called the October lull. Really not even seeing a lot of fresh tracks.

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