# 2013 Rut



## hillbillybelownewphilly (Nov 16, 2006)

I don't know about you fellas, but I'm starting to get antsy for bow season. I have a weeks worth of vacation left and wanna spend it in the woods. was curious if any of you guys have any predictions on when the rut will come in this year. I remember last year it was pushed back due to the warmer weather, but we have had a fairly cool summer. What do ya'll think?


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## Shaun69007 (Sep 2, 2009)

I dont think rut gets "pushed" back it just goes nocternal when it is warm out. I will be taking off the first of November. I perfer to hunt the early "trolling" time of the rut instead of the locked down with does rut.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

I like the pre-rut too.. 2 years ago I was right on time for the rut, Nov 7th/8th HOWEVER I was 100 yds outside the thicket. Zero deer left the thicket and I didn't see squat until the last night...because I moved into the thicket & Of course right at dark because it was so warm.

Temps in 50's & low 60's - between Halloween & Nov 9th- YA BABY, Can't Wait!


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## fishmeister (Jul 29, 2004)

If you go by moon phases like charlie alsheimer, peak should be around 16th through 22nd. I don't know if I believe that though. I will be in the stand from the 6th through the 15th.


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## VitalShot (Feb 10, 2012)

I always like right around Veterans Day 


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

I've killed my bucks on Nov.5th the last 3yrs in a row.Not planned,don't take time off work,that's just the way it's happened.I too like the last wk in Oct. thru first wk in Nov.GREAT time to be rattling.

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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

The rut doesn't change, it is determined by the length of daylight not temperature


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## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

This year we will have guns in the woods before the rut.....so that will change things big time.


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## BanksideBandit (Jan 22, 2010)

Carpman said:


> This year we will have guns in the woods before the rut.....so that will change things big time.


x2...my public land rut plans will be changed to thicker areas and going deeper into the woods. Late muzzleloader season doesn't get too many hunters where I'm at but I feel like since it's in Oct. it will get a lot of people out.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Carpman said:


> This year we will have guns in the woods before the rut.....so that will change things big time.


There's always guns in the woods before the rut. Dove season comes early in Sept and even though it may not be in the woods, there is plenty of shooting going on close by. Also squirrel season gets people moving around shooting in the woods. 
I hunt in southern Clermont Co, it seems I hear shooting constantly while I'm hunting. Between the guy shooting the 50 cal on one farm and another guy shooting his AR fully automatic on another farm, some days I wonder if I'm having flashbacks.

Both KY's and Indiana's gun seasons coincide with the rut and the rut still goes on just fine. I really don't think a few ML shoots are going to have any effect on the deer rut in OH.


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

crappiedude said:


> I hunt in southern Clermont Co, it seems I hear shooting constantly while I'm hunting. Between the guy shooting the 50 cal on one farm and another guy shooting his AR fully automatic on another farm, some days I wonder if I'm having flashbacks.


:Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: 
You sure you don't hunt in Butler Co? lol I experience the same thing from my neighboring properties. ARs lighting up old barns and chest thumping .50 rounds into a pond while I'm in the stand


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

Lundy said:


> The rut doesn't change, it is determined by the length of daylight not temperature


interesting tidbit lundy, in your experience is there a certain length you've found is better than others? I am going to have to go back and rewatch my footage when the most bucks appeared and see when sun up and down were.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

treytd32 said:


> :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36: :Banane36:
> You sure you don't hunt in Butler Co? lol I experience the same thing from my neighboring properties. ARs lighting up old barns and chest thumping .50 rounds into a pond while I'm in the stand


I'm close, I hunt in Clermont. I often wonder how they can afford to do it. They have to shoot 100s of rounds and it seems to be everyday.


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

Lundy said:


> The rut doesn't change, it is determined by the length of daylight not temperature


True but temps will affect "seeing" the rut. If it's too hot they will just go noctural, and then just hope and pray you can be in a stand when they decide to head for bed and get back up in the first few and last few moments of light each day.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

treytd32 said:


> interesting tidbit lundy, in your experience is there a certain length you've found is better than others? I am going to have to go back and rewatch my footage when the most bucks appeared and see when sun up and down were.


Just do searches for information, there is plenty of research available.

Once the amount of daylight triggers the hormones temp doesn't play much of a role just as prom night temp has no effect on desires and activity pursuits

Mother Nature at her finest. Have you ever heard of even one year where the birth rate for deer was low the following spring because the temp was warm during the rut? No, it doesn't work that way. The rut goes on every year at the same times with little variations


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Flathead King 06 said:


> True but temps will affect "seeing" the rut. If it's too hot they will just go noctural, and then just hope and pray you can be in a stand when they decide to head for bed and get back up in the first few and last few moments of light each day.


Yes, good post.


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## Buckeyeguyty93 (Jun 10, 2013)

Last year at least for me it seemed to hit right after the hurricane hit out here, while this was in northeast ohio, id say out of the 8 of us hunting the propety 6 Bucks hit the ground within a week, with many of them having does in tow or coming to a doe decoy


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

I've searched academic journals before while looking for research proposals and couldn't find much information on the topic. Never really thought to try just a regular internet search lol


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## Junebug2320 (Apr 23, 2010)

Little or no deer movement for me/us on the first week of November last two years... In 2008 (my last buck I shot) we hit it right and had bucks running around the cabin hounding doe-- not seeing good amounts of deer, bucks or doe past few years...


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## Odin (Dec 28, 2009)

Wildlife biologists state that the length of light in the day determines the rut every year, however observations from most hunters will tell you different. My own experience is that the timing of the first frost and dropping of acorns, has just as much effect on the rut as available daylight. There have been years when the deer started chasing in the middle of October, and some when they were chasing in November. Crazy as it sounds, when the road kill deer start showing up on the freeway in the fall, it's a good indicator that the deer are in the chase mode. I have tried to match the "tables" to deer sightings in the woods and they never match up. Moon cycles are another "table" that don't pan out for me. In the fall the deer are consistently feeding for winter, and the thing that changes their patterns the most is wind direction. The deer seem to move in circles, returning to the same place to feed every couple of days. If the wind changes direction ( like coming from the east or southeast which is unusual) the deer will be seen in places they normally don't frequent. The nocturnal thing also changes their patterns. Ever since they put the youth gun season the weekend before regular gun season, the deer have been mostly nocturnal at my deer hunting property during gun season.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Most hunters?

Your observations seem to be in contradiction to scores of studies done all over the US. A doe doesn't know to get excited until she sees frost on the nuts? How sad it is that the whitetail in South Texas, and Mexico never get to reproduce.

If you actually read these studies you will see that at our latitude the mating period runs from October through January.

To each his own. Good luck and may you get a heavy frost on your nuts while you are in your tree stand.


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I like hunting after a frost. Just as long as I am not involved in the frosting. I am not the best hunter, but being in the stand during cool mornings does make it more exciting. Everyone I have hunted with really start in late October and then they hunt until they get their prize or the season is finished. It is like fishing, set yourself up to be successful but a lot of the enjoyment comes from pursuing. 
Enjoy your time in the woods, put in your time and it will happen. I have never found that perfect time to capitalize on anything. It just happens.

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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Lundy said:


> Most hunters?
> 
> Your observations seem to be in contradiction to scores of studies done all over the US. A doe doesn't know to get excited until she sees frost on the nuts? How sad it is that the whitetail in South Texas, and Mexico never get to reproduce.
> 
> ...


That IS FUNNY! HAHAHAHAHAHA.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Odin said:


> Wildlife biologists state that the length of light in the day determines the rut every year, however observations from most hunters will tell you different. My own experience is that the timing of the first frost and dropping of acorns, has just as much effect on the rut as available daylight. There have been years when the deer started chasing in the middle of October, and some when they were chasing in November. Crazy as it sounds, when the road kill deer start showing up on the freeway in the fall, it's a good indicator that the deer are in the chase mode. I have tried to match the "tables" to deer sightings in the woods and they never match up. Moon cycles are another "table" that don't pan out for me. In the fall the deer are consistently feeding for winter, and the thing that changes their patterns the most is wind direction. The deer seem to move in circles, returning to the same place to feed every couple of days. If the wind changes direction ( like coming from the east or southeast which is unusual) the deer will be seen in places they normally don't frequent. The nocturnal thing also changes their patterns. Ever since they put the youth gun season the weekend before regular gun season, the deer have been mostly nocturnal at my deer hunting property during gun season.


In NE Ohio- where I hunt, the majority of the acorns have fallen and the deer are gobbling them up...(I've hunted a acorn grove twice in the last 4 days) I would expect this year like most years, the trees to be bare in another 2 weeks... I don't see the connection with acorns falling and the rut but? The deer I've been seeing have been ALL OVER the apple trees and acorn trees, with a few visits to the bean fields. Young bucks have been VERY visible as always. 
For me, the true pre-rut begins around Oct 30th, goes until around Nov 4th...
THen, you BETTER be on top of the does- that's where the actions going to happen. If the temps are warm (above 65 or so) then the action is going to be more nocturnal. The does I hunt find the thickest,nastiest stuff and they hide out in it. The young bucks will be chasing the does as early as Oct 25th or so...but they are just pretending.. Years back I watched a doe be hounded by a 3 yr old buck for an hour in a huge field...She was exhausted,annoyed, beat up, but they came closer to me and then the moment happened. That boy had his way with her about 70yds from me. It was Nov 8th....Time in the your woods, is the only way to keep track of the rut.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Odin said:


> Wildlife biologists state that the length of light in the day determines the rut every year, however observations from most hunters will tell you different. My own experience is that the timing of the *first frost and dropping of acorns, has just as much effect on the rut as available daylight.* There have been years when the deer started chasing in the middle of October, and some when they were chasing in November. Crazy as it sounds, when the road kill deer start showing up on the freeway in the fall, it's a good indicator that the deer are in the chase mode. I have tried to match the "tables" to deer sightings in the woods and they never match up. Moon cycles are another "table" that don't pan out for me. In the fall the deer are consistently feeding for winter, and the thing that changes their patterns the most is wind direction. The deer seem to move in circles, returning to the same place to feed every couple of days. If the wind changes direction ( like coming from the east or southeast which is unusual) the deer will be seen in places they normally don't frequent. The nocturnal thing also changes their patterns. Ever since they put the youth gun season the weekend before regular gun season, the deer have been mostly nocturnal at my deer hunting property during gun season.


Well this is a new one for me. Id be curious as to how you explain why I dont see the rut started in Sept every year, since there are always acorns dropping in Sept. And of course its not unusual for there to be a frost or two in Sept, and several in Oct. Heck, maybe all these years Ive been missing out on a month or more of rut hunting.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Lundy said:


> The rut doesn't change, it is determined by the length of daylight not temperature


You think if this would be the case (which I know it is) that the rut would be really easy to predict...would it not be the same time every year?..give or take a few days?..I think its based on weather also...and thanks odin...I've ALWAYS associated the rut with the first hard frost...always.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Shad Rap said:


> You think if this would be the case (which I know it is) that the rut would be really easy to predict...would it not be the same time every year?..give or take a few days?..


It is, and it does


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

I'm with you Lundy, it's pretty much the same every year. My last 6 bucks have been taken within a 3 day period & I highly doubt that's a coincidence. Temperature, "frosty nuts", etc. are attempts at finding a different reason than the real deal. I have it down to when I want to burn vacation & if it's hot, I hunt the first two hours, then go fishing, returning for the last couple. Those are great days right there !!!


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Lundy said:


> It is, and it does


There you go posting in black and white again. 


Can you tell me the best days to go hunting? Can you show me the best spot? Can you walk me to it? Will you hold my hand? When will the big buck show up? Oh, and where should my aiming point be?


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

T-180 said:


> I'm with you Lundy, it's pretty much the same every year. My last 6 bucks have been taken within a 3 day period & I highly doubt that's a coincidence. Temperature, "frosty nuts", etc. are attempts at finding a different reason than the real deal. I have it down to when I want to burn vacation & if it's hot, I hunt the first two hours, then go fishing, returning for the last couple. Those are great days right there !!!


Curt Gowdy is that you?..Im sure nature just comes alive when u step into the woods...damn you're good.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

Thanks for the compliment Shad Rap, but sorry not the guy you're looking for : ) . Sorry if I came across as a know it all, but I schedule my vacation at work in January of each year & have had some degree of success.
I'm 52 & have deer hunted since I was 12. I was raised on a farm, so have a basic understanding of animal behavior & have observed the deer & kept a journal since my late teens. The does come into heat very similarly to how other bovine types do & it's very predictable. You can also calculate when the second & third cycles will be, assuming that all does aren't bred the 1st go around. The notes all add up to the same time period each year, regardless of environmental conditions. Many of those conditions do however, influence the amount of activity you'll see during the day, but that's about it.
By the way, if you really want to observe animal behavior & become a better hunter, try trapping for a few years. You're in the field for hours every day & learn to observe & read sign much better ; I know it helped both my boys when they tagged along.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

http://www.fieldandstream.com/rut-report

Pretty colors!


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

First two weeks of November are key. If you can't spend most of the day a few days during that time period, you're really missing out. All of my last 4 bucks were within a few days of each other in early November (around election day). I see the same behavior when it's 30 degrees or 60 degrees.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

The date that I really key in on is Halloween. It seems to really kick off the "chasing" phase of the rut. Thus, our trip to my BIL's cabin in southern Ohio is set for Oct 30 thru Nov 3this year. I don't like to hunt the actual breeding phase of the rut. That's when the ground seems to open up and swallow all those deer I'd been seeing. 

Now, bucks will chase at anytime from late Sept on. It's funny. They're kind of like us in that the bucks are "ready to rock" right off the bat, while the does take a little courting.

Starting to see some buck sign showing up here and there. My buddy found a couple scrapes, and a substantial sapling that had been literally destroyed! He's really hoping to get a close look at the buck that did it.


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

frosty nuts>getting frosted in the face


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

It's the trick or treaters that trigger the rut, not frosty nuts. The first couple days after halloween is usually the start of the show.


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## fatkid (Oct 14, 2006)

Not that you wont see a few boys in search of before the tricker treaters but you know what they say . When there is frost on the pumkin its time for peter dunkin.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

And let's not forget that there is more than one rut. Does that don't get bred during the first rut will come into season again about a month later, and if not bred then, a month later still! My buddy goes to a mechanic that has some real monster buck mounts hanging on the walls of his shop office. The guy says that every single one of them was killed in January! And that they came in looking for love! 

For those of you into moon phases, my BIL reminded me of something today. I've heard the idea expressed a couple of different ways, but, it's basically that the height of the rut (the actual breeding) is simultaneous with the second full moon after the Autumnal Equinox, or the first full moon after Halloween, which usually turn out to be the same thing. This year, that full moon occurs on Nov. 17th.


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## chase845 (Nov 2, 2005)

Acorns dropping and frost determine the rut? I hope that was a woman that wrote that.

It isn't rocket science. They breed the same time every year. You may see more or less activity at certain times but it doesn't have anything to do with whether they are breeding or not. Think about it, they'd be dropping fawns way too early in the spring and they'd probably die if it was due to a early cold front. The first 10-14 days of November have been the best hunting every year for the past 16 years that I've been hunting.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

They were fired up this weekend. I saw 2 sparring matches, 1 fight, 3 different bucks scraping, 4 or 5 bucks rubbing, grunting, 2 chases by mature bucks, posturing, bristling and passed a 3 year old 10 point and 4+ year old 11 point. That is about the most pre-rut activity that I've ever seen this early. The mature bucks were fired up, usually it's the little guys that get fired up first.


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## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

So far, what little deer I have seen ( and it's been SLOW for me lately ) have been all does. Have yet to see a buck this year from the stand. I've seen only two rubs so far and they were very light and small, also I've seen no scrapes yet. I have more bucks on my camera than does, which is a first for me. 

A few weeks ago I did have two smaller bucks locked up on camera, that was pretty cool.


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## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok, I'm a fairly new hunter. My dad didn't hunt and nobody in my family ever took me hunting. I'm 29 and took the hunters ed class in 08 so this is my fifth year hunting. I've only really gotten to hunt the rut one season due to work and family obligations. 

The one year I hunted hard during the rut, I didn't have much of a clue as to what I was doing, seen a few nice bucks but never could get a shot off. This year I have made it a point that I am hunting the rut hard. 

So my question for you more experienced guys is, this time of the year when the rut is right around the corner do you pass on all of the does in hopes of a buck trailing right behind? I usually shoot the first mature doe I get a crack at, because I usually only shoot one deer a year, sometimes two. Where I hunt when you get a chance to shoot one, you do because you don't know when/if another chance will present itself. 

I've been taking my ten year old out and he had the chance to shoot two does, missed one and couldn't find the other in the scope. I would not change that for anything, but that would have been my doe and I could have passed on deer from then out.

Should I hold out on the does? I have never shot a buck, and I would like to change that. I rarely see bucks at all from my stand, and that may be because I shoot the does when the present the opportunity? I always get on here and read peoples posts about seeing fighting, rubbing, scraping, and dogging. I've only seen chasing. What gives?


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

the buck that came to my rattle bag last night would say the rut is on if he wasnt at the taxidermist


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

The answer is a big &#8220;maybe&#8221;. I know that doesn&#8217;t help, but there are too many variables. I will say, until late next week I wouldn&#8217;t worry too much about a buck trailing a doe. You&#8217;ll see one here and there, but not like it&#8217;ll be the first week of Nov. Also, when there&#8217;s a buck with a doe, they&#8217;re rarely far behind. If all you&#8217;re seeing are does, that&#8217;s probably all that&#8217;s there.


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## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

Thanks Magis. I often wondered how far behind they trail. I appreciate it.

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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

The week of nov.14th is gonna be the time to be in the woods boys.


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## chad24 (Aug 1, 2011)

Right now you will see young bucks getting in with the does. They will hang out with them until they get chased off by bigger ones hoping to find love. The scrapes you see on the ground now is again from them young bucks showing off some hormone frustration. I have always had good luck and go by Halloween. Now it never the same every year but give or take a day, rut usually is between Halloween and the 2nd week of November. I will say pre rut will start this weekend ( if it hasn't slightly started now) and with this cold front and colder temps coming in, the deer movement will get better. If you haven't been out yet, you better get going. O' yea.....Mr Farmer.....please get the corn picked. Thank you and Good Luck to you all and the most important thing.....be safe.


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

my buddy was out tonight and has a couple 3 or 4 yo's out in the food plot around 430 and had a horse of a 10 come in at dark. all hit the same 2 scrapes. the young 8's within 10 minutes of eachother. Came back in to light rattling. Over half the corns still standing, hoping for more in the days to come


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

Buddy of mine let me know he watched a descent buck mount a doe three times behind his house this morning in NW Ohio. 


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## bgpark1 (Apr 23, 2004)

i take mature does if wanting meet the first couple weeks of the season... and let them walk late oct and early nov... waiting on a trailing buck. what better decoy possible then a real life deer hanging close to your stand.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

idontknow316 said:


> Ok, I'm a fairly new hunter. My dad didn't hunt and nobody in my family ever took me hunting. I'm 29 and took the hunters ed class in 08 so this is my fifth year hunting. I've only really gotten to hunt the rut one season due to work and family obligations.
> 
> The one year I hunted hard during the rut, I didn't have much of a clue as to what I was doing, seen a few nice bucks but never could get a shot off. This year I have made it a point that I am hunting the rut hard.
> 
> ...


This is a tough question. My buddy has hunted the farm behind his property since Hector was a pup. He's been a proponent of not shooting does. He's a buck hunter. Thus, there are tons of does running around and not that many bucks. I finally put it to him this way. Suppose you had a property to hunt that had 30 deer moving through it and the doe to buck ratio was 9 to 1. That would mean that there were 27 doe and 3 buck moving through the property. What are your odds of success as a buck hunter?

Now, suppose you harvest some doe while letting young bucks walk, changing the ratio of doe to buck to 2 to 1. Now there are 20 doe and 10 buck in the herd. Your odds have improved, haven't they?

Now, suppose you continue this program until you reach a 1 to 1 population ratio. Now you have 15 doe and 15 buck. Your odds have improved substantially.

Unfortunately, none of us operates in a vacuum. We may not know what goes on on neighboring properties. So, you can make your choices and take your chances.


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## Ted Dressel (Dec 16, 2006)

They are in pre rut now.my son took his buck last night the buck was sniffing 2 does.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

I had a 6 pointer jog right by me tonight, grunting the whole time...


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