Meat Manager

Watched a nice bodied young 6 point (or so) make a new rub line right around 4:30, he was within 30 yds for quite a while, but behind me and to the right with no clear shots. Other than a few fresh rubs and a scrape, this was the first major sign of rut I have personally witnessed this season. Heading back to the number one stand first thing in the AM, then setting out another stand, then picking up some grave digger.

Still trying to fill a second tag, got in the stand around 2pm...conditions seem good...light breeze and a bit cloudy.

Oh yeah 50% less trucks in the lot this morning...I think the hour back widdled down the morning hunters.

Nothing but stars again this mornin but a bit windier...another crystal clear night/morning...if I were a deer I'd stay in bed.

That noise i just heard was a herd of 5 turkeys....just put an arrow over ones back @ 10 yards (15 up)...Sonofa! Packin it in my toes are cold from walking in the creek this mornin.

Seen zero last night on a fresh rub line. Back to my #1 stand first thing this morning. Seen 1 doe, hearing some stuff right now, awful bright and still again.

5pm great conditions on a fresh rub line, c'mon deer!

+1 on one piece montecs (keep em sharp). Never lost a deer with a montec. Unfortunately I can't say the same about mechanicals.

Hunted midday yesterday, and 6-10:30 this morning...Seen ZERO. Conditions seemed perfect, and by the looks of a couple of the bucks on this site the past few days they are definitely moving, but I am not seeing them, does or much sign. I saw well over 20 deer in the first few days of the season, I have now seen 1 doe 40 yards away in the past 11 days (hunted 7). I have been scouting and acorn masts are low and I have been checking areas closed to if not surrounded by soft food sources like grapes and old apple trees, seems to be heavy traffic but no scrapes, and just old rubs. I am hunting several parcels of public land, and I have definitely seen a pick up in hunter activity just wondering if the weird weather, moon phase, apparent later rutt (?) and hunter patterns are starting to push these deer more nocturnal already. I guess all these clear nights can't help either. Yeah well, I am going to get back out there this afternoon with the climber and try to find some sign.

The conditions definitely felt right today...nice work!

The only deer I have been seeing lately are on this site, nice job guys.

In the stand since 6 am...seen zero yesterday midday and this mornIng... Weather seems just right, bit clear early in but overcast now. C' mon deer

Decided to see if the deer are patterning the hunters yet...got to the stand at 10:30, gonna probably hang until 3 and then scout another stand site. Just enough wind mixed with the babbling Brooke for cover noise. Awfully bright and warm though.

Last year I had a similar situation. Hit what I thought was a nice 6-7 point last year with a one lung, clipped-gut pass thru (slightly quartering towards). He took off about 10 yards and then just stood there behind a tree for 15 minutes. It was getting late and there were thunder storms coming, so I fired a poor second shot toward the deer. It never made it, the buck took off down the trail. I got down and got my arrow. Plenty of foamy blood followed up by just a bit of guts. Very little blood trail. Searched until the storm came sometime after dark. Went back the next morning after pouring thunder storm, so I just headed down the trail and listened for crows. Sure enough I found him under a tree full of crows...unfortunately the coyotes had already removed his head and gotten into the rear end.

As others have stated I have read the rules and you may leave a stand in the woods as long as it doesn't "damage" the tree. I have used my summit climber for 3 years on county and state property, and although they do mar the bark, I would hardly call this damage. I am pretty sure they just don't want you pounding or screwing metal into a tree. Finally, that all being said, I would highly suggest against just locking a climber onto the bottom of a tree. I have a bigger summit climber that I like to leave locked on the bottom of the tree with a cover strapped over the seat to keep it dry. Went out to it yesterday and someone had cut out my seat with a knife. I have a replacement seat, but this illustrates the key point about stands on public property, they are exposed to jerks. So I would recommend using hang on stands with removable climbing sticks rather than ladder stands, and removing atleast the bottom stick everytime you leave the stand. The harder it is for someone to get to your stand, the safer it is.

Got this nice little doe on the 8th morning of the season (Oct 22). Two lungs from 25 yards and 15 ft up in my hang on. County property, love it.

Like others on this thread, I saw quite a few deer in the opening week of southern zone archery. Both mornings and night, but at a higher rate in the morning. I scored the nice little doe that I have as my avatar on the morning of October 22. Last week seen ZERO in 5 (2 mornings, 3 evenings) 4.5 hour hunts at 3 different consistently producing stands. I think the moon, along with the weird wet weather, followed up by silently still and clear days kept them down. My wife is pregnant so I skipped hunting Sunday to hang with her all day. Monday night just before dusk I saw a large doe. Sighted in the gun today, so I did not hunt. I am hoping the quarter moon underfoot in the morning is going to help this upcoming week, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

I've done about 50/50 Mornings/Afternoons this season, and I've seen about 33% more deer in the morning...I have jumped some deer one morning on the way into my one hang on, but I got a nice little doe two mornings later at that stand so it didn't seem to matter. I did not see a lot of deer last week at all, I am hoping the moon and weather cooperate a bit here in the next couple days.