Canis Latrans

The firing range was Pine Bush. The wetlands class was Partridge Run.

I've hunted 8 times this year on three different public grounds and this is the 5th time I've had a hunt pretty much ruined. I hiked in 800 yards to my setup and there was a stand 10 feet from where I was going to go. I try to decide what to do and as I look around I see a guy walking towards me. Turns out to be an Encon guy saying that someone had set up and illegal shooting range 100 yards away and had been rapid firing 308's all day - GREAT. The last time I hunted I hiked in 400 yards in to public land and heard a bunch of commotion. I figured someone was dragging a deer out so I went to check it out. When I got there there was a line of at least THIRTY PEOPLE walking through the marsh shouting and stumbling and tripping on saplings and dead falls. I walk up to ask what they are doing and they just stare at me. Finally one stammers "It's a wetlands plant ID class." I said 'oh yeah, what's that plant?' And pointed to some brush growing in the water. "I'm not sure." He says. I wished them good luck and stormed out of the woods.

Might want to camouflage that blind...

Yeah I should have specified seeing includes everything from pictures on trail camera to what you see on stand and what you see on the roads at night. If we can keep this poll going we should really have a good idea of the effect AR's have been having.

Some people have mentioned there are less Deer overall after AR implementation. What could be the reason for this? The only thing I can think of is bow hunters taking doe instead of bucks. I often hear people on this forum complaining that there aren’t many bucks but they saw 18 doe in the stand that day, yet still can’t get doe tags. It sounds like maybe maybe two or three years of AR’s in that area might be a good solution.

Off 11/7-11/14. I decided I'm not going in 11/4 and probably not 11/5 either.

rjrdomer and everybody else please vote and post in the poll thread. Let this topic die and take it over there, I wish I could close this thread. PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK, VOTE AND POST IN THAT THREAD INSTEAD.

I understand your point of view, but I am interested in hearing from people with experience in the topic. I am not usually a fan of govt. regulation but realize the need for seasons, bag limits etc. I don't believe we would have very good hunting if there were no seasons and people could shoot as much as they want (i.e. regulations). If restricting the class of bucks you could shoot follows the same logic it may also provide significantly better hunting. I would like to hear from people who have actual experience and hope they at least vote in the poll.

I understand that. Have you hunted in an area with antler restrictions?

I've created a new thread with a poll. Please go and answer the poll. Please discuss in that thread. Mods please close or merge threads.

Please answer the poll and leave in the comments the AR WMU you hunt and how long you have hunted it.

I was wondering what your experiences with antler restrictions has been. Are you seeing more larger bucks than before? What WMU are you in with AR, how long has it been in place and what has been your experiences? Thanks.

10/25/18 4J Found the first scrapes of the year today. Have seen bucks in groups at night. Does and fawns seem to be splitting up I watched two fawns for over an hour before the mother came around.

11/7-11/15. Hoping the best time falls in there.

Hiked in to public land in 4H and just like the last 3 times I hunted this area there was someone sitting in the spot I was planning to hunt. Three different spots all taken.

4G Saw a spike buck feeding at 2:30 pm on acorns. Had about 10 does with fawns come in at 4 pm through 6 pm. This is a screenshot of me trying to get my first self filmed kill shot. 8 yards away and just as I started squeezing the release the battery in the camera died. Lucky deer.

That's why it's important to collect as much data as possible. What you're describing this time of year is pretty much an outlier. There will come a time in this thread where it's not just one or two people seeing rut behavior, but most. Of course a doe is only hot for a day or two and that will cause a localized spike in behavior around her, but when half the people posting are seeing it it's a hint to be out there, and a better one that the lunar calendar nonsense. I've already noticed I'm not the only one who hasn't seen much rubs or scrapes yet. Everyone is saying they have been opening up in the last week or so. A thread full of people from NY saying they are seeing lots of bucks checking scrapes during the day would sure give me more confidence to hunt over a scrape and I'm sure it's useful to others.

In a new public spot in an oak stand with about 8 Deer around me. I’ve never really had a hunt with more than one or two very skittish deer as I hunt all public land. Wanted to get a shot on camera and as I was about to release the battery died. Now there’s deer everywhere unsure how to proceed.

I post this every year under the same title and the data is starting to become useful. In this thread I'm asking people to post the rut related activity in their area in a clear and concise format. In the later phases it's important to describe the activity you actually saw, because it avoids confusion of people using terms such as seeking, chasing and peak rut differently. Over time, these threads will gather enough information specific to this state to help predict future ruts. The below example is what I'm seeing and the format to be used. Lets help ourselves and each other better understand the rut and save it here for next year. If you are someone who has always thought about keeping a journal, but you never actually write stuff down, you may be surprised at how much what you write here can help you next year. Area: Capital Region, around 4J Phase: October Lull Description: Limited movement just before sunset. A few small bucks are seen in pairs and light sparring has been observed. So far no rubs or scrapes have been found in my area.

I think this is my first time posting in a live thread. Sitting in a group of red oaks dropping acorns. Fairly thick woods hope I see something. Like to give me some first time luck.

4H Multiple bucks on camera trailing the ground and bobbing their heads. Half of this is during daylight hours. I have seen spikes, 4pts a 2 year old 6 and a 3.5 year old 7pt doing this at all hours of the day on the 7th, 9th and 10th. I've seen large and small bucks cruising at 9 am, 2:30PM and 3:45pm. In my opinion now is the best time to see daylight action and over the next week might be the crazy running through the woods stuff. I think they will still be active up until the gun opener. Maybe I'll actually get to shoot at something this year?

I got completely skunked last night. If you guys could post in the rut report thread any activity you're seeing that would really help me out. I like to have people list the WMU you're in, date and time you see rut activity with a description of what it is. I plan on graphing all the data that I get eventually into a visual representation of type and amount of activity by date.

4j -Yesterday I saw a doe with two fawns. No sign of a buck. 4H- Today I saw a large buck trotting through the woods at 2:30PM. Have a trail cam over a scrape which is being hit at night. Also a video of what I think is a 3.5 year old buck walking through at 5pm. New scrapes are opening up. I think we are entering the seeking and chasing phase.

We did this last few years, and I want to do it again. In this thread I'm asking people to post the rut related activity in their area in a clear and concise format. In the later phases it's important to describe the activity you actually saw, because it avoids confusion of people using terms such as seeking, chasing and peak rut differently. Over time, these threads will gather enough information specific to this state to help predict future ruts. The below example is what I'm seeing and the format to be used. Lets help ourselves and each other better understand the rut and save it here for next year. If you are someone who has always thought about keeping a journal, but never actually write stuff down, you may be surprised at how much what you write here can help you next year. Area: Capital Region, around 4J Phase: October Lull Description: Limited movement just after sunrise and just before sunset. A few bucks are seen in pairs and begin feeding about 1/2 hour after sunset. A few rubs and scrapes have opened up in the last week. No breeding behavior yet noted.

I think most people know where I'm coming from when I don't want to call attention to an area that may be overlooked. While it's great to be perfectly straight edge all the time, I would hate to ruin it for everyone already using that area if I drew attention to it and the town suddenly decided it was a liability issue and everyone lost their local spot. I checked it out today. Some deer sign with a lot of hang on and ladder stands all over it.