genesee_mohican

It all depends on where you are hunting. Unpressured private land, I'd be inclined to see on or near a food source and cover. Pressured public land, hunt with someone and do small drives or still hunt.

I think what you witnessed was just a doe in heat with a bunch of bucks after her at the same time, which happens quite a bit in the wild and you were lucky to have the action in your yard at the time. And it seemed more intense because fewer does are in heat now, and she drew a crowd. Once she's bred and out of heat, or runs over the hill trying to get away from all the bucks chasing her, it will go back to quite. A doe will stay in heat for a day or two, so by the time you get out there things will be over, unless another hot doe shows up. The good news is that does can come into heat anytime out there during the season, you just need a little luck to have it happen around your stand.

I tied a rope to each front corner of the rail, then ran that back up to the tree behind me, tied them onto a branch and it worked real well. On stands that don't have the surround rail, I did try the strap on rail system. It works okay, but has to be tweaked for each set up.

How far were you able to track him and find blood? And did he ever lay down?

Sounds like some great set ups here! I would prefer a thick escape area, or any thick cover you can see into over a field or food plot....especially on opening day. I seem to be in a new location every year. Tomorrow I'll be well off the road, sitting on a hillside that over looks a river bottom. The first 10 yards has a few small trees, then there is 50 yards of tall grass on a bench which has a natural trail going through it. Beyond that is willow thickets with open areas, then the river 200 yds out. I'm up high enough on the hillside to have a pretty good look down into the bottom. I'm looking forward to it.

My stands on public land are usually a mile and a half from any road in fairly steep terrain so I usually don't see anyone else. I use hang on's usually up 25 ft and I sometimes use sticks, and remove the last two sections. I prefer a large diameter pine or hemlock with a lot of boughs and branches to conceal myself.

It definitely looks and feels off. In areas that normally have lots of rubs, year after year, there are none. In miles of walking I see an occasional acorn on the ground, but they are scarce and even the birds and squirrels are seeking seed away from the oak trees. The coyote population had increased for sure, which can't help.

They can smell it a lot less when I'm breathing through two layers of scentlok carbon which covers my head, except my eyes.

#1 I always play the wind. Trying to reduce human odor is a major under taking, but after seeing and hearing guys like John Eberhart explain it, I try harder to reduce odors. The next thing I'd like to add is a air tight cloths locker with ozone, so I can hang my backpack and safety harness up, set boots out and have odors removed. My hunting day starts with brushing teeth with baking soda, shower in scent free, towel and all cloths have been washed in scent free. Sprayed down rubber boots and full scentlok base layers and outer layers, which includes gloves, head gear, mask to catch exhaled breath. From what I can see, deer still smell me, but can't quite figure it out. I think once I use the ozone locker and rid my backpack and harness odors it will be better yet. We'll see. Sure, I could put on Old spice and smoke a stogie and get deer, but I'm confident I'll see more deer if I try to reduce odors as much as possible.

I sat all day yesterday. I had a non shooter 8pt come by first thing, then never saw another deer. Perfect weather, but no deer cruising or chasing. I almost had a shot at a coyote, but he saw my silhouette in the tree and slowly walked away, looking over his shoulder often.

1.5 mile hike into stand this morning, so I sat all day. I had what I think must be a dominant buck in the brush 80 yds from my stand shortly after I did some grunting about 8am. He was rubbing a large tree so loud, I thought it must be a bear or human. I could see the tree shaking back and forth, then he walked closer and sounded like he was scraping the leaves, then breaking branches about 60 yds away. I caught a glimpse of him going down the brushy ravine and hoped he'd come up my side, but he angled down towards the river. Saw a few mid day and had a decent 8 at 20 yards around 3:30, then saw a bunch of deer just before getting down. No grunting or chasing, but the deer were moving. Great weather to be out in the woods.

Tomorrow, Nov 12th looks to be one of the best deer hunting days of the season. A big drop in temps post cold front, high temps in the 40's, light north winds, partly cloudy, high pressure, rut is on.

I'll be sure to remember that. I'll make sure to stand just right, exactly side by side of the head (bear) or horns (deer), or fish. And I'll hold a tape measure out and a dollar bill in the frame for reference, so no one can say I wasn't doing a "trick" photo. wow Congrats to the youth for getting out there and having fun, scoring on a nice bear. What a hunt that must have been!

Where should the hunter position themselves for the photo? I don't think it's a 'trick'.

Don_C, seeing that buck will get the heart racing! I sat all day, had a buck grunting and hounding a doe first thing, saw an eagle, had a coyote go by and pushed a doe out. Then a shooter came within 30 yards, but he stopped in the brush and went back the other way after crossing the coyote path. I had a decent wide 7 pt come by at 2pm. He was broadside at 30 yards up on the hillside, but I passed, he'll be a nice deer next year.

I can hear quite well, but it's usually sight. Although on these dry November days with all the leaves on the ground, there's a great chance you'll hear them first.

There is definitely an uptick in road kills in the last 3 days. I'll be out in the woods all day today.

Awesome too see that!

I've never heard of them. But in the last year, the only hunting show I've watched is The Hunting Public.

I sat a bench stand till noon in the am yesterday, spooked a deer right at my stand and saw nothing all morning. At noon I got down, swapped out cards on a trail cam and moved to a stand in an opening between two bedding areas (thick brush) for the rest of the day. I had a doe w fawn come under my stand last light, saw a coyote and heard some owls. So far I've had zero shooters on trail cams, last year there were 3 in this area. I've been seeing a lot more hikers, but not as many hunters in this on spot. I'm switching gears and heading to a different stand area this am to see what I can see. I'm still not seeing many acorns or hickory nuts. The wild apple crop was pretty good though.

An all day rain and not ending until 8am tomorrow per wunderground.com I'd love to be in the stand tomorrow. I've seen this one before, it's gonna be a good one. Too bad I have to work.

I would have to say it's the same time every year. God rest his soul, Charles Alshiemer, who did a ton of research on moon phases and the rut. I do think it does have some bearing on it, the moon is a powerful pull on animals. The "solunar times" for fishing are spot on more often than not. But for the most part, does come into heat and the rut takes place the same time every year. I've seen great buck movement from Oct 27th thru the 14th (once gun season hits, it's harder to gauge in my opinion). I'd say, any day in the stand in November is time well spent. It's all day sits this time of year!

It's like watching mainstream media news. Fake.

Things always start to heat up around Halloween, trail cams start to show mature deer moving more in search of a hot doe. With temps in the low 20's Fri night, and a big high pressure day for Saturday, things are looking really good. It's a full moon and those are the days one should try to be in the stand all day as mid day movement is usually higher.

4 weekends left to bow hunt here in the southern zone and this one looks pretty darn good. 40 degree temp drop by afternoon today, BP is rising. Leaves are wet this am, making for a stealthy sneak into the stand. I like the odds of seeing a nice buck this weekend. >>>----------->