The rut is close

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grouse
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Location: Missouri

The rut is close

Post by grouse »

On Oct. 2, I killed my second deer this season with my crossbow so I've refrained from hunting to save freezer space for firearms season. Friday I was at the farm and decided to walk down to my second favorite stand and replace the pipe insulation on the shooting rail. Without really scouting I saw 2 scrapes and 4 rubs near the stand. There was also a well worn trail coming out of the creek bottom thicket into the crop field. I've seen a couple of really nice bucks on the place so I hope the rut is peaking on 11/14 when the firearms season opens.
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AJ01
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Re: The rut is close

Post by AJ01 »

Hey Grouse!!
I wish you TONS of Success on opening morning of your gun season!!! :thumbup:
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xcaliber
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Re: The rut is close

Post by xcaliber »

Good luck, I went yesterday morning and saw a bunch of scrapes as well. I made a mock scrape and they are hitting it hard. I’m gonna lay-off a few days. Hitting the woods Wednesday.
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Riflemanz
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Re: The rut is close

Post by Riflemanz »

I was out last night and saw 0 deer, so I'm hoping next weekend things start to heat up.
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xcaliber
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Re: The rut is close

Post by xcaliber »

Change of plans, going in the morning! Wife and youngest daughter are going shopping, I’m going hunting! :eusa-dance:
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robertyb
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Re: The rut is close

Post by robertyb »

I hunt every morning and for the last 8 mornings I did not see a single doe or fawn even in some of the top doe locations usually until today and I finally saw 1 large doe all be herself. I was watching 3 trails where about a month ago I watched 22 does, fawns and small bucks all cross using the 3 crossings on a dirt road on my club. At 9:20 I had not seen any deer so I let out 2 doe bleats and then a string of tending grunts and kept watching. At 9:30 I had a heavy racked 6 point that appeared to be a 3 YO come off the ridge behind the tree I was in and he looked all over for a doe then took off down the main trail and went over the next ridge. An hour later was when I saw the doe and she came to the main crossing and smelled his scent I guess as she got real nervous and paralleled the road without crossing and then went up a different ridge.
It is about to break loose any day now. :)
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Riflemanz
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Re: The rut is close

Post by Riflemanz »

Has it started? I'm heading out tomorrow with my brother and were going to move a tree stand right along side of the swamp where a runway comes out of it. Hoping to hit some action!
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Cardinalsfanforever
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Re: The rut is close

Post by Cardinalsfanforever »

I think it's running a little behind around here, found my 1st two scrapes today, same places as last 3 years.
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DuckHunt
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Re: The rut is close

Post by DuckHunt »

It appears to be running late here. Today I got the first daytime picture of a buck in almost two months. The picture was from Wednesday morning around 10am. It was a small six point and I saw him hanging out with three doe about 4pm today. Other than that one small buck, every other buck and all of the decent ones are still 100% nocturnal on my cameras. I'm thinking we're more than a week away from the start here.
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artifact
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Re: The rut is close

Post by artifact »

It started in Pa, we are seeing scrapes and my buddy saw a buck with the large neck. On Tues. he shot a buck that didn't have the enlarged neck, and last Sat. I was watching trails leading to several scrapes and a deer busted me, don't know if it was the buck that made them though.
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robertyb
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Re: The rut is close

Post by robertyb »

I saw baby bucks, 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 YOs, running does yesterday and today. Largest was an ear wide 7 point that needs 2 or 3 more years.
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Owl Creek
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Re: The rut is close

Post by Owl Creek »

I had to travel Saturday and Sunday 2 hours south and back.
Saturday morning there were deer all over the place and I seen a big 10 pt chasing a doe. we took 2 different routes and both had a lot of dead deer on the road including bucks.
I did not see any this morning , but there were out this evening.

So I would say if you can get in the woods go!
I wish all of you the best this season and be safe!

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robertyb
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Re: The rut is close

Post by robertyb »

When you start seeing dead deer on the roads you can pretty much bet that the pre-rut has started.
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Riflemanz
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Re: The rut is close

Post by Riflemanz »

Went out tonight and saw 0 action, nothing!
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xcaliber
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Re: The rut is close

Post by xcaliber »

I’m going in the AM, but now I usually see a buck or two running a doe across the field in the evening, not yet though. I’m going to try to rattle my last hour tomorrow. They gotta be sparring by now.
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