Well, it’s finally October, and the archery season is now open. We had a group of five in to hunt antlerless deer, for the opening weekend, and everyone had a great time. All but one hunter tagged out, but he was busy with his family, and actually had to leave a little early. He did pass a smaller doe the first day though, so we could have had a 100 percent success ratio for the hunt.
We have been seeing numerous younger bucks, in fact more than ever, and they are all looking like they are raring for the rut to start. The woods are filled with fresh rubs, and even a few scrapes, which I believe is being propelled by the unusually cold weather we have been experiencing. If this trend continues, we will have the coldest Winter I can remember, and no worries about “too hot” days during the rut!
There were several mature bucks spotted, including one 12 point, which was estimated to be in the 180 inch range. That lucky hunter actually saw him twice in just three days! And, since he will be returning to hunt the first week of November, he is totally fired up about those encounters… The buck was in the company of two mature does each time he was seen. Do you think he knows they will be the first ones to come into season? We also spotted and videoed a 2.5 year old that has double split G-2s, and probably scores about 122… That buck will be a monster in two more years, so he is definitely on the “no shoot” list! I will be posting some video clips just as soon as we get that figured out.
Incidentally, all hunters reported seeing many more bucks than does, on this hunt, a trend which started last year. I truly believe that is a direct product of our aggressive antlerless management plan. And, as I predicted earlier, the large amount of rainfall we had all year has produced great antlers this season. Many of the bucks we are seeing sport longer tines that usual, and even some of the one year olds have tines over five inches long. It’s shaping up to be the perfect storm!