Has rut started

[BiscuitsandGravy]

FWIW... Thought it was over but saw a 6/8 pter chasing a doe on the way home today.

 

[Bradsknives]

First day of gun season and Orange County shows no sign of rut. Does are not being chased and bucks are not cruising.

I hunt Orange county also, and from what I can tell, the rut is over for the most part. I watched a lot of does this past few days with not a single buck with them. The bucks I did see just didn't act like they were "chasing" or looking. Most of the scrapes I saw were not being used.

 

[phylodog]

After spending three straight weeks in the woods my observation has been that this was an odd year. One day it would seem the rut was in full swing and the next there would be nothing moving anywhere. We had a trail cam pic of a buck mounting a doe on Oct 25th yet we were not getting any daytime photos until a week later. We saw some cruising but no chasing and the only buck I saw locked down was a 2yr old who had a doe pinned down in a fence row for three days.

I was really excited going in to this season because of the cold temperatures. Not so much because I believed it would affect the rut but because I hate hunting in warm weather. Unfortunately we had east winds almost the entire three weeks. We also had standing corn until the second week of November. The huge storm which flooded our creek wasn't terribly helpful as it cuts our farm in half which cut our hunting opportunities in half for several days. The barometer was also well above 30inHg for the majority of the three weeks we were out. I'm usually very happy to see it above 30 but when it stays that high for days on end it doesn't seem to have the same affect (which is usually more bucks on the move).

Strange year indeed....

 

[yetti462]

phylo,
I deal with a creek as well. I have chest waders to reach the other half of my property when the water rises, Hip waders too. Its a pita but I can reach the better half of my place. Just a thought.

As for the rut, I shot an 8 that was on a doe hard on Oct 30, after I killed him, another 8 and 9 came through on the trail hard. I thought it was on and burned some valuable vacation time and saw zilch. This last week it has really kicked in. I saw 8 bucks yesterday at my place of work on does hard. Charlie Alszihmer or however you spell it said an early rut. I'll never listen to him again.LOL. My area has several hundred acres of standing corn still in creek bottoms. Hopefully this upcoming dry spell will give them a chance to get the corn out. Right now I'm thinking muzzleloader season is gonna give me a chance to shine.

- - - Updated - - -

phylo,
I deal with a creek as well. I have chest waders to reach the other half of my property when the water rises, Hip waders too. Its a pita but I can reach the better half of my place. Just a thought.

As for the rut, I shot an 8 that was on a doe hard on Oct 30, after I killed him, another 8 and 9 came through on the trail hard. I thought it was on and burned some valuable vacation time and saw zilch. This last week it has really kicked in. I saw 8 bucks yesterday at my place of work on does hard. Charlie Alszihmer or however you spell it said an early rut. I'll never listen to him again.LOL. My area has several hundred acres of standing corn still in creek bottoms. Hopefully this upcoming dry spell will give them a chance to get the corn out. Right now I'm thinking muzzleloader season is gonna give me a chance to shine.

 

[luvall]

I hunt Orange county also, and from what I can tell, the rut is over for the most part. I watched a lot of does this past few days with not a single buck with them. The bucks I did see just didn't act like they were "chasing" or looking. Most of the scrapes I saw were not being used.

Exactly what we saw

 

[phylodog]

phylo,
I deal with a creek as well. I have chest waders to reach the other half of my property when the water rises, Hip waders too. Its a pita but I can reach the better half of my place. Just a thought.

We've had waders and hip boots and they're a bit of a pain to take off and put on, I don't care for sitting in them for any length of time. We came up with a pretty good solution this year but the creek was so flooded we'd have been dragging our butts in the water trying to use it.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/break-room/443843-anyone-familiar-machine-acetal-5.html

 

[yetti462]

We've had waders and hip boots and they're a bit of a pain to take off and put on, I don't care for sitting in them for any length of time. We came up with a pretty good solution this year but the creek was so flooded we'd have been dragging our butts in the water trying to use it.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/break-room/443843-anyone-familiar-machine-acetal-5.html

My old chest waders were the canvas ones, couple years ago it was cold, waded across, put boots on, hunted then went to cross again. The dadgum things froze up on me. Talk about hard to put on. I wish someone was the to video me wallering around on the bank.

 

[ru44mag]

The creek I have to cross as dropped a bunch since Monday. That was the first day I thought I would drive my truck across and not get all wet. Was a little nervous when the water came over the hood. It kept going, and that is how I have been crossing all week. Thankfully it has not been over the hood more than once. Might need a snorkel.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Card I pulled this evening had a buck hot on a doe on Nov. 18th. 755 pics and probably 75-100 where yotes.