2016 Rut Reports

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Dewey
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Nov 01, 2016 1:22 am

Gotta keep moving around to find action. Guys think the rut is done yet someone else a few hundred yards away is having the hunt of a lifetime. I have seen this so many times. It's all about the does. Find them and chances of you coming across a hot one that will crank things up increase dramatically.

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justin84
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby justin84 » Tue Nov 01, 2016 2:37 am

I saw alot of scrapes this weekend, some fresh and some haven't been touched in a few days at least. In about 8 hours I only saw two lone does. SE Wisconsin public land.
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby DeerDylan » Tue Nov 01, 2016 4:30 am

Dewey wrote:Gotta keep moving around to find action. Guys think the rut is done yet someone else a few hundred yards away is having the hunt of a lifetime. I have seen this so many times. It's all about the does. Find them and chances of you coming across a hot one that will crank things up increase dramatically.

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Exactly.

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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Bigb » Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:56 am

I was out all weekend in West Central Illinois and I didnt see any signs of the rut. None of the does we saw were even being pushed by small bucks. This warmer weather has really shut them down. I pulled 7 chips as well and not much of anything chasing. Were in a big hunting area and no one has seen any real signs of the rut yet. We can usually get a good idea from the local and county police as well as USPS drivers about if the deer are rutting by road kill and bucks holding does out in the open fields and no one has seen any of that.

I pushed my vacation back from Tomorrow to a week from tomorrow, glad I did, It looks like a week from today the weather starts to cool off a bit so I'm hoping that gets the big buck moving. We had a new 8 point show up that is the biggest 8 point I've ever seen.
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:20 pm

Had a 1.5 year old buck chasing a doe past my tree today. On the way home seen some of does and fawns hitting the cut soybean fields.
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby monkatopaints » Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:47 pm

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Dewey is right. Keep moving to find low pressure doe bedding areas. Tonight on Halloween I got the job done on an evening sit between two doe bedding areas. Warm day today was supposed to suppress deer movement but my target buck was up on his feet early and was shot at 5:40p. Heard doe grunts starting at 5:05p. For sure bucks are not cruising rut funnel spots like people are hoping they are. It's pre-rut transitioning period in my opinion. I'm hunting highly pressured public land, multiple cars in the parking lots chasing the same bucks kind of a place. That buck you are looking for is there somewhere...probably followed a doe off hoping to get lucky.
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby SamPotter » Wed Nov 02, 2016 12:03 am

Just saw a nice 140s-150s buck with a doe along the road on the way to work this morning. SE MN.

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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed Nov 02, 2016 2:42 am

JoeRE wrote:Seemed like there were more than usual early does in heat this year, probably just a local observation. I saw one, my brother saw one, heard several reports. Not sure why.

Right now, locally, there appears to be another lull before the next spike in rutting activity. The last big flurry died a couple days ago.

My theory is that it will be a lousy rut for daylight buck movement due to the full moons spacing out mid Oct and mid Nov. Just like 2013 and 2010. We will see.

Agree with this. Saw bucks chasing in the oct full moon.

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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby NorthernWIBowhunter » Wed Nov 02, 2016 3:39 am

mheichelbech wrote:
JoeRE wrote:Seemed like there were more than usual early does in heat this year, probably just a local observation. I saw one, my brother saw one, heard several reports. Not sure why.

Right now, locally, there appears to be another lull before the next spike in rutting activity. The last big flurry died a couple days ago.

My theory is that it will be a lousy rut for daylight buck movement due to the full moons spacing out mid Oct and mid Nov. Just like 2013 and 2010. We will see.

Agree with this. Saw bucks chasing in the oct full moon.

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I've never bought into much of that full moon/moon-phase stuff. A solid # of studies have debunked the effect of the moon phases on rut timing. Still, here in Northern Wisconsin I've seen almost no rut activity yet. No chasing. Almost no scrapes or fresh rubs. Doe/fawn groups still together. Virtually no daytime movement. Been hunting hard all over the place the last 7 days. I don't know what's going on, lol. I'm hoping the first break in this warm weather gets the action going, but I've had years where the rut apparently happened (I saw the fawns) but you'd never know it happened being a hunter. I hunt mostly public land.

Most years up here there's a lot of activity right around 11/7 - 11/14. In 2012 I hunted hard and it was similar to this year, although much colder.
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Rich M » Wed Nov 02, 2016 5:40 am

Bamberg County, SC


Oct 22
17:00 - saw 3 6 pt bucks, 2 were cruising quickly with nose in the air - same trail.

Oct 23
10:00 - mature 8 pt chasing doe. Nice buck. First day of cold front, first confirmed rut activity seen by my hunt group.

Oct 24
09:15 - 3 yr old buck run across in front of truck - cruising in doe area (see lotsa does at this spot)


Temps went from low 70s to mid-80s during week of Oct 24-28. Almost all my trail camera activity went nocturnal.


Oct 28
17:30 - small body, bigger racked 8 pt cruising
19:30 - saw 2 "6 pts" cruising while driving from hunt area to campground

Oct 29
06:00 - saw 2 "6 pts" cruising while driving to hunt area from campground

Oct 29
09:30 - saw 1 buck cruising while driving from hunt area to campground

Oct 30
10:00 - saw buck cross 2 lane rd while driving home


Will it hold thru the cold front this weekend? Thursday 83 degrees, Friday 69 degrees! Bring it on!!!
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby brodie1978 » Wed Nov 02, 2016 7:03 am

very little rut activity/chasing seen in NE Missouri
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Hawthorne » Wed Nov 02, 2016 7:22 am

Things were really cranking rut wise on my property the 30th. Sat yesterday wasn't nearly has good. The guy half mile away could be seeing tons of rutting and your seeing nothing. Just the way it is. Find the does you'll find the bucks right now.

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mheichelbech
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby mheichelbech » Thu Nov 03, 2016 4:16 am

JoeRE wrote:Seemed like there were more than usual early does in heat this year, probably just a local observation. I saw one, my brother saw one, heard several reports. Not sure why.

Right now, locally, there appears to be another lull before the next spike in rutting activity. The last big flurry died a couple days ago.

My theory is that it will be a lousy rut for daylight buck movement due to the full moons spacing out mid Oct and mid Nov. Just like 2013 and 2010. We will see.

Agree with this. Saw bucks chasing in the oct full moon.

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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby RDubs44 » Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:52 am

Gonna be warm for MN gun opener. However, just need one hot doe. That is my mindset
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Dewey
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Re: 2016 Rut Reports

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:55 am

That is my problem right now.....can't find any does. They were like rats around here a month ago but seemed to disappear. Until I find them my rut hunts will be a bust.

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