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was the rut early?

shellie

shellie

New Member
I and two of my friends hunt Hard this time of year. central iowa, corridyn, new virginia, not together but at these locations. i myself have logged an average of 7 hours a day, havent seen the deer move like normal. my two friends have nice wall hangers, and alot of yrs of experience, they say the same, deer are not moving like usual.im not seeing the chases, sparring, nothing!2 weeks ago, another hunter watched a buck breed a doe, and she never gave it a second thought, was the rut a little early this yr or is this windy, rainy, (somtimes) warm wheather messing it up?i have never seen a yr like this!Forcast tomorrow , rain, wind, snow showers possible, ill be out there again,are any of you seeing normal activity, or having the same crappy luck as me?ive hunted morning, mid day, evenings, 6 hrs strait , clear til dark,, funnels, feild edges , everything that usally works, isnt producing, HELP fellow shed heads,what usally puts meat in the freezer this time of yr , isnt working.any words of wisdom would be appreciated.
 
Many of us have been experiencing the same problems, several threads on the topic lately. The full blow rut has not occured yet IMO. I think what we've seen is the perfect storm combo of standing corn and record warm temps. I'm hoping the cooldown will get things moving again but I'm still concerned about the corn causing problems. Talked to a bunch of farmers lately that say the corn is still very wet and with the rains of the next few days, looks like it'll be later than usual for a lot of acres this year. I really do think they'll move anyway though once the full rut kicks in and the weather shapes up, which should be soon in both cases I'm guessing.
 
I hope your right Iowabowtech, but places i love to hunt this time of yr in southern iowa are bottle necks that connect two properties, and i have spent the last two days hunting that way where im usally passing up shots , this last few days , i couldnt buy a shot!Big Bucks usally cruise these funnels in search of does.alot of set aside ground down there, no corn crops next to me, this is just plain thick sections, with funnels, conecting big timber , where ive always had luck in the past.im with you , i hope this cold snap gets things going, but we can do without the rain! good luck to ya.
 
Rut definitely hasn't kicked in to high gear yet up this way. I expect it to go crazy here in the next 10 days to 2 weeks.

NWBuck
 
I was driving down the road two days ago and spotted a big 10 just off the side of a state highway by a highschool no less...turned around...he was still standing there at 20 yards! Finally noticed a doe bedded in the ditch. She jumped, and off he went taking more standing corn than a combine. Then yesterday came through the same area...a big eight jumps out of the corn by the road...sees me in truck...then spins and smashes more corn (9:30 am)...then last evening spotted three bucks in a little piece of timber...and one doe trying to get out of there...I live in a good deer area, and this is the first real movement I've seen. I talked to my neighbor who took the week off work, and he saw 0 deer mon, tues, wed....and this is a Iowa river bottom all private with no other hunters....so something is definately messy this year!
 
I agree, messed up. I have been hunting river bottom, logged alot of hrs in a tree yesterday. I did have one buck hanging around a pair of does. He did chase a younger buck off when he got withing 60 yds of them. Not a thing yesterday evening, I even climbed out early to take a gander in to a harvested bean field, not a deer one browsing trough this 100ac field. Again here no corn crops within a good mile, unless they are on the other side of the river....hmm little light just went of inside my head, I have access to that too.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vrod</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Trail cams are still catching most buck movement between midnight and 3 am. </div></div>

That's what i've noticed as well. The best is yet to come.....
 
Still a ton of night time activity out there. Cool weather and heat of the rut will hopefully change that soon.
 
I think a few bucks hit there peak early aleady.. Remember, bucks are in rut the WHOLE year, this is just a peaking point for them... "when the girls are ready"...Personaly I don't think it's "ON" til you can see there breath from a distance, "due to there hearts poundin" and from tracking for hours upon end. Frost and the dryness in your nose as you sit and glass a morning feild in November...Thats the "PEAK"
 
The rut was not early. It's going strong right now! Bucks are running wild in my area as I type this. Good thing I'm stuck behind a desk.
 
I agree it hasn't peaked yet. Obviously the wind and warm weather has put a damper on things. We have to get back to the moon though. This year with the moon the way it has been they should really kick into high gear around the 15th-18th. Last year was earlier this year later just keep sitting in the stand it is early november you havent missed much yet the whole month is a "killer" month to be in a stand.
 
I hate to bring it up, but it all comes back to the moon. The rutting moon hasn't been here yet. I know alot of people do not believe in it, but this year is a clssic to show it and how it works. The bucks are only still sniffin around. Give it about a week or so and you'll really start to see some action.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NEIOWAARCHER</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I hate to bring it up, but it all comes back to the moon. The rutting moon hasn't been here yet. I know alot of people do not believe in it, but this year is a clssic to show it and how it works. The bucks are only still sniffin around. Give it about a week or so and you'll really start to see some action. </div></div>

100% Correct!!!

The best is yet to come.
 
Everything has been off by two weeks the whole year...rut is just following the same course.

I changed my time off from this week to tomorrow and all of next week. It was a gamble that I hope pays off big time. A few days from now I should know if I need to wait for Turkey-Day or not.

I haven't heard much of anything in the way of chasing where I hunt and haven't seen many deer where I live.

Two weeks ago I'd take a nightly drive and count around 50 deer in the few miles I drove...This past weekend (granted it was way too hot) but I took the same drive and didn't hardly see a deer...something changed and I'm blaming the warm up. This cold front that's on us for the weekend (I HOPE) will kick things into gear.
 
The buck I shot last night was breeding a doe right before I shot him. She was standing for him. They just came out of a standing corn field.
 
I take a nightly drive after work every night from Muscatine north. All I have seen is smaller 1.5 maybe 2.5 year olds running around and nugging does. This has been going on for a week so hopefully the big ones will come out soon.
Every time I'm in the stand I rattle little ones in to. Last saturday and sunday every little buck I got pics of showed up to the horns. 7-8 different bucks. Biggest being maybe 120" probably less.
 
I agree things are a couple weeks backed up. My timber seems more like the October lull now than the first week of November.

All day yesterday and today and saw one deer. Like the timber is vacant, still surrounded by corn and know that's where they're at but they're sure in the timber at night.

I've never in the 10 yrs i've hunted this property seen so much deer and more specifically buck sign than this year.

Be back at it in the morning anyway for another all dayer, only takes 30 to 60 seconds for a day of nothing to turn into a great outcome.

Anyone else seeing the inch of snow being predicted for tomorrow..? LOL 78 a few days ago to snow tomorrow...
 
I'm also seein less deer. Now I'm not even seein very many does. There are no big rubs anywhere in the timber and haven't seen or gotten any pics of any good deer.
 
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