5Sep
Whitetails Only Watchers: WOW
Join nationally acclaimed wildlife consultant and WO’s Director of Field Operations Neil Dougherty for some trail camera scouting. Neil has rigged 3 hunting locations with remote BuckEye Cams at WO’s 200 acre Deer Hunting and Research Property in Southwestern NY (see map). The BuckEye Cams are downloading pictures 24-7 to this website putting you in the middle of the action at the click of a mouse!
Join the “WO Nation” by “weighing in” with some whitetail watching of your own. Tell us what you are seeing out there and what your cameras are recording. Send your reports and pictures to: amanda@elkpublishing.com and give Neil some help with his bi-weekly blog and check it every day for important updates.
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Great morning sit finally that the lows were in the thirties saw about 16 different does some still with fawns and some without. Had about three small bucks at different times chase a few does around. Had a question about a couple of the does being chased. I noticed their tarsal glands were very noticeably dark almost black as I can see and the other does tarsal were normal. Is this a sign they are going into estrous?
I hunt in the foothills of the Adirondacks. We have’t seen any bucks yet. Is this a little early still? Weather has been warm.
Have not seen any shooters on my morning and evening hunts. Have seen a few smaller 6’s, small 8, and a few yearlings. I don’t thinks the big boys are on their feet during daylight hours yet looking for does. It’s close….but not yet
Quiet morning here. Setup downwind of 2 food plots on top of a ridge and saw zip. Dad was in a similar setup, but downwind of corn, he saw nothing. Sleet rolled in around 10:30am.
No new bucks on trail cams, but 1 good 7 ptr finally resurfaced since mid-Sept.
This morning I sat in a funnel between feeding and beddng had one sm buck go by nose to the ground followed later that morning fourteen does as before some with fEns others without and did notice again a few of the does tarsals are stained to almost black in color asked a guide if that was a sign they were soon going into heat and he had said yes. As far as big bucks not on their feet had two friends score on big bucks one a big 9 shot at 11:30am and a 11pt drop tine hit at 10:00am and my buddy son Joe shot a 10pt at 2:00pm yesterday though I didn’t see any shooters yesterday I’m sure they are on their feet. I realize every areas timing is mind you just slightly different in the timing or intensity of the rut have to take in consideration weather, buck / doe ratio and age structure. I hunt the central part of NJ and do notice that the north, central, and southern parts of the state have their own fluctuations in the timing of the rut
No movement at all today. Afternoon sit was the same as morning – no sightings. Lot’s of squirrels and turkeys, though. We’ll be back at it tomorrow.
Ray …your right…every area is slightly different. Congrats to your friends…Send some up my way
Been kind of quiet here in Central NY. No movement this morning or evening except for a small 3 point (other side broken off). Back at it tomo also
Not a lot of action from our area (north eastern adirondacks) and haven’t heard much from other hunters around the area either. Did see a small buck but not really interested in the little guys… (let them grow!) Did notice some scrape activity starting to show up over the weekend and even a couple rubs. That said the woods this coming weekend and following week should start to come alive with activity and buck sign. All signs are pointing to a strong rut that is going to be peak around the 13th-16th of the month. The weather will be key here it needs to get cold and stay that way. Good luck to all.
Another quiet morning here (a little east of Binghamton, NY). Saw 1 large, very mature doe……she was begging for an arrow numerous times, but I resisted an itchy trigger finger due to the time of year. She’s the best scent/lure/decoy mother nature could offer…she hung around for an hour(6:45-7:45)….very interested in the estrous scent I had out. Her being alone is a good sign, I would have anticipated 2 fawns with her, but maybe she ran them off?? That would be a good sign.
1st 1.5 hours snow, 2nd 1.5 hours rain, then the sun came out. What’s up with these weathermen??
Dad hunted fireplace ridge due to the wet weather.
Had a good day in the woods,seen 4 bucks and multiple does.one-4 1/2 yr.old,one 2 1/2 yr.old., and two 1 1/2 yr.old.
All chasing doe’s.Bucks responding well to calling.big 8 pt.
was in the 130″class.We’ve had him on film the last couple of year’s.Couldn’t get a arrow in the big guy.Just so you guys know we hunt in oswego county n.y..I always wonder when i see some of these posts where their hunting.Good luck to all!
Better evening……7 doe/fawns & 1 spike seen…..in the pouring rain!! Hunting food plots. No rut activity observed…..yet.
i was skunked today in steuben county. kinda disappointing. i expected to see some activity today. i didn’t even see a deer. i hope tomorrow is better!
A few rubs seen today, good sign for the Rut . Quiet night on watch in Nichilville, NY. Back at it tomorrow.
Saw 3 fawns by themselves and 6 point with his nose stuck to the ground this evening in the rain. Seeing some good sign for the peak action to start up in another few days
1 doe, 1 6ptr seen between 4 of us. Another slow AM hunt. Buck was not seeking, looking or sniffing…..just on a stroll.
Well seen the same 8pt came in about an hour later than normal. Can’t get him to come in close enough for the shot. been taking a different route every time. Grunt call did not seem to faze him at all. Hunting in Saratoga county. Any suggestions will be going back out sunday morn.
10 does in 1 food plot, 1 button & a spike in another tonight between 4 of us. Spike was feeding then nose to ground when he hit the timber. Does in food plots still with fawns.
Try again tomorrow.
Carl,
Do you have “The Can” estrus bleat call? That is a good tool to have along with you the next two weeks. Also if you have a set of antlers or the new “Pack Rack” to mimic two bucks fighting. I have had good fortune with these types of calling during the rut for over 25 years. Good luck Sunday am.
Two does were in my north field tonite at 4:30 with their tails off to the side. A neighbor saw a small 3 point chasing a doe in the woods opposit the field at 1:30 today.
A buddy of mine and me have hunted hard since Wed Nov 6. Wed was very slow, full moon clear skies, no am activity for us at all. Wed PM saw a small buck playing with a doe 45 min before dark. Thurs AM was slow but clearly heard some grunting at 10:45, The weather was high wind and it got the deer moving, doe activity around noon and two bucks around 2pm. Got picked off by a staging buck on way out of stand. Today was q beautiful day but quiet til right at dark a few does and a small 3pt. Mike S- nice day in Oswego!!
George
Nothing is sight this AM. Saw a 2 1/2 yr old 8 point this afternoon on a stroll, nose to the ground, then strolled away. He will be nice next year. 4 does all together under dad’s stand
Was out hunting central jersey again yesterday morning slow as they moved thru early sa two bucks trolling with noses to the ground. Scrapes seemed abandoned around here as they are concentrated on harassing the does. Out last evening anticipating good movement as we have the weather in our favor and figured early to bed early to rise
and I was right had a single doe feeding on acorns sm buck comes along grunted and she was out of there. Another sm buck shows thirty mins later trolling by. Once he was gone another three does showed when just at dark I hear something coming in behind me the does cleared out keeping distance and o could see a huge body moving around them he scent checked them but never chase and then went on to feed at 28yds away in front of me I drew back just to dark for an ethical shot and just watched great evening in the woods and looking forward to seeing him again
Things broke loose on Qed. with 8 buck sightings. Some chasing, many more older age bucks this week. Getting hot and cold now. Bucks seem to be clustering “early breeders’.
Sorry on the typos above. Too excited to type and in a hurry. Things broke on Wed. of this week. And bucks are now “clustered ” around early breeder “hot’ does. need to be in the woods all day.
i saw 7 bucks this morning. a bunch of little spikes, a 5 pointer, a 2 1/2 yr old and a BIG’UN. the younger bucks were cuising the big boy was locked on to a doe.
Saw button buck chasing a fawn doe….grunting the whole time….is that even possible?? Would a button do that? This was the first “chase” seen…if you want to call it that.
My group saw 16 deer in 4 hours…..no other rut behavior seen. 2 of the 16 were spikes.
Quick turn around and we’ll get back out there soon.
Saturday————–Ok out of the woods for the day. caught a “breeding party” at noon 3 decent bucks identified in bunch a nice 21/2 eight came through no long afrer. Neil had 6 bucks sighted by noon. No afternoon report as of now. Stay in the woods. You can catch them anytime or anywhere! Hunt anywhere the does are likely to be hanging out.
Finally seeing rut activity, maybe our area is a little delayed?? Deer sightings are significantly up. New bucks are being seen as well. 31 deer seen today in 7 hours on stand. Young bucks pushing does. Trail cams have picked up 6 new “uniques” since noon time Wed. Cams are also showing mature does still with fawns.
Craig/Neil – With the next 2 days(Sun/Mon) hitting 60/62F…..do you still suggest all day hunts or will the hot weather slow things down making early morning, late afternoon more promising/predictable?
The switch flipped here today. Mature buck 10 pt shadowing a doe in the am. This afternoon at 2:30 I watched a nice heavy 8pt chase a doe around in my field for 15-20 minutes. She gave him the slip…..at least for now. The warm temps could slow things up a bit
Saw a 2 year old ‘flush’ a doe on 11/4, later that day a yearling buck scent checking a does trail. Hunted a funnel all day on 11/6 and saw zero. 11/7 yesterday heard a buck ‘growl’, saw a 2 year old 8 on the move, cutting through doe bed areas & small food plots. Saw a 3 year old buck chasing does around in a ravine. Lots of mid – day actvity they are really stirred up. Picked up a new 3 year old buck on the camera 11/3 & 4, and on the 4th he had a torn ear !
Sat till 11am, best I could do. Had a 7ptr come thru at 9:45 at 12 yrds checked 2 scrapes, then kept moving thru. More spikes(4) seen this morning by others. Total of 15 deer.
How do people feel about shooting does this time of year? We are getting good shot oppritunitites on mature does, but hesitating cause of rut…but we do have a quota to fill.
OK…..It’s finally getting close here. Spikes running around on every food plot torturing does this afternoon, chasing them everywhere. Grunting, spitting, moaning, etc.
Saw 1 “good” buck tailing a doe late on 1 food plot, but couldn’t get a look other than “long main beam”.
Afternoon activity on plots really hot.
Back at it tomorrow.
PS: LOTS of turkeys…EVERYWHERE!
Just got back from Ontario. Went 4/4. 10 pt 225, 9 pt 205, 9 pt 180, 10 pt 160. 3 from same stand in 4 days, bucks were really moving at all times of the day saw very few does.
Scouted home area in Northern VT this weekend, found numerous fresh scrapes and new rubs. in a ~ 75 acre area, not much once I got away from there however. Kind of surprised.
Saw a 4 point and 2 does this morning. Sat until 10am.Had one nice 7 point come through nose to ground on this extremly warm evening in food plot.
saw 2 lone fawns this morning, then a 1 1/2 yr old six point following a doe came by. about 9 a doe with a button buck and a female fawn came in and bedded down. this afternoon i saw a 3 pointer wandering around. a little later a doe came running by. a bit after that i saw a spike following a doe and fawn. right at dark a spike came in all by himself. i think i have the market corned on spike horns this year. i’m positive i have seen a least 6 different ones this year.
I saw the same 2.5 year old 8pt on a doe this am- they were still together from last night. then the rest of the day was dead. even the evening hunt, not even the squirrels moved….
It is hot and cold out there. A red hot breeding party going on on an oak flat, 500 yds. away a 4 hour sit with no sightings. Normal movement patterns are disrupted. Does looking over their shoulders and bucks just looking. lots of lonesome fawns running around. best bet, put in the time and don’t worry about normal morning evening patterns.
Yesterday 11/8 we sat all day and didn’t see a deer until 4 pm, then it was a little crazy. Could hear some grunting late in the afternoon think it was an older buck that we didn’t see. Then a 2 year old 8pt chased a doe around, but she gave him the slip. 3 other yearling bucks seen within bow range, harassing does, saw another doe give a 4 pt yearling the slip around the same time. Other does observed, normal feeding in food plots from 4pm – dark. Lots of grunting heard. One yearling came into a grunt. 2 year old paid no attention to the can. Taking the day off from hunting today but will be out the rest of the week and will try to keep this updated.
Saw 1 3-pt on Sat morning all by himself. Saw no does on stand. Neighbor near us saw a big 8 point run off a smaller 8 point then used “the can” & the big one came running up the hill to give him a 15 yd shot. After checking th teeth it was a 3 1/2 yr old 8 pt. Later that afternoon my father saw a 4 pt feeding in the corn field. He turned the can over twice & the buck started heading right at him. He hit the can again & now the deer was running. Came to within 15 yds of him. The can seems to work on the deer but the turkeys took off at the first sound.
More of the same here this morning…….does here and there and the same spike (although we have counted 5 different ones) chasing the same doe family around one of our larger 2+ acre food plot(family consists of 2 mature does & 2 fawns).
Saw same 7ptr (as yesterday) chasing something over the next ridge.
Waiting for 66F heat to break, we’ll be on plots again tonight.
Saturday evening got a little frustrating! I went past the tree I was suppose to put my stand in and ended up sitting in a different tree. Had a person on a quad roaring down the trail below me which pushed out a half rack Y. Then where I should have been sitting I had a glimpse of a big dark deer from the shoulders back and never saw it again that night. Today I was working and saw a 7 or 8 pt. moving a doe around. Their was another deer with the doe and buck but was not able to get a good look at it.
The woods shut down tonight – no sightings…..guessing the temp hitting 67F might have had something to do with that. Back at it tomorrow.
This morning saw what was probably a 2.5 year old 9-pt. Was just taking a slow steady walk through the woods. Tried the can and grunting but didn’t get any response. Was kind of windy and about 80 yards away so don’t know if could hear. He was followed up about 10 minutes later by a little 4pt. Had a couple single button bucks feeding in the acorns. In the past have seen them here a couple times with mom but they weren’t together and mom was not around.
Elmer,
Yes, I have the primos bleat can and a primos rattle bag and a set of synthetic rattle horns.
After seeing very little buck sign during bow season, I finally came across some fresh scrapes and descent rubs this past weekend. Our rifle season (vermont) starts saturday so this is a great sign! also, the mast crop in my neck of the woods is phenomenal with apples, acorns, and beach nuts littering the ground so we are more than excited to get in the woods again.
been following the site for several months and love it! keep the updates coming. Good Luck to all!
Saw 1 mature doe this morning which offered numerous shot oppritunities, but let her walk since I was hoping (fingers & toes crossed) that a buck was tow…but nope, just on a stroll.
2 little does early on this afternoon, then very quiet. Dad saw nothing.
(
1 last morning hunt tomorrow, then back to work
After 8.5 hours on watch today from 2 different stands. I saw 3 different bucks 2 shooters and 1 4 point. One was a very nice 10 point 70 yards out and on a mission. Would not respond to any call. Saw one hardcore chase this morning at 6:50am. Finally some good action. It’s all about the time you put in (which is sometimes very tough) and being in the right place at the right time.
This is a little late… Here is my report from this past weekend
My son got a nice 7 pointer in the Adirondacks on Sunday morning. He would have been an 8 pointer but one was broken.
Also: We have a foodplot outside our cabin. We could hear and see deer breeding in and around it all night long on Friday night into Sat morning. What a great time to be up there!!!
Quick hunt this morning…..got to pick the wife & kids up at the airport……saw 1 spike.
After 8 days straight sitting in the woods, I have 2 possibiliites:
1) Offer up my property to Team Realtree/Bill Jordan to film Monster Spikes
2) The 8 pts & better have fabricated some sort of grinding machine in one of my sanctuaries and they turn themselves into spikes…..knowing we have an 8 pt rule.
I’m done, GOOD LUCK to all and be back at it this wekend.