Gill-T

15 degrees opening morning in 9P and zero chasing was going on. As you had seen yourself, feast or famine for our group with large herds of 9 does over here and zero seen over there. DEC at the check stations said based on the does they were checking that the rut has not peaked yet. Lets hope that is the case.

Should be on. The annual buck-crashing-thru-windows event started in Western NY.

I am including antlerless buttons with that ratio.

There is a balance for sure. If your buck to doe ratio is closer to 1 to 1, there will be lots of competition for the does and thus a lot of chasing, but, you will also have more fighting and broken antlers. I think a 1 to 4 ratio is healthy. I don't believe in QDM's philosophy of shooting mature does either.

We all can't be a woodlands knome.....stop braggin.

GREAT SHOT TYLER!!

Given the weather system coming and the timing of the rut......we should break the record for NY Buck take this weekend.

That deer looks like it has been eating lots of donuts.......congrats on a great buck.

I will clip a sapling of either beech or oak because they are still retaining noisy leaves. Once I am situated with bow, I hook up my bow string to the branch at base of the tree and wiggle it with my foot as I rattle to add realism. I suppose I look like a one-man-band up there a clankin and a stompin'.

Deer have individual personalities. Similar to us there are fighters and non-fighters. Every buck I have rattled in has had damage to it's rack from fighting. Some of the largest bucks have learned to avoid confrontation and risk injury. Like us sometimes they get so big they don't have to fight....just stand up and everyone gets out of the way. You may just have non-fighters around.

My sequencing of calls mixed in with rattling is a function of hearing two bucks go at it near my stand. Understand that the snort-wheeze mean F-you in deer language. Before and after a fight (just like in a bar) there are F-bombs coming and going. Start with light antler tickling like two bucks starting to come together, then let the antlers have it! Lots of loud smash and grind. Make it loud as not to mistaken for other sounds in the woods. Don't bother in heavy winds so the antler sounds are not mixed and drowned out from tree branches clanking together in the wind. Dead quiet wind is the best IMO.

Last week in October and the first week in November only. You have to get them when they are at their peak of testosterone before the rut starts. Only works for me in thick cover or areas WAY back away from human encroachment. Most battles occur in the dark so If I am hunting a bedroom area that I know there is a buck within earshot, I will fire away right at shooting light. My sequence is a loud challenge grunt--snort wheeze--loud aggressive rattling sequence lasting approx. 20 seconds-ending with a snort wheeze.........then put the antlers down and grab your bow quick because they usually come running in!

Changes.....lets see....I don't shoot mature does because they have yearlings that need guidance. Mature does set up "doe groups" that use the habitat similarly year after year so patterning becomes easy. Mature does bring the big boys in. Mature does stomp the crap out of coyotes that come around. I will fill my doe tags with a nice tender 1.5 yr old doe. I believe in QDM as it benefits the herd. I will shoot a "inferior" buck with stupid antlers or one that is wounded so QDM is not set in stone. Having two Disney girls, feeding them venison is not an option so I keep one doe for myself and donate or give the other deer away to families that need the meat. I do not feel guilty about donation. Similar to Saint Charles Alshemier I am trying to give back via teaching and mentoring young hunters.

When deer try to dunk a basketball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iy6uPyQU0U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNbqybjj8J8

Are you ditch hunting?

Wind effects bird shot.....blame the wind.

It is not going to change year to year as the rut timing has been built into the DNA over the eons. I can tell you if you are looking for "THE" time to be in the woods, there were dead deer all over the roads on the weekend of Oct 11th. If those dead deer were the result of a few deer hitting the early rut cycle, then extrapolate 30 days from there for the peak in WNY. I would put the date at the weekend of NOVEMBER 10th.