RUT REPORT
October 14 - October 20
Zachary Glay
The best time of the year is finally here. Deer season is upon us and we now have the opportunity to grab our bows and head into the woods to chase those special creatures called White-tailed Deer! In a new segment on the website titled Rut Report, we will be putting out a new installation weekly. In this we will review what happened this past week, weather, hunts, buck movement, etc. and look forward to the following week and predictions. Based mostly out of southeast Ohio, we will primarily focus there but will key in on any stories or movements we hear about elsewhere.
Week in Review: Buck attitudes seem to be indifferent. The cold front last week got them active but still in feeding and casual living patterns. They are still moving from bed to feed and feed to bed, with the occasional stop to freshen a scrape or hit a rub line. The mature bucks specifically seem to know that the rut is on its way but they are in no hurry to get there. Younger bucks, spikes, and scrub bucks are sparring in the fields, and doe are looking cautiously at bucks when they enter plots, but overall, I would not say we are in any real pre-rut mode.
Some younger bucks, practicing and getting ready for the weeks ahead
Hunt Recap: A couple team members were able to get out a handful of times last week and got some good observation sits in, saw young bucks play around, and saw some limited nocturnal sign, but the week was largely uneventful. I was able to go for a long scouting trip on a property that borders some public land and found a few scrapes, and heavily used bedding areas that I did not know was there before. I hung cameras and felt a little reassured knowing that yes, there are scrapes being made, but also knowing that they are not the hottest spots on the farm right now, like they certainly will be, in a week or two. Josh was able to watch and record some spikes get frisky with each other and chase some doe around a plot but the older, more mature bucks certainly could not be bothered with the childish fun of the spikes.
Scrapes are beginning to appear, this one was on public land under a young beach tree
Looking Forward: This coming week causes a dilemma in the Shade River Team as Ohio’s first split for waterfowl opens Saturday the 21st and as much as we love hunting whitetails, we almost equally love passing the time during the “October lull” by chasing ducks. So much of this week was dedicated to scouting and this coming weekend will be for duck hunts. However, as the rut draws closer we plan on taking PTO and getting some serious time in the stand. I would guess that we will begin seeing a hotter “pre-rut” in a week to 10 days and that’s when the fun really begins.
Around the Horn: Just because it is a slow go for us right now does not mean the trend is consistent everywhere. I have always said the Appalachian deer in southeast Ohio run on a little different schedule than the rest of the midwest or surrounding states. We have a friend that took his personal best buck, a wide typical mainframe 10 in southern Indiana and a real close friend is hot on two daytime active bucks in northwest Ohio. He even called his shot, predicting a kill on the 22nd. Follow up next week to see if he is right!
