All these great bucks????

[JHbowhunter]

3 hours ago, MGHunter66 said:

Well I am in the blind, passed two 110” deer so far. Btw i like oyster crackers in my soup. But lets give it a try... friggin lockdown   damn spikes  wrong week for my rutcation 

You are getting the hang of it.  I like the emoji’s as an added touch.  

[Lunatic]

13 minutes ago, Herd Buck said:

Great info so far... I haven’t heard any one mention using “xyz” attractant, etc  Do you guys not use these types of things? Do you mainly hunt scrape lines, food sources, or just general deer runs?

Personally I’ve never had luck with Deer attractant and have seen deer smell it (buck bomb in particular) and run off

My experience is they don’t even acknowledge it

[MGHunter66]

49 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

Snake oil. 

 

47 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

My experience is they don’t even acknowledge it

I can tell you this, no bs. I had a deer tree me when having scent on my boots. Aggressively came after me even after yelling at it

[Herd Buck]

What scent?

[Lunatic]

13 minutes ago, MGHunter66 said:

 

I can tell you this, no bs. I had a deer tree me when having scent on my boots. Aggressively came after me even after yelling at it

I believe you. Shit happens. I see deer completely ignoring it 

[MGHunter66]

Just now, Lunatic said:

I believe you. Shit happens. I see deer completely ignoring it 

I agree, I have seen them totally ignore it and have seen it alert them and make them move off quickly. But that aggressive instance I will never forget

[MGHunter66]

15 minutes ago, Herd Buck said:

What scent?

Bob Kirschners 

[megavites]

12 hours ago, JHbowhunter said:

All seriousness I think there are 4 times to shoot a very mature buck.  1- early season if u can get them on a feeding pattern and hunt when conditions are perfect. 2 - that period of pre-rut just before the first doe in area is going into estrous. Find their hot scrape.  Once the first few does go into estrous - what bucks do you think are locked down with them?  This is the crazy chasing phase. The big boys are on those first does and the rest run around like idiots. This is where a lot of tags get burned on those typical 2.5 year old 90-110” 8 point bucks. But the giants are hidden in some spot they can’t be hunted with the first does.  Then full lockdown kicks in about 7 days later and they are even tougher to see.   3 - tail end of rut as less and less does are coming into estrous. This is probably best time to kill a giant. 4 - post 6 -day, post rut cold weather food sources.  Bait or food plots. The big boys are hungry.  Still even a residual secondary mini rut could happen in your area too.                

Jack,

so what are your thoughts on #3 and timing of the tail end? After the 18th?

[JHbowhunter]

17 minutes ago, megavites said:

Jack,

so what are your thoughts on #3 and timing of the tail end? After the 18th?

everything is early this year (anecdotal evidence) by about 1.5 weeks it seems by me.  What I experienced in this spot on 11/11, was same desperate, tail end of rut activity when I missed another giant here 3 years ago but that was on 11/20.    So I think here up north, we might be just past peak.   Also getting just past the full moon helps, (my buck came day before full moon).    But many observed same in North and central NJ- very aggressive rut activity in october. I felt that as permit bow set in we were already close to full lockdown.   My anecdotal evidence seemed to show that.    

Every year I never time the rutcation perfectly, but I guess in a way I did even thought it took the last day of 12 consecutive days to score.   I passed up a good cruising buck on 10/27 that I filmed and many said I would regret it. I probably would have shot a decent 8 on 11/2 had my bow not still been on ground as I just got in stand when he cruised by. I was happy to have not shot both because I really wanted to HUNT a little bit but it did become a grind seeing the same skippers every day and zero mature buck by about 11/3 onward when it did finally feel like lockdown.    

I want the 4 days  before the first few does go estrous, and I want the week just on the other side of lockdown/peak.        Those would be my ideal, but those full moons always scare me but this year it may have helped me. Calculating exactly when those days are is a crap shoot but maybe I am finally at 55 starting to get it a little bit. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by JHbowhunter

[Lunatic]

53 minutes ago, MGHunter66 said:

I agree, I have seen them totally ignore it and have seen it alert them and make them move off quickly. But that aggressive instance I will never forget

What you describe is so weird it’s not even normal. Something else was in play, like a crazy or retarded deer, than just doe piss on your shoes. 

[megavites]

1 hour ago, JHbowhunter said:

everything is early this year (anecdotal evidence) by about 1.5 weeks it seems by me.  What I experienced in this spot on 11/11, was same desperate, tail end of rut activity when I missed another giant here 3 years ago but that was on 11/20.    So I think here up north, we might be just past peak.   Also getting just past the full moon helps, (my buck came day before full moon).    But many observed same in North and central NJ- very aggressive rut activity in october. I felt that as permit bow set in we were already close to full lockdown.   My anecdotal evidence seemed to show that.    

Every year I never time the rutcation perfectly, but I guess in a way I did even thought it took the last day of 12 consecutive days to score.   I passed up a good cruising buck on 10/27 that I filmed and many said I would regret it. I probably would have shot a decent 8 on 11/2 had my bow not still been on ground as I just got in stand when he cruised by. I was happy to have not shot both because I really wanted to HUNT a little bit but it did become a grind seeing the same skippers every day and zero mature buck by about 11/3 onward when it did finally feel like lockdown.    

I want the 4 days  before the first few does go estrous, and I want the week just on the other side of lockdown/peak.        Those would be my ideal, but those full moons always scare me but this year it may have helped me. Calculating exactly when those days are is a crap shoot but maybe I am finally at 55 starting to get it a little bit. 

things are strange this yr by me in CNJ. Only in the last week have I seen scrapes open up. I haven't had the typical pop on the cams of roaming bucks and I haven't seen any chasing. Last night I took a shot on a 3.5 yr old that was walking with a young 6pt., but yet today felt like total lockdown. Only a 4pt and a doe w/fawn seen. I'm looking forward to the mature bucks searching out any remaining un-breed does.

[tcook8296]

I had several nice bucks on cam 2 weeks ago in NJ. 

Today, I have nothing. Gone. No way they are all dead but Ive been seeing the same few little ones on camera. I have to say they are out running does. I also have a couple hundred acres of corn still standing across from me.  I hope that is the case or my season will have an early end. Maybe something else comes along once the guns start blazing but I dont know. Crazy early action this year for sure. 

Either way Im happy, I just shot one in Illinois, I could pack it in now and be happy. 

Well maybe after the Illinois gun season. 

[JHbowhunter]

6 hours ago, tcook8296 said:

I had several nice bucks on cam 2 weeks ago in NJ. 

Today, I have nothing. Gone.

It's the L word...  Keep your does happy and relaxed, and don't trust the camera is giving you everything that is going on.  They will be back by the weekend. 

[DV1]

8 hours ago, JHbowhunter said:

everything is early this year (anecdotal evidence) by about 1.5 weeks it seems by me. 

It's not really early here, it's about the same timing. What I am seeing though is more activity: more movement by more deer. That's probably a combination of things, like there just seem to be more deer around this year, and the weather has been pretty darn good for deer movement and hunting. Also, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but the amount of hunting pressure seems down a good bit where I hunt this year. Pressure is about half of what it has been in recent years on the WMA's I hunt. Even on weekends, when there used to be 10-12 trucks parked at the piece I hunt the most, it's been like 5 or 6 this year. Less people in the woods makes for better deer movement too. 

I think the drop off in pressure is because the last several years, the hunting has been pretty crappy, and people just gave up on it. It will get driven hard in shotgun season, people will see more sign than last year, and probably be back next year.