By Brandon Ray

Overall activity status: The rut seems to be winding down in the northern half of the region. Ronnie Parsons reports he saw multiple bucks around corn feeders in the Hill Country this weekend. They were still interested in does and posturing to each other, but were not acting as rutty as they had been weeks earlier.
 
Fighting: No reports of fighting.
 
Rub making: I found the rub in the accompanying photo near a windmill. No surprise that given the drought conditions you would find deer sign close to water. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

If you’ve been following along you know that Bestul and I filmed these hunting video tips  during the rut when he hosted me on a bowhunt in mid-November. And so, the point Scott is making here—that although bucks do largely abandoned rubs and scrapes during peak breeding, fresh sign remains important because it tells you that a buck is still visiting your area and not off chasing does a mile away—will be most useful to you next November. That said, it can still apply right now, as mature bucks especially are still covering ground looking for unbred does that are coming into a second estrous cycle, as well as fawn and yearling does that often come into estrous late.

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By Mike Bleech

The first part of my deer season wrapped up on Saturday, and I will have to wait until after Christmas to resume hunting. Unfortunately this split comes just as if it appears that rutting is picking up again after a week of relatively little local action. Today, my hunting partner and I found three active scrapes. This is unusual, the first time I can recall ever seeing active scrapes so late. But it is not the latest I have seen rutting activity. I have watched bucks chasing does at least through mid-December.

All it took to find active scrapes was a change in hunting location, moving eastward into McKean County, Pennsylvania. This is still in the Allegheny National Forest, on its highest ridge.

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By Chad Love

A Canadian deer hunter who vanished on Nov. 15 was finally rescued this weekend after wandering the bush for three weeks.

From this story in the Calgary Herald:
A hunter who turned up after being lost in the southeast Manitoba bush for three weeks says thoughts of his family and the hundreds of people who were looking for him kept him going. "(It was) my wife and my son and the knowledge that the search and rescue community and people I don't even know were out looking," said Brad Lambert, who turned up safe and sound Saturday after spending 21 nights in his truck, stranded in the bush. "That means a great deal."

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By David Draper

Overall Activity Status: With temperatures finally starting to dip late this week, deer activity should increase. Prior to that, warmer weather had daytime activity at a minimum, though a few hunters still witnessed some rut-related behavior. Neil Davies of Hornady traveled back to South Dakota for another reservation hunt, where he reported bucks were checking does, even if they weren’t too excited about it.

“Bucks were still sniffing and running does, but it was rather passive,” said Davies. “Young ones were still at it though. Did not see any breeding or fighting.”

Fighting: Davies experience mimics that of most other hunters I talked to, none of which noted any instances of bucks sparring.

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By Will Brantley

Cold weather is finally in the forecast, and quite a few Mid-South hunters are reporting secondary rut activity. There are late-season bow and muzzleloader hunting opportunities remaining in every Mid-South state, in addition to several late gun-hunting opportunities. With just a little help from the weather, the hunting could be pretty good over the next couple weeks. If you still have a deer tag, it’s worth getting out there.

The primary rut of 2012, of course, is a fading memory. This fall, I heard more anecdotal accounts than usual of slow rutting activity, and more than one hunting buddy described it as a “trickle rut.” But overall, hunters have had a pretty good year to this point. [ Read Full Post ]